Christian recording artist and pastor Tauren Wells says following God’s direction does not always mean staying in the lane where he is most comfortable.
“If you walk in God’s ways, you’ll always be in God’s will,” Wells said in a TBN interview published Sept. 1.
In the 17-minute testimony, Wells reflected on the move from leading worship, writing songs and performing to preaching and helping launch Church of Whitestone in the Austin area. He said music remains part of his calling, but it is not the whole assignment.
That transition is already visible in Wells’ public work. The artist’s official biography identifies him and his wife, Lorna, as co-lead pastors of Church of Whitestone, while the church’s own account says the couple moved to Austin with their four boys to build a faith community focused on helping people discover their God-given identity through a relationship with Jesus.
A 2025 CCM Magazine interview described the church plant as a long-held vision rather than a sudden career pivot. Wells told the magazine that he and Lorna moved from Houston in 2023 and opened the church’s doors in January 2024.
In the TBN conversation, Wells applied the same principle to everyday decisions. He said believers do not need to manipulate opportunities, manufacture situations or violate biblical principles to reach what God has promised. Instead, he urged viewers to trust God’s leadership rather than lean entirely on their own understanding, echoing the wisdom of Proverbs 3:5-6.
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“I want to bring my whole self into everything that I do,” Wells said, explaining that he does not want to leave one part of himself at home, another onstage and another somewhere else. The comment carried a family note, too: Wells joked about dancing at home so often that his wife barely notices, while their four sons have apparently inherited some of his energy.
Wells also spoke about discipleship, a subject that has become more immediate as he takes on pastoral leadership. “First I’m making sure I’m a disciple,” he said, before arguing that Jesus’ call to make disciples belongs to every believer, not only pastors, ministers or Christian artists.
That conviction led to one of the interview’s most memorable lines: “Awkward is awesome.” Wells said Christians may feel uncomfortable offering to pray for a restaurant server, inviting a neighbor to coffee or telling someone about a new church, but discomfort should not become an excuse for silence. “It’s actually an opportunity that we all have to change people’s lives,” he said.
Wells then connected that challenge to a story he said he heard during a recent trip to South Africa. He recounted a pastor’s emphasis on growing churches away from a single leader and toward multiplication, then described a woman who, according to Wells, had abandoned her child because of a local belief about the child’s teeth. Wells said the story convicted him about people who are desperate to hear that new life in Jesus is possible.
“I don’t want people walking past me saying, ‘How long was it true?’” Wells said. The question, he added, has made him more willing to risk awkwardness so people can hear the Gospel.
Wells’ account of the South Africa story is presented here as his testimony from the TBN interview and was not independently verified. Still, the larger point fits the season he described: calling may change shape, but obedience, humility and a willingness to begin again remain steady.
That theme also echoes Wells’ earlier testimony. In a K-LOVE profile, he described waiting through seasons of preparation before stepping into church planting. Movieguide® readers may recognize the biblical pattern: sometimes faithfulness looks less like a spotlight and more like taking the next faithful step.
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