By India McCarty
Forrest Frank shared an important message for a fellow Christian singer about thinking carefully about how their words might be perceived by others.
“Everyone has tagged me in this video,” Frank said in a recent Facebook video. The video shows Christian artist Cory Asbury after a surgical procedure, where he seems to be spoofing Frank’s recent videos about his back injury and the music he made during his recovery.
After watching Asbury’s video, where he creates a joke song, Frank said, “Man, this is super tough. I know y’all are going to be like, ‘Forrest, you’re way too sensitive,’ but this is, like, the 10th or even the 20th post I have seen from another Christian artist making fun of probably the most traumatic moment of my life [and] my wife’s life.”
Related: Forrest Frank Witnesses a ‘Miracle’ as He Recovers from Broken Back
Earlier this summer, Frank shared that he had broken his back after falling off a skateboard. He documented his recovery, as well as the new music he was making, on Instagram and, after just 14 days, shared with fans that he had made a miraculous recovery — his back was completely healed.
“i’m pretty much convinced God would’ve healed me day 1 from all these prayers, but He wanted these songs & this testimony come to life,” he posted on Instagram. “Regardless, i’m here for it all…ruined for the ordinary. THANK YOU JESUS.”
However, his viral videos kicked off a series of joke videos from other Christian artists, including Asbury and Matthew West.
“I know that God has brought a lot of blessing from it and maybe that’s why y’all think it’s cool to, like, now make fun of it,” Frank explained. “I can totally understand the fact [that] you guys are just having fun. You’re probably not even thinking I’m going to see it. I’ll just say this to everybody who’s making these videos, I’m not telling you to stop. But this raises a really interesting conversation with social media, because there’s no seatbelt on a social media.”
Frank continued, “All that being said — Cory, I’m still going to write you a song.”
The song, titled “Misunderstood,” features the lyrics, “It’s okay if you feel misunderstood // there’s a man who did as well when they nailed him to wood // and even through all the pain // still, He forgave them // so, I can forgive somebody, too.”
Frank also invited Asbury to collaborate with him on the song, as he thinks it could open up “a bigger topic that could be really productive to talk about if you’re willing to go deep.”
Asbury has already posted an apology video, telling Frank and his social media followers, “Man, I never meant to poke fun at anything that you were going through. Bro, I apologize for being one of those people. I heard your song, and I think it’s really powerful, man. I’m down to go there with you.”
West also apologized for his video, where he joked about writing songs about a bee sting, sharing that Frank and he “had a chance to speak directly on the phone.”
“It felt like we handled it in a biblical way,” he said. “I hope we can all celebrate each other, especially when we’re out there telling people about Jesus because He’s the answer and that’s the business we need to be about.”
Frank’s video has started an important conversation about the nature of social media, encouraging others to think before they post — and to apologize when they’ve acted insensitively.
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