EXCLUSIVE: Evangelist Bryce Crawford details suicide turnaround, street ministry, social media boundaries  

Bryce Crawford discussed his journey from a dark place in high school to reaching millions online with his faith in a recent interview with Heartlander News. He also shared his strict personal boundaries with social media and his bold approach to sharing the gospel.

The 22-year-old social media and street evangelist was at his high school alma mater in Georgia to encourage the next generation of students when he sat down for a one-on-one interview.

Q: When did you come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ?

A: I grew up going to Christian school and church but didn’t really know the Lord for myself. When I got to the 8th grade, I started to develop severe anxiety and depression. When I was 17 years old on Christmas break, I planned on taking my life because it felt like the only way to get the pain to go away. I went to Waffle House for my last meal, and I had a supernatural encounter with Jesus where he stopped me from taking my life. I ran to my car and prayed a crazy prayer. In a moment, God took away my anxiety and depression.

Q: Now, as a Christian, does that idea of suicide ever creep up now and again?

A: I’ve had moments of anxiety and depression creep up on me. Never suicide. When I thought of suicide [at the Waffle House], I thought, ‘If I can’t get this [depression] to go away, then I’m just going to take my own life.’

Q: How do you encourage other people, even Christians, who may be going through a season of depression and may want to end their own lives?

A: The number one biggest thing that has helped me a ton is reading my Bible. Knowing what God thinks about me, knowing what He says about my circumstance. It is a timeless piece of transcendent literature that has impacted people before us, is impacting us now, and will continue to impact people. It does not have to adapt with society because it was meant for the human species. Every problem, even in the 21st century, the root is the same. It may look different on the outside, but the root problem is the same. And so God speaks to everything in His Word, and that has been a big help in those moments.

Q: You’ve had some radical doors open to present the gospel. What made you want to interview an OnlyFans creator like Sophie Rain?

A: I just think she’s just as much worthy of a gospel conversation as everyone else. I was shocked to hear her story of working a job and her family growing up with not a lot of money. I respectfully told her she was leading people into temptation, and I think she was upset about it. We offered to be there for her, and she hasn’t taken us up on it, which is OK.

Q: When I think of Bryce Crawford, celebrity evangelist comes to mind. What do you think of that?

A: That word is so funny to me because I didn’t wake up one day and go, “Oh my gosh, I want to be an evangelist to celebrities.” I just talk to people, and for some reason, people keep calling me to talk to them. People hit me up, and I’m not going to shy down from it. And so, like, that label is just laughable to me. You don’t have to have a verified check on your profile for me to a gospel conversation going.

Q: How do you deal with negativity and pushback of your lifestyle and your calling as an evangelist?

A: I don’t actually get angry at people. Hate [towards me] is inevitable. What matters most is if my wife brings me something, it means a lot to me. If my family, mentors or friends bring me a problem about something, it means a lot. Can the public be right about judgement? Absolutely, they can, but 90% of the time, they’re probably going to be wrong. I have nothing to prove to anyone. Someone came up to me and gave me a hard time for talking to Tristan Tate and Sophie Rain, and I said, ‘If you have a problem just because their mistakes are displayed, why don’t you come on the mic and tell everyone all the mistakes you’ve made?’ He said, “I don’t want to do that.’ I said, ‘Okay, well, fair.’

Q: Where does your boldness and insistence on truth come from?

A: I think it stems from being a little redneck from a small town. It’s for sure the Holy Spirit. I have to pray for boldness, and I still get scared. Courage is being scared and still doing the right thing. I don’t mind being embarrassed, but I can’t sit back and not do something.

Q: In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul says, ‘I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready.’ How does what you are dishing out compare to what Paul was doing with the church in Corinth?

A: Oh, man! I am definitely nowhere near Paul! I want to be like that guy for sure! I’m 22. I’m young. I am someone who does not understand the King James Version and the Shakespearean language. I try to explain [the gospel] in a simple form. I’m so grateful for guys like C.S. Lewis, R.C. Sproul and J.R.R. Tolkien, but it takes me a significantly longer time to read them. If some people think I feed milk and others think I feed steak, at least I’m feeding them Jesus. There are other people way better at explaining difficult things, and there are far more people smarter than I am that I am so grateful for. That’s why we’re a body! I do go out of my way to go in depth [personally]. I like being fed steak, but I’m an evangelist. If someone comes up to me and recognizes me in the street and goes, ‘Oh, man, I effing love your stuff,’ I’m not going to say, ‘Hey, bro, don’t cuss at me.’ I’m going to say, ‘Hey, bro, let’s talk about Jesus!’ We’ll work on the language later. I want to be the guy who can hopefully point people to Jesus.

Q: For someone who relies on social media to present the gospel, I find it interesting you don’t have the apps on your phone. Tell me why?

A: It’s a cancer for me. I know more about stupid stuff online than I do about things which matter. I need to get off my phone, read books and not let short-form content fry my brain. Although we use social media because if the majority of people are going to choose their phone over a book, I have to do my job by infiltrating people’s phones so they get something valuable out of their time.

Q: What does your daily routine look like to stay grounded in the Word?

A: I wake up, and my Doberman, Scooby, takes about 20 minutes to walk. I go on a little prayer walk, come back and read a chapter of Proverbs to start off my day. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, one for each day. I try to do my Bible time before 10 a.m., and I try to be off my phone before 10 a.m. to make sure I’m set so I can be a better leader to my team and my wife.

Q: Tell me about your church life. Are you a member of a local church where you live in Los Angeles?

A: Yes, [my wife, Maddy, and I] go to a church called Table Church in Malibu, and Pastor Chris is an amazing leader. I get to serve some Sundays on the greeting team and help set up sometimes, which is so fun. I just love getting to see people and seeing people come in and getting to know people and know them by name. I get so excited to go home and wake up super early in the morning to go to church. I get more excited about tending to my soul and being there for people in my community than the other things I do. I don’t want to neglect the city that I’m in.

(Featured image credit: Bryce Crawford, Stuart McMillian/Heartlander News)