Tauren Wells is a contemporary Christian artist. Last month, he released his first book: “Joy Bomb: Unleash Jesus’s Explosive Joy for an Extraordinary Life.” 

PEER: What inspired you to write this book? 

TAUREN WELLS: Well, the inspiration for “Joy Bomb” started when I was really young. I think sometimes we underestimate the dreams God puts in our hearts because they start as seeds. I had this seed in my heart from being a little boy of loving to write that turned into writing songs and writing stories. When I was in high school, I started serving in my student ministry and started writing messages which were awesome to preach. It’s always been in my heart, and I always felt like God would give me several messages to communicate through the page. I had been praying for a long time about what’s the right message, what’s the right timing; I don’t want to write a book to write a book. I want to really feel called to the message of it.

I was going through the Bible a couple of years ago, and Matthew 5 jumped out at me. Matthew 5 is the record of Jesus’s very first recorded message. Like a message somebody wrote down. It struck me that he was saying all of these things: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:3-4, NIV). All of these things. Honestly, growing up, I didn’t really understand what He was saying. What do you mean “Blessed are the poor in spirit”? What does that mean? I started investigating. Even that word blessed means happy. It hit me — God cares about our happiness. I had to go through all these religious filters and all this stuff that I heard in church. I realized that God is invested in us being happy.

But the way that He takes us to happiness, the way that He leads our hearts to joy, and the way that joy is generated from within is not what the world is selling. It’s not even what the church is promoting. A lot of times the church is more guilty of promising joy than the world is. Because we’ll say, come here and find fulfillment through serving, or come to church and find your purpose. Yes, you do in part, but there is a joy that flows from the inside. And it’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5. I go through these eight codes [in the book] talking about how humility brings joy, how if you’re really hungry for God, He fills you and satisfies you. If you want to be someone who makes peace, you have to step into conflict and solve it. I talk about how with Jesus, there is no cancel culture. The only thing that Jesus cancels is sin and all of these ideas we break them down so that we can realize, ultimately, who Jesus really is.

P: Did you have any personal insight or wisdom come to light on the subject as you were writing this book? 

TW: The thing with writing a message, writing a book, or writing a song, is you carry it first. I feel like I learned so much by going in-depth and studying these topics. Like the topic of “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8, NIV).  What does that mean? I started thinking about something that me and my wife and my kids did a few years ago. We got this app that allowed us to watch all of the Marvel movies without any of the stuff that’s not age appropriate for our little boys. We did a Marvel movie marathon. It took several months because there are so many movies. We were watching all of them.

I remember this one scene, there was this epic battle, and you’ve got Iron Man and all of these superheroes sitting around, and Thor’s hammer is sitting there. You’ve got the Hulk, and you’ve got Captain America. Thor’s hammer is sitting there and they’re all having this moment, this low-key moment. They’re like, “Who can pick up Thor’s hammer?” They all go over there. Iron Man’s like, “I’m not even going to try it.” Then the Hulk goes over there. It’s the Hulk — he tries to lift up the hammer. The hammer doesn’t move. Then Captain America goes over and suspenseful music is playing. He tries to lift up the hammer and it comes up a little bit.

Then of course, we know Thor picks up the hammer. It’s like this whole thing. What I realized was that these characters could not lift the hammer with the strength of their physicality. The only way you lift that hammer is through the strength of your character, that it’s the pure in heart that have the strength to lift this thing. It’s the same way with some of the things God wants us to accomplish in our lives. That some of the dreams that we have, we will not lift them with our talent. We will not lift it with our network. It’s too heavy. The calling of God cannot be carried just by strategies; it is by the strength of the pure heart. The person who’s decided to walk in integrity, not be perfect. But be honest, open, and authentic. That’s how you lift the great callings of God. When you lift a calling of God, you get to see God in it.

That’s just one of the codes. One of the stories in this book, it’s loaded with ideas like that, that are going to help people access joy in a new way. 

