Graham Nicholls
1. How did you become a Christian?
My parents were Christians, and at about five years old I made some kind of commitment to Christ. I certainly did believe, and I prayed quite often for God to give me things or help me in tricky situations! But, apart from going to church, it wasn’t making a massive difference to my life and I was pretty much the same as all the other people at school and got involved in some bad behaviour.
When I was 16, I went on a Christian weekend and I overheard people praying for me by name to become a Christian. I realised to my shame that they must have looked at my life and not seen much evidence of following Christ. I realised that I had Jesus as a ticket in my back pocket to keep me out of hell and let me into heaven. But I needed to follow Him as Lord of my whole life. From that time, I started taking being a Christian more seriously. I got baptised, joined a church and slowly began to hand over the keys for all the rooms of my life to Jesus – a process that’s still ongoing.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Relax. Develop Christian habits. Invest in good friendships for life. Enjoy being young, but try and become the older Christian man or woman, husband, wife, worker, citizen at the next stage of life that you want to be. Do it now – don’t wait till you get there. Don’t think you know everything. Use the seemingly endless energy you have now – it will not last. Drive change with grace and sensitivity.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
Real, vital, but patchy. Always a battle to carve out enough time. Moments of clarity and some of confusion and rambling. Attempting to improve by speaking out loud and kneeling can help, but you’ve still got to want to do it.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Urban Harvest – the first book I read which articulated the idea that we often speak the gospel in ways that are more suited to well-educated middle-class conceptual thinkers.
Pascal’s Pensées – not the best of apologists or philosophers, but I consumed the pithy aphorisms like chocolates at Christmas:
‘People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive …’
‘All men seek happiness. This is without exception. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.’
The Gagging of God – the first book I read on Postmodernism, which is all a bit old hat now!
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
Richard Chester, the pastor where I was baptised, preached with passion and precision.
My parents – their godly example made the gospel attractive.
Older Christians generally, who just keep going and grow old with grace and humility.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
I think most of the challenges of the idolatry and unbelief around us are the same as Christians have always faced, but perhaps the particular challenge for our generation that is different to the past is that the morality of Christians was generally considered good but not necessarily desirable, and now we are considered essentially bad people because of our morality. This creates barriers to being heard. Thankfully God’s word is not chained (2 Tim. 2:9).
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
I am encouraged to see people still becoming Christians, even during lockdown, and by many young Christians following Jesus and standing up for their faith.
I am discouraged at times with the consumerist and individualistic behaviour of Christians, including myself. It makes me sad when people fall away. Almost always they don’t stop believing but find something else more attractive and they must have it, even if it means giving up on Christ.
8. What makes you laugh?
I laugh at my vanity, stupidity and arrogance, usually when it is pointed out to me by my family.
Films like Dumb and Dumber.
People generally.
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Keep going. Be less tribal. Don’t give up on the gospel. Make sure our hopes and fears are distinctly different to the world around us.
10. Which Biblical person do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
You should have said ‘not including Jesus’ in the question but, apart from that, I would like to meet the person whose book or letter I am currently preaching, which at the moment means I would really like to meet Job. Questions would include: ‘Did you have any idea what was going on’ and ‘Did you realise you would be a forerunner of the ultimate suffering servant, Christ?’
