Grammy Winner Jonathan McReynolds Urges Christians to Root Their Identity in Jesus

When gospel singer Jonathan McReynolds won his first Grammy in 2022, he didn't celebrate for weeks on end. He was thankful for the recognition, to be sure, but he quickly shifted his focus to the next project, the next album, the next tour. 

That's the way he was built. That's also, he says, the way God wants His children to respond. McReynolds says his identity isn't in awards.  

"Our identity is in our Sonship, the Daughterhood, the things that we don't actually have to earn, the things that we cannot lose," McReynolds told Crosswalk Headlines. 

McReynolds is known to music fans as the voice behind such hits as One Hallelujah, God Is Good, and Movin On, having won multiple Stellar and Dove Awards while taking home two Grammys along the way. He's received eight Grammy nominations.

But McReynolds asserts in his new book that Christians learn more in the valleys of life, not on the mountaintop. In fact, he says, believers sometimes have a distorted view of mountains and valleys. The book is titled, Before You Climb Any Higher: Valley Wisdom for Mountain Dreams.

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"When I look at actual mountains and topography, and I look at even how civilizations were built and where they were built -- the mountains are these cold, rugged, lifeless, thin air, cold air structures," he said. "The valley is normally where there's greenery -- there is a river, there's lushness, there's nutrition, there's presence. 

"And so when I'm speaking of the valley, I'm speaking of this place that's more of a pasture. It's the place where civilizations actually are built, because there's actually ingredients for life there. So if we spend too much time climbing up this mountain, too much time worrying about awards and titles and achievements and promotions and building this ministry, building this family, building this business -- the pursuit of success pushes us up farther up this mountain, and man, let me tell you, from personal experience, there is not a lot of life up there. So you see a lot of us burn out. You see a lot of us exhausted. And I'm just praying that I can encourage people to come back down lower to the valley because that's where the life is. That is, remembering who you are, a Son or Daughter of God."

McReynolds says his identity in Christ anchors him through life's highs and lows, reminding him of his worth beyond worldly success.

"As somebody who grew up in a culture that was pretty fatherless, a home that was fatherless, I think a lot of this idea of being a Son, of being a Daughter of God and having a father is kind of foreign to us. It doesn't make sense," he said. "... And so for me, faith is very important in reestablishing that. It's very important in reestablishing where your identity comes from. That's a whole different thing than kind of the temporal stuff that we pursue in life."

McReynolds won his second Grammy this year, winning Best Gospel Song for the collaboration of One Hallelujah. 

He wants his fans to know that their value isn't defined by achievements in life.

"There is a title that is life-giving," he said. "There is a title that you don't have to drain yourself for. And if we can live out of that one, we'll be okay -- even as we climb -- and that is you as Son or Daughter of God. Absolutely, you have to take care of stuff, but remember that you're also some stuff that's being taken care of."

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Photo Credit: ©Harper Collins

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

Originally published February 25, 2025.