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Christian singer and songwriter Jonathan McReynolds is opening up about redefining success and learning to slow down to see the goodness of God in the quiet moments.
McReynolds received the Grammy Award on Sunday for Best Gospel Performance/Song for "One Hallelujah" alongside Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Erica Campbell, Israel Houghton, and Jekalyn Carr.
Although he appreciated the accolade, McReynolds shares he's finding his value and worth elsewhere these days. He's finding out what he's sacrificed in order to 'climb the mountain of success,' at least according to the world.
"The higher I got, the more space I cut out in my life for that mission, for that assignment, the less life there was up there," McReynolds told Christian Post in an interview. "Now, I might have gotten awards and some degrees and some other stuff like that, but the actual things that made Jonathan, the person, survive? There's less and less of that up there."
The 35-year-old acknowledged on a recent social media post that he traded the hustle and grind of what the world said was success for other things like slowing down in his faith walk or even getting married.
"I really wanted to tap into this different mindset where I'm not a boss, I'm not the guy who has to be the leader, but I tap back into something that I think gets talked about very little in my culture, and that's being just the son of God. We're the workers of God. We're the ministers of God. We are men of faith. But rarely do we talk about just being a son or a daughter of God. I wanted to write a book that outlined and chronicled my journey down the mountain, down from the titles and achievements to just who I am simply in God. And that's His son."
McReynolds book Before You Climb Any Higher: Mountain Wisdom for Valley Dreams will be released on Feb. 18, 2025.
"Every bit of faith that I had was all used up on, 'Lord, don't let me fall off this mountain.' But when you start to really think about yourself as a son first, then you start to recognize even the disciplinary moments as love."
The author says he's finding out that each nugget of wisdom he learns about God doesn't have to be made into the next song or sermon.
"No matter how much money, no matter how much fame, no matter how many followers, you can still be quite sad. You can still be quite depressed and anxious. You can still be quite confused about the state of things," said McReynolds. "So if that is the case, then maybe what we were calling 'success' is not really success. Perhaps there is a goodness that God has been calling us to, even as we've gone after a human idea of greatness. Everything He called good has outlasted everything we've called great."
McReynolds shares the struggle for many when it comes to accepting the love of a good father, but that the road to finding this identity for every Christian is crucial.
"A lot of people, particularly in my community, have strained or lacking relationships with our fathers. So that makes it very difficult. We don't have a lot of earthly experience being a son, so it's hard to imagine being a son to a God. But all of this begins with faith. It begins with belief. It begins with you saying, 'I believe that God is real, and He loves me.'"