Review: Ragamuffin (2014)

In the summer between my high school graduation and my entry into college, I have vivid memories of working in a dull office building in New York City, where I lived. From my commute, I was able to finally hear the strains of Christian contemporary radio, which had a spotty reception in certain parts of the city.

Imagine my joy, then, when I had heard “Awesome God” for the first time. Long before the song became a praise and worship staple, where it had summarily become beaten to death, it attained a creative, musical daring in its day that was at once both a little bit rebellious (those verses!) and yet also extremely hope-filled. I would come out of the subway station singing the song to the top of my lungs, not caring who else was listening.

After that summer, I left for college and didn’t hear Christian radio again until I returned for winter break. When I did, I happened to stumble upon a Christian contemporary music countdown of the top songs of 1988. I vividly remember coming in to the countdown in the middle of the program, so I had assumed that “Awesome God” was already accounted for. Imagine my surprise, then, that the song was mentioned as the number one song of the year. I had no idea it was that big.

Soon enough, I purchased two of Rich Mullins’ albums, and was surprised at the depths of musical poetry and honesty that permeated throughout them. These were songs on a journey that he had invited us to join along. He was steadfast in taking us to… Kansas (and later, New Mexico), where he had found God speaking in the simplicity of the plains and the common people.

Later on, he would adapt the term “Ragamuffin,” which came from (public speaker and defrocked Franciscan priest) Brennan Manning’s famed book. The thesis was that we are all sinners, we all have foibles, (of which the author is relentless honest about in his own life) and we can never attain perfection in holiness. And yet, God’s grace surmounts these.

I never quite understood the struggles that Rich Mullins had faced on his own. The Christian celebrity machine was still quite scandal-proof in its day, as the few artists who somehow make it through its mechanizations had yet to be revealed as stumble-prone and faulty as the rest of us. Rich’s own demons were kept quiet.

Years later, I would hear hints of this. For example, after his untimely passing, I would see another CCM artist (Ashley Cleveland), who had recorded a cover of one of his last songs (“Jesus…”) for the unofficial last album of Rich Mullins, “The Jesus Project”. As she shared about him from the stage, you can see her eyes widen, as she gingerly described what it was like touring with him, how he was… a character.  There was more to the story, hinted in her own trepidations of sharing such.

All this is a precursor towards watching “Ragamuffin,” an independent Christian movie that had a botched release (how is it that this didn’t get the same distribution channels as the more popular Christian movies of the past year, I’ll never know). But it’s now on Netflix streaming, and I had a chance to finally watch it to the end, last night.

This film serves as a Rorschach test between those who are familiar with Rich Mullins’ work, and those who are not. For those who are familiar, it will only touch upon some aspects of his life. The making of his magnum opus, “A Liturgy, A Legacy, and A Ragamuffin Band” (#3 in CCM’s countdown of the best albums of all time) is barely touched upon. His interest in Catholicism (culminating in the creation of a musical based on the life of “St. Frank”) is completely ignored, even though his interest in that figure is a running theme throughout the story.

What is retained, however, is a vivid snapshot of the particular quirks and struggles of an individual who had steadfastly left his mark in a musical industry and Christian celebrity subculture, by which he was fed, while also biting–mauling–that very hand that fed him.

But by being so very honest, it exposes Rich for the struggles he did have. Beyond the typical vices that have afflicted many (drinking, smoking, bouts of rage)–here was someone who was pained with the lack of affirmation of his own father, along with the romantic rejection of the one love of his life, uninterested in taking the journey to Nashville with him.

In addition to its stellar production values (the cinematography is gorgeous), and standout performances, Ragamuffin stands apart in the Christian movie scene. This is because it finds the drama, not in whether or not someone makes an altar call at the end, as is the vast majority of these vehicles. Instead, it assumes that the decision for Christ had already been made, and the drama is the reality that such a decision doesn’t mean the struggles against temptation evaporates into thin air.

Rich Mullins and Brennan Manning, for all their faults (and yes, there are many), stand resolutely as failed, broken individuals, having hurt many people, and yet… in their brokenness, in their sin, still point to Christ, still utterly reliant upon His mercy. It’s a message we all need to remember.

My ten favorite Rich Mullins songs:

• Awesome God
• Boy Like Me / Man Like You
• I See You
• If I Stand
• It Don’t Do
• Nothing Is Beyond You
• Ready for the Storm
• Screen Door
• Sing Your Praise to the Lord
• Who God Is Gonna Use

Extra: What Susan Said (But it’s somehow not in iTunes)Extra: The Other Side of the World (also not in iTunes)