P: What message do you hope Gen Z Christians hope to take away from this book?

TW: My number one hope is that they actually believe that joy is possible. That they actually believe joy is possible. That it’s possible for them. My parents got separated when I was young, and with divorce, there is rejection, and there are so many feelings that come with that fear. A lot of us are trying to handle our brokenness by escaping it. I think the answer is not escaping our brokenness. It’s letting the joy of God into it. Because the scripture says the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It’s not an idea that’s floating out there. Joy is not just a feeling. It’s a force. It’s a force that compels you to believe this tragedy is not the end, this loss is not the end, this breakup is not the end, this feeling of rejection is not the end. But we’re not going to find anything that heals our hearts or opens our awareness to a greater plan outside of the presence of the Lord. For anybody that knows the Bible, in His presence, the Bible says, is the fullness of joy. I want students and young people to believe joy is possible for them.

P: You talk about joy blockers in your book. Can you give examples of what those joy blockers are and how can we overcome them?

TW: Yes. Here’s something that will absolutely steal your joy 100 percent of the time. Pride. We don’t want to talk about it. We don’t want to talk about ego. Because we live in the culture of self-esteem and self-confidence. I have a whole section in the book about this because Jesus says, essentially, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5, NIV).

The book is loaded full of things where when you first read it, you’re probably going to think there’s no way that that’s true. But one of the things is, God wants you to be great. I think it’s a total misrepresentation of the truth, mostly by the church that has people thinking God does not want you to be great. It’s not that God opposes humility. He loves humility. He elevates the humble. He opposes the proud. But He does not oppose people who want to be great, but we have to define what is greatness. That’s what we talk about in the book. How do I define greatness? Greatness is me bravely and unapologetically surrendering my life to God in every area so that He can trust me with being elevated to carry His message and deliver His glory to people.

I was in Nashville several years ago as a young musician and I got to have a breakfast dinner. That’s what we call them in our house. I don’t know what you call them at your house, but it’s when like, it’s 11 o’clock at night, but you about to scramble some eggs and have some pancakes. We were having a breakfast dinner with one of my musical heroes, Johnny Lang. Johnny Lang is like, he was a child prodigy, Grammy award-winning, singer, guitar player, musician. He got radically saved. He was an addict, an alcoholic. And Jesus saved his life. And I got to watch him perform and then we went and had a breakfast dinner. We were talking and he said, you know what I really believe? He said, “I don’t think God’s looking for necessarily the most talented people to elevate. I don’t think he’s looking for the most connected people to make great.” He said, “I think God’s looking for people with a heart he can trust.” I was 22 years old when I heard that. It has stuck with me for my entire life. It’s been a prayer of mine: “God, let me be pure in heart. Let me be meek. Let me have strength that’s under control.” What makes you great is the posture of your heart and the humility that you carry that with. I hope that this next generation gets that. I don’t have to shrink back from being great in my life, but I do have to get low so that God can elevate me. 

P: For young Christians who often feel overwhelmed, anxious, and negative in this world, what action steps can they take to unleash that joy that Jesus gives them in their lives? 

TW: I love the way that Vanessa van Edwards says it. She says, sometimes in life, you need a painkiller and sometimes you need a vitamin. I think that Gen Z and the Alpha generation — those that are coming up — need painkillers and need vitamins. A vitamin is something that you take over a long period of time, and you’re going to be healthier, stronger, and sleep better. You want to start building healthy rhythms into your life now. That’s a vitamin. A painkiller is like, I need relief now. I’m having panic attacks now. I’m dealing with rejection, and I don’t want to leave my house to go to that party to hang out with those people now. What do I do? I want to give you both directions with the book. I don’t want to just give you a momentary painkiller that alleviates a symptom. I’m trying to get you to the core issue.

Because if you don’t believe that Jesus likes you, you’ll never believe anybody likes you. If you don’t believe that Jesus accepts you — not a future version of you, not a perfect version of you, not a filtered version of you — but that Jesus loves you now, you will never believe that you’re worthy to receive love from other people.

