mposing? That’s hardly an accurate descriptor for Jason Gray, and yet somehow it’s precisely the proper term.

The honest, disarming lyricism of the Centricity Records’ singer-songwriter convicts and comforts in ways most musicians don’t even aspire toward. His label debut, “All the Lovely Losers,” utilizes acoustic/folk stylings to penetrate the heart and stimulate the mind – all in an effort to push listeners, and himself, into a vulnerable place of growth.

A conversation with Jason brings more of the same. Even with a speech handicap, his words quickly steal back the attention from his stuttering and command the spotlight to shine on areas that most Christians are reticent to talk about. It’s not that Jason preaches – in fact, he does quite the opposite – but instead he exposes his own struggles and trials before anyone who will listen, musically or not. So there’s a chance to learn from this bard around every corner.

Moving beyond brokenness

Most recently, Jason explains that he’s learning to move on from the material with which he launched his musical platform. Even the title of “All the Lovely Losers” makes most Christians look twice, wondering about the seeming juxtaposition within the slogan. For the Minnesota native, it is about learning to live with his stuttering problem in a career where that’s unheard of.

CD cover

“My last album was a lot about understanding our brokenness,” says Gray. “I've used my speech handicap as an excuse, or maybe I should say an opportunity, to explore the virtues of weakness and brokenness. But there came a point in my life where I decided that I wasn't going to allow a handicap to define me anymore and I wasn't going to allow it to hold me back. I wasn't going to be ashamed of it anymore. I wasn't going to hide away from society for fear of looking like a fool. I had to realize that everybody is foolish. I've got things to say. It just takes me longer, but I'm going to say them.”

But, as Gray describes, that fight to move on from being paralyzed by his physical limitations was only a precursor to a very similar battle being waged inside. As he found victory on the outside to sing his songs and tell his story to thousands coast to coast, Gray believes it takes the same sort of strength and determination to move beyond the shame he says was taking over his life.

“I think that the devil uses shame to paralyze us,” Gray explains. “And I think that one of the main roles of grace is to emasculate the power of shame. It's to remove the power that shame holds over us. God offers grace to us in order to undo the power of shame so that we can move ahead in confidence – but not in confidence of our own virtue or goodness. I think grace answers that we don't have a lot of virtue to speak of, so I've stopped worrying about that. We are to move ahead as we can in obedience the best we can, and we don't need to be paralyzed by shame anymore.”

Jason Gray

“I think I had a moment when I stopped being so hard on myself in terms of my failures and the things that I do that I hate to do,” he continues. “It’s like what Paul talks about when he says that he does the very things he hates to do. Well, we are broken inside and God knows this. To move beyond that, I think we have to accept grace on God’s terms and allow it to break the hold of shame over our brokenness and then move ahead in confidence after that.”

A God-given identity

It is almost as if Gray realizes that there’s a beauty to a title of “All the Lovely Losers,” but that’s not a place for the Christ-follower to stay. While it’s important to stay humble and realize that God gives us all what we don’t deserve – the very definition of grace – it’s also a gift that we’re to accept and allow to change our lives. As Gray observes, it’s the same as not staying focused on his handicap but, instead, on the beautiful things that God does in spite of it.

“The parallel lies in that I think the same thing happens when it comes to the power of shame and how grace sets us free from that,” says Gray. “We are to stop caring about all of our failures and we're able to just move ahead and recognize this is who I am, I blow it and I do things I don't want to do. But I can't just stay there and give in to the power of shame. I've been given grace and I need to move forward in forgiveness and be obedient as best as I can, relying on the grace God has given me.”

Christian musical artist, Jason Gray

“The key is that it moves away from a confidence in my own self or abilities or virtues or whatever I might be tempted to put my confidence in, and it becomes an increasing confidence in grace. More and more I think that true humility is not thinking a lot about yourself at all. Or at least it's thinking about yourself the same way you think of anyone else.”

For people who make their living with a spotlight literally on them at work, it might be hard to sustain such a mindset – to not get caught up in themselves. Yet Gray insists that God’s grace gives him the ability to do exactly that.

Jason Gray

“Now when a person says, 'That was a great show,' I just say 'thanks' and don't feel an ego boost because of it. Also if a person is critical, I don't feel as affected by that either. More and more, my identity and confidence is in grace and more in the role I'm supposed to play on planet earth.”