Maher went on to say, “You have to grow. That’s why Paul says, ‘When I was a child, I used to think like a child, and now I put childish ways aside’ So for me, it’s this thing of like, as I grow in life, life becomes more and more uncertain, imperfect, chaotic, crazy. And I find that I need God more now than I did before.”
“I think the lesson is for young people to remember that Jesus not only died on the cross, but he suffered and died on the cross. Suffering actually has a redemptive aspect to it. It’s not meaningless, it’s not pointless,” Maher said. “He experienced mental anguish, he experienced anxiety, he experienced sort of this mental strain so much that he sweat drops of blood.”
Acknowledging that “a dark night of the soul” is part of the faith journey of every believer, Maher said, “Christ went lower than any of us could ever imagine. So no matter how low you are, he’s lower.”
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As the conversation around deconstruction has dominated evangelical circles, Maher has perhaps a unique perspective on the trend as someone who inhabits a faith tradition outside of it. A practicing Catholic, Maher has long been passionate about seeking truth wherever it may be found and unifying believers of various stripes around Jesus.
Maher has also uniquely lived this unity out in his own life. He is married to Kristin Fisher, who is a Protestant. Along with their three children, the couple splits time between Catholic and nondenominational churches, though they are committed to raising their children in the Catholic tradition.
“We’re dedicated to this pursuit of unity and relational reconciliation within the church,” Maher told Legatus in 2021. “My music is just an extension of that.”
