Embracing the wonder after Forrest Frank’s miraculous healing

This summer, Christian artist Forrest Frank broke his back skateboarding in his driveway, fracturing two of his vertebrae. His subsequent healing—and the online response to it—teach us a valuable lesson about the church’s struggle with cynicism, our longing for wonder, and the powerful testimony of forgiving like Christ. 

Frank fractured his L2 and L3 vertebrae after falling off his skateboard on July 18, injuries which were expected to take six weeks to heal. While recovering in bed, Frank turned his attention to songwriting, penning a song called “God’s Got My Back” and collaborating with Christian folk artists The Figs on “Lemonade,” which began as a lighthearted parody of Frank’s lo-fi style.

The videos of this collaboration went viral, with viewers enjoying the insight into the creative process and praying for Frank’s recovery. Singer Tauren Wells paused his concert to pray for Frank, and the comment sections of Frank’s videos were filled with people saying they were praying for him. 

Ten days after the accident, Frank reported feeling the pain in his back lessen, and posted a video of himself up and walking the next day. When he went in for an X-ray two weeks after the accident, the scans showed no injury at all. Frank shared his testimony in a video series, but then returned to business as usual—promoting his tour and songs, and reaching out to CCM mainstay David Crowder when Crowder broke his leg. The pair wrote another song together called “The Rock.” 

“Now you’re my brother, and only God can do that”

While many believers rejoiced at Frank’s miraculous recovery, some wondered if the whole thing was a publicity stunt intended to promote Frank’s music and upcoming tour. Others accused him of monetizing a legitimate miracle. And some, including singer Matthew West and comedian Shama Mrema, poked fun at the situation.

West wrote a song while “recovering” from a bee sting, and Mrema posted a video of a skateboard with the caption “POV: You’re thinking about Forrest Franking your career.” West later apologized to Frank and removed his parody.

Not long afterwards, worship artist Cory Asbury posted a video similar to West’s, in which he wrote a crude song while allegedly recovering from a vasectomy. After Asbury’s team noticed comments criticizing Asbury for being insensitive, Asbury reached out to Frank in private, and the pair reconciled, with Asbury taking his parody down and Frank forgiving him.

In a series of Instagram videos, Asbury and Frank shared their conversation and thoughts with their fans. Frank recounted how, before speaking to Asbury, he’d seen Asbury’s other comedic videos and wondered why some of his jokes seemed to go too far. But when the pair spoke on the phone and heard each other’s stories, that conversation became the foundation of a deep friendship. Frank said of Asbury, “Now [he’s] my brother, and only God can do that.”

When laughter hurts

Laughter is a gift from God. Proverbs 17:22 says that “a cheerful heart is good medicine.” In Frank’s case, it quite literally was. 

His song with The Figs sprang out of a humorous video, and the title of “God’s Got My Back”—released two days after he fractured his spine—made me chuckle when I first heard it. Frank’s upbeat attitude in the midst of trial was inspiring, and his ability to rest in God’s goodness encouraged so many fellow believers. Laughter can be used to “lighten the load of life,” in Asbury’s words, and can remind us that there is still goodness to be found in the midst of trial.

But, as Ecclesiastes says, there is “a time to laugh.” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Laughter isn’t appropriate where it mocks the work of God. Ephesians 5:4 warns us, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” 

The proper response to God doing something incredible, like healing a believer, is to celebrate, not to crack dismissive jokes. Making fun of a miracle minimizes the work God has done, and it trades the joy of the Lord for a cheap laugh. 

Laughter also isn’t appropriate when it minimizes the pain a fellow believer endured. Frank shared that breaking his back was “the most traumatic moment of my life, of my wife’s life,” and after he was healed, Asbury’s post was “the tenth, maybe the twentieth post” from another Christian artist making fun of it. 

Even where a story ends happily, we’re meant to be tenderhearted, sensitive to the needs of others, and speak only that which will build others up. (Ephesians 4:29) And sometimes, the person we need to build up is ourselves. Making fun of our own pain, rather than casting our cares on Jesus, will never heal our wounded hearts. (1 Peter 5:7)

“Mockery from the church” and our need for wonder

After the public reconciliation, some Christians made fun of Frank and Asbury, telling Frank to “learn to take a joke” and defending Asbury’s parody video. Frank identified this response as part of a larger trend toward scoffing in the church: “As a believer . . . I signed up for mockery from the world, and I signed up for unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Vastly, what I’ve seen is crickets from the world and mockery with my brothers and sisters in Christ.” 

While social media can be an incredible tool for connection, it also risks reducing interactions with other believers to surface-level exchanges. When we only ever interact with others through a screen, we forget the humanity and reality of the person on the other side. And as algorithms bombard us with news of tragedy after tragedy, it’s easy to become disillusioned and hopeless over the state of the world. 

That’s why the testimony of a Christlike life has such power. Even though some believers used Frank’s and Asbury’s reconciliation as a premise for further jokes, most were deeply moved by the way that they modeled Jesus’ instructions for reconciliation; their interactions marked by deep humility, forgiveness, and grace. (Matthew 5:23-24, 18:15-17). By responding to pain with repentance and forgiveness, these two brothers in Christ demonstrated the power of God in action, giving glory to him for something only he can do. 

This generation is hungry for God. It’s why the Asbury revival of 2023 spread to multiple colleges across the country. It’s why Gen Z goes to church more than any other age group in the nation. And it’s why, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, thousands of people are exploring the faith he professed, attending church and opening Bibles for the first time in decades–or for the first time ever. 

We long for the redemptive power of Christ to make all things right. And we are searching for examples of the gospel in action—everyday miracles that restore our hope and our wonder. 

How can you lead the way to wonder today?