MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine” – A Lifetime in the Making

It is a five-times platinum hit hailed by the
Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling Christian song of
all time.

In the early 2000s, it achieved uncommon
crossover success for a faith-based track onto the pop, adult contemporary and
country radio charts.

It inspired a 2018 motion picture that
grossed $86 million at the domestic box office.

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“I Can Only Imagine” has enjoyed a remarkable life since its release as a radio single
nearly 25 years ago, on Oct. 12, 2001.

Both the instant smash success and the
enduring appeal of “I Can Only Imagine” astonishes Bart Millard, the lead
singer of the award-winning contemporary Christian music band MercyMe.

“A lot of people will search and pursue that
‘career song,’ that evergreen song for a long time, and why God allowed us to
kind of start that way, I don’t know, but I’m grateful,” said Millard in an
interview with The Catholic Register. “It really has changed our lives, and
it’s given us a platform to write more songs and tell more stories and see
healing in people’s lives.

“I didn’t dream big enough when I dreamed
this out — God outdid it by a mile.”

Millard sat down and wrote the
lyrics for his defining hit in just 10 minutes. But renowned Christian singer Amy
Grant once told him, “Bart, you didn’t write this song in 10 minutes. It took
a lifetime.”

He knew she was right.

The lyrics, contemplating the awe we will
experience when standing in front of Jesus in Heaven, drew inspiration from the
amazing transformation of Millard’s formerly abusive father, Arthur, into a
humble servant of Christ and a true loving father and friend for his son. Arthur
passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1991.

Originally, Millard accepted an offer to
allow the well-established Grant record and release a version of the song.
After inviting Millard to perform alongside her and husband Vince Gill at the
Ryman Auditorium in Nashville during Gospel Music Week, Grant felt called to give
the song back to MercyMe because of the personal nature of the lyrics.

Millard and his bandmates would record the
song for their debut studio album Almost There, which received critical
acclaim upon its release on Aug. 14, 2001.

Over the past quarter-century, Millard has
heard countless testimonials from fans about how they have been moved to
self-improvement and a desire to know Christ after listening to “I Can Only
Imagine.” One of these moments stands out to the Greenville, Texas, native.

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“We were in San Antonio, and this big burly
farmer who looked like he came right off the fields with his overalls on, and
he was probably a 6’5” dude,” reminisced the 53-year-old, “and he had four boys
with him, just as big, and they all had tears in their eyes. He recently lost
his wife, and they lost a mother. One of the kids who was in a youth group
played ‘Imagine’ at the funeral, and the other three and the dad were not
familiar with it. The dad’s telling me the story, and he’s just sobbing. He
said, ‘that was the moment that we started walking with Jesus, because of that
funeral.’

“That had to be about 2002,” continued
Millard. “To this day, I still keep in touch with them, and they are still
pursuing Jesus. They just love Him, and their lives are so different and
changed.”

Before the 25th anniversary of
MercyMe’s career song later this year, Millard has another exciting cinematic
venture debuting within days. He is in the middle of promoting I Can Only
Imagine 2, hitting theatres on Feb. 20.

Identical to the journey before the original
2018 film, producer Cindy Bond approached Millard with the idea of developing a
film centred around MercyMe’s second biggest hit, “Even If,” a Christian
chart topper in 2017.

“I told her ‘no, we’re not going through this
again,’ ” said Millard with a chuckle. “She goes, ‘no it doesn’t have to be
(based) on you. Let’s just find a story. Maybe there’s a (story in) fan mail. I
just want to use the song.’ ”

Bond’s persistence eventually
convinced Millard to sit down with Christian filmmaker Brent McCorkle to see if
there is a story to derive from “Even If.” McCorkle asked Millard to share
the story behind the song, and the singer-songwriter shared how it was inspired
by his son Sam’s lifelong battle with Type 1 diabetes. The song is a
declaration of how God is worthy of praise, even if He does not offer healing
or answer prayers the way we want.

For Millard, who also released a book on Feb.
3, co-written with his wife Shannon and prolific author Robert Noland
called Even If: Trusting God Through the Fire, “it was therapeutic” to
watch the relationship with his son on screen.

“I swore I would do things the opposite of my
dad when he was abusive,” said Millard. “I’ve done that. I’ve never laid a
finger on my kids, but then these moments where my son has diabetes, and I’m
giving him shots to keep him alive, and I hear him saying the same thing that I
used to say, ‘Daddy, you’re hurting me.’ I may not be lifting a finger to him,
but I’m hurting my son. It was devastating. And it was hard to watch on the
screen.”

Millard commended the creative team for
“figuring out what I was feeling and getting it on screen.”

The film’s authenticity, coupled with its
uplifting entertainment value, made it an enjoyable viewing experience for
Millard, Shannon and their children Sam, Gracie, Charlie, Sophie and Miles.
Notably, Sam has co-written songs and performed alongside his father in recent
years.

Millard also expressed appreciation for how
the film depicts the co-writer of “Even If” Tim Timmons. He does not want
to spoil how the fellow Christian artist helped transform his life.

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Following the promotional cycle for I Can
Only Imagine 2, Millard and his MercyMe mates will begin a tour on March
13, which will include the new single written for the film called “Make It
Well.” Timmons and Sam will join the tour.

As for what is further down the road for
Millard… He can only imagine.