It will block you from beautiful, meaningful relationships and friendships that God has waiting for you right now. I want people to get this word in their heart. This idea Jesus says in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” In other words, whatever you can give to people is what you can expect to receive back. But if you don’t have it to give, you cannot expect to receive it in your life. I want people to get this vitamin. It’s a joy bomb. It’s a long-term thing. But here’s a painkiller. Here’s a painkiller for anxiousness:

Shut off your phone, close your computer, get in a room close the door, and spend 10 minutes in the quiet. One of the things I bring out in the book is where Jesus talks about joy from. A lot of people think Jesus was on a mountain. It’s the sermon on the mount, but it was actually a hill. I think a lot of us believe this lie that it has to be a mountain experience. It has to be spectacular to be significant. That’s not what Jesus is communicating. He’s like, no, I can just meet you on a hill. I can meet you in your room. I can meet you in the car. It doesn’t have to be spectacular to be significant. I can talk to you right now. It also says that where he was, was an isolated place but the word for the mountain he was on, the hill he was on, is Aramis. It means strength. What I believe Jesus was communicating was that you can find strength in an isolated place. A lot of us are trying to find strength in populated places. The more people I’m around, the happier I’ll be. The more I’m out and about, the happier I’ll be. It is making you numb, not making you whole. When we get alone with God for 10 minutes and let him speak into our hearts, that’s the painkiller. That’s where God gives us relief for our anxieties and our worries. 

P: As young college-age Christians take their next steps in their career, what do you want to remind them when it comes to finding joy, even amidst difficult circumstances like a job hunt, grief, or anything like that? 

TW: I would say joy is not waiting for you up ahead in some future season of your life. You rob yourself of joy in the moment when you attach joy to some experience in the future. “I’ll be happy when I graduate.” “I’ll be happy just to get this bachelor’s or this masters.” “I’ll be happy when I finally land the internship.” “I’ll be happy when he finally proposes.” “I’ll be happy when I have kids.” “I’ll be happy when I’m at home with my kids.” I’ll be — it’s constant. “I’ll be happy when I get the promotion, when I buy the car.” We have this tendency to always connect happiness to the next thing. But with Jesus, joy doesn’t have to just be a next thing, it can be a now thing. Because the source of our joy is not flowing from some future event. The source of our joy is flowing from the person we’re walking with. That is Jesus.

My joy comes from the fact that I get to do these finals with the strength of Jesus. The joy is, God is orchestrating the events of my life that I’m going to meet the person that’s meant for me at the right moment in my life. But in the meantime, I’m rocking with Jesus, and he is helping me become the right person, not just find the right person in the future. If we can get joy unleashed in our present, then we don’t have to wait to be happy one day, we can be happy right now. 

P: What are your three ways that you look for joy in your daily life? 

TW: Top three ways. Recognize other people. See what God is doing in their life. Look at them. Compliment them. Think about where they’re sitting today. What are they walking through? What difficulty? What are they celebrating? See other people. Two — spend at least 30 seconds talking to God. I have a crazy busy day today. The day that we’re recording this, there are a hundred things happening. I needed as much sleep as possible, so I didn’t get up five hours early to weep and mourn and travail with the Lord. I got up this morning. I sat on the edge of my bed, I opened my hands, and I said, “God, thank you for this day for what you want to do, bring the right people into my life. Let my heart be open to what it is that you want to do, watch over my family. Bless them.” It was literally a 60-second prayer. Now, can you build a whole life on 60-second prayers? Probably not. But there’s a fine time to connect with God every single day. Then I think the third one for me would be, find something to laugh about. Even on your worst day, sometimes I have to turn on a song. That’s just going to put a smile on my face. Find something to laugh about. If you’re having a hard time coming up with stuff, look in the mirror. There’s plenty to laugh at right there. Just find something to put a smile on your face, and it will change the trajectory of your life.