Getting the story right

Lauren Green is the chief religion correspondent for Fox News and the author of a new book, Lighthouse Faith, that—as its subtitle states—shows God as a Living Reality in a World Immersed in Fog. Here are edited excerpts of our interview in front of students at Patrick Henry College.

Did you grow up going to church? I did—and I was breathing the air of Christianity because the culture was infused with Christian beliefs.

Did that affect how you lived when you went to the University of Minnesota? I think so, but I still separated my understanding of God from my relationship with God. God was the Santa Claus in the sky, the one you call on when things are bad: “God, why are You doing these things to me? Why don’t You do what I pray to You to do? Why don’t You give me this?”

The cosmic bellhop? Yes. A lot of us view God in the Sunday school version of God, of Jesus loving the little children and lilies. We don’t see the bloody Jesus on the cross, the broken Jesus.

‘Paul knew the Scriptures so well and was able to interpret them in light of Jesus being the Messiah. I would ask him: Is there a letter that you wanted to write but didn’t get a chance to write?’

You were the third runner-up in the Miss America pageant in 1985. You also graduated from Northwestern University’s graduate school of journalism. Good combination to get a job in television journalism? One of my professors had worked with a news director in Minneapolis, where I’m from. That opened it up for me to get an interview and go back home—but my first job was not on-air, it was just writing. Working with a producer really helped because I didn’t have to focus on hair or makeup or anything: I just had to write. A few months after, I had the opportunity to be a trainee reporter. I had two things going for me. One: I already had a commercial background in modeling and presentation so I was very comfortable in front of a camera. Two, I had already developed my writing skills.

What career path do you recommend? Everybody’s story is different. Sometimes people work in small markets, work themselves up and get a great opportunity, like some big hurricane, and they’re catapulted to the network. Some people work up small markets. I know interns at Fox who start getting jobs as producers, then to be on-air go on smaller markets.

You were born in 1958. How do you deal with getting older in an industry that prizes youth? That’s still part of the industry: I can’t deny it. Yesterday a young woman came into my office, about 22 or 23. She wanted to be on-air. She must be about this big around, borderline anorexic. It was sad. There is this problem of thinking that you have to look a certain way to be in this industry.

A story in the news recently concerns Kevin Breen, a man who had his hands and feet amputated and almost died. CNN had Breen and his wife Julie saying they felt God kept him alive, and he was grateful for prayer. The Washington Post didn’t have any of that. Reporters should ask open-ended questions. What happened? How did you get through it? What was your reaction when the doctor told you? And it does depend on the editor.

In Lighthouse Faith you write about the death of your brother Kenny in 2009. Yeah, of cancer. Kenny was a painter and also a security guard, working at Home Depot. His relationship with God became so powerful and wonderful. There was a lot of stress in his life. The younger of his two daughters had severe cerebral palsy: She was basically quadriplegic. It drove him to God more.

You write about John Rankin, a theologian in Connecticut. He wants to take the hard questions from people who don’t agree with him. He respects them, loves them, and has a conversation. In a college auditorium he was debating a lesbian about LGBT issues in a room full of lesbians. At the end of the session many of them came to him and said, “I don’t agree with you, but I respect you because you care about us.” That was a huge lesson: Don’t be so focused on winning the argument that you lose the relationship.

He doesn’t give in theologically, but he says “we sinners” instead of “you sinners.” Yes, you have to find the sweet spot where you speak the truth in love. It takes work, thought, caring, seeing them not as an object but as a fellow human being in the eyes of God.

What interview that you’ve done has had the most impact on your life? The one with a Chicago minister, Scott Willis, and his wife. They had lost their six youngest children in a fiery car accident. He had incredible faith and said he often listened to “It Is Well With My Soul,” which Horatio Spafford wrote after his four daughters died in a steamship accident in the Atlantic. Scott and Janet Willis brought us into their home. He said, “We’re going to praise God.” That to me was wonderful.

One of the children who died loved baseball, and Janet wrote a children’s book based on that. The book includes a lineup card that lists all nine children, including the six who died. Nobody wants to experience that kind of pain and grief. But when it happens, you just can’t run away. You want to grow up closer to God, and God reaches out in His way. Jesus experienced in the garden the first pains of separation. He experienced this on a cosmic level, yet He went to the cross.

If you could interview anyone from the Old Testament, who would you choose? Maybe Joseph, in prison for so many years without word from God. But I think Moses is particularly interesting because of the Ten Commandments, and how he was beaten into the dust. Sometimes brokenness is the only way God can get our attention.

What particularly would you ask Moses? What were your early years like? When did you finally realize that something was different about you? Did you ever wonder why you were different and why you weren’t living with your people? What did the burning bush look like? Tell me exactly what it was like up there on Mount Sinai.

New Testament person? Apart from Jesus? The Apostle Paul. Transformed lives, the idea that Jesus meets us where we need to be met—that captivates me. Sometimes we need a soft sermon to bring us along, and sometimes hard facts, a slap in the face. Sometimes we need a revelation, a flash of light, and Jesus saying, “I am here.” Paul knew the Scriptures so well and was able to interpret them in light of Jesus being the Messiah. I would ask him: Is there a letter that you wanted to write but didn’t get a chance to write?

What would you ask Jesus? I wouldn’t ask Him anything. I would just … thank Him. Being in the presence of Jesus, every question will be answered. He peers into your soul and sees every thought, every hurt, every longing, every need, every fault—and still loves you down to your deepest soul.