How Tyler Staton Is Calling the Church to Reflect Christ in a Post-Christian World

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When it comes to beauty, pastor and best-selling author Tyler Staton wants the church to be known for its beauty and reflection of Christ. “When you ask people what the church is known for, creativity and beauty isn’t one of those things.” Staton, pastor in Eugene, Portland, which many would say is a post-Christian culture, “I’ve always pastored in places outside of the Bible belt.” This may explain why Staton, who is also a cancer survivor, strives to let all know of the beauty and wonder that Chris has to offer. In Staton’s new book, After Amen, he explores the book of Psalms along with the poetry that he believes God gave him during his two-year challenge with cancer.

Crosswalk: How did you know that God wanted you to write on the book of Psalms and include Poetry along with it?

Tyler Staton: I started writing poetry as a form of prayer, coming in the tradition of the Psalms, as I was going through chemotherapy. I went through cancer at the most advanced stage, quite unexpectedly, at thirty-six. That was two years ago. I underwent a very toxic form of chemotherapy treatment and was in a severe mental fog and prolonged illness as a result. I found it hard to have a coherent conversation with God. I started writing prayers kind of accidentally in the form of poetry because I could concentrate. I found that when I wrote a poem, I would end up saying to God what I really meant and, discovering what I really wanted to say to God each day. It was after that whole journey, after I'd been writing poetry for more than a year, every day in that form, that my publisher, Thomas Nelson, approached me and said, " Hey, do you happen to know anyone who writes poetry? We're interested in publishing a book of poetry.

CW: Did you write poems before the cancer diagnosis?

TS: I've never read a ton of poetry, I've always enjoyed poetry, but I’ve never taken a class on poetry.

CW: What was the process like?

TS: My favorite book in the Bible is John's Gospel. I think I could order it according to John's gospel, but I don't want to write prayers or poems, for the sake of a book. So, I decided to use the prayers and poems that I used when I went through having cancer. It's my prayer journals paired with John's gospel, I wrote some reflections, braiding the prayers together with passages from John.

CW: What will the reader get out of the project?

TS: It's a fifty-day journey through John's gospel by living within my prayers. I hope the prayers in this book are pregnant in that they give birth to prayers for the people who read the book. Because I wasn’t planning on writing a book during my two-year cancer ordeal, I’m excited to see what God is going to do.

CW: Where does the beauty of your words come from in the book?

TS: I don't know. Except to say I love to read. I love literature, and I love all forms of it, from poetry, novels, and memoirs. I've always loved the art of words. I've always been that annoying person that's like, listen to this turn of phrase in this song, or listen to the words of this song, that kind of thing.

CW: How can we do better at paying attention to the beauty that God has placed around us?

TS: I think the first and most obvious step is we have to slow down. I think maybe the better way to answer that would say, what is stealing our attention? I would suggest that distraction and over attachment or addiction to entertainment and noise. I would just say a preoccupation with the illusion of control. We also have this illusion of control that can be taken instantly. A very small turn of events would have to occur for me to suddenly realize how vulnerable I really am and how little control I actually have over nature and provision. I think wonder often begins with both an awareness of my own smallness and a trust in God as I find my proper place in his creation.

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MAINA MWAURA is a freelance writer and journalist who has interviewed over 800 influential leaders, including two US Presidents, three Vice-Presidents, and a variety of others. Maina, is also the author of the Influential Mentor, How the life and legacy of Howard Hendricks Equipped and Inspired a Generation of Leaders. Maina and his family reside in the Kennesaw, Georgia area.