Now-former country star Granger Smith just ended his career in country music, performing his final show as a country artist on Saturday, taking a keepsake photo of himself doing so. He then later took to Instagram with the keepsake photo of the concert and explained what his “real reason” is for leaving country music.
In the post, the 43-year-old singer thanked those for helping him turn music into his career over the past few years and then went on to explain his thoughts behind leaving and what the reasons for is doing so are not, thus ending speculation on that front.
Beginning, he explained what the pic was and thanked his fans, saying, “I took this pic on Saturday- a keepsake from my last show as a touring musician. It’s been such a privilege to claim that job title for so many years!”
He then went on to explain what his decision to leave country is not, saying, “Let’s be clear. This is not retirement. That would mean I’m quitting work altogether. It’s also not because I’m burned out or unwell or sick or heartbroken or grieving. I am more at peace and more free than any other time of my life. It’s not for any of those reasons.”
Next, he used the Bible to explain what his real reason for leaving country is, writing, “Let me tell you the real reason. It’s the parable that Jesus used in Matthew 13:44: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.'”
And, emphasizing what that means to him, he added, “Knowing Jesus and telling others about Him is the treasure of my life. And I want you to know this, so you can have Him as your treasure too. I want my family to experience it and my kids to know this joy. I don’t want a career based upon building a name for myself to get in the way of that, no matter what kind of popularity or career I’ve gained.”
And, speaking more about what his faith means to him and how important he thinks pursuing this new path, he added, “There is not another #1 song I can write, album I can release, sold out concert I can perform, that is more important than this.”
Writing more about that, he said, “I don’t want the Granger Smith name to be famous, instead I want to proclaim the name of Christ! The one that has washed me clean, the one that has freed me from my shame and my guilt. The one that gave me a new heart. I want Him to be known! And I want to know Him more. That is the real reason I’m leaving music touring.”
Ending, he said, “From now on when you hear the name Granger Smith, my goal is NOT for you to say: ‘He was a great singer.’ Or ‘a great speaker’ or ‘author’ or not even what a ‘great loss he suffered.’ Instead, when you hear my name, I want you to think, ‘Granger Smith? Oh, I’ve heard of him. What a great Savior we have in Jesus!’ I hope to see y’all soon on a new kind of stage.”
Featured image credit: By Notdost – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=109796615
"*" indicates required fields