Bear Grylls has dangled from helicopters over Arctic ice fields, crossed shark-infested waters and scaled the world’s highest peaks. But, according to the British adventurer, the “hardest and best thing” he’s ever done wasn’t surviving the wild, it was writing The Greatest Story Ever Told, a book about Jesus.
“This is the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done,” the 51-year-old author and TV host told The Christian Post. “I’d give up every Everest summit, every Emmy, every TV show I’ve done to have written this book.”
From “Man vs. Wild” to “Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” Grylls, a former British Special Forces soldier and Everest mountaineer, has built a global audience by showing how courage and endurance can overcome even nature’s most brutal challenges.
But his greatest burden today, he told CP, is sharing with the world the hope that can only come from a relationship with Jesus.
“I’ve always had a quiet faith,” he said. “But I also realized that so few people know the real story of Jesus. Even those of faith often know the highlights, the miracles, the cross, but not the whole story of love, sacrifice, courage and friendship. I wanted to write it as a thriller short, punchy, but theologically sound because this story is the most extraordinary adventure of all.”
The Greatest Story Ever Told is Grylls’ retelling of Jesus’ life, a fast-paced narrative that, in his words, captures “the grit, heart, and humanity” of Christ in a way that feels alive and immediate. The idea came to him while filming a Netflix series in the jungle with his eldest son.
“He kept saying, ‘Dad, you’re up all night writing. Are you on drugs or something?’” Grylls recalled. “But I just couldn’t stop. I felt this deep pull in my spirit to clear the decks and get it done.”
Released earlier this year, the book “went straight to No. 1 in the U.K.,” according to Grylls. But more importantly, he received messages from all over the world from people sharing how the book transformed their lives.
“People of all faiths said the same thing: ‘I had no idea this was really His story.’ That’s the beauty of it. It’s history. ‘His story,’” he said.
“I see old grannies saying, ‘I’m giving this to my neighbor, my plumber,’ and 12-year-olds reading it on their way to school. That’s been the greatest privilege of my life, to tell a story that’s bigger than any of my own. Because this really is the greatest story.”
One of the scenes that most moved him while writing, the author said, was Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
“He knows that once He starts doing supernatural things, the clock is ticking toward Jerusalem, torture and death,” Grylls says. “So He delays. It’s His mother who finally pushes Him to act. She sees the problem, grabs Him by the coat, and when He resists, says, ‘It’s not my time,’ she just turns to the servants and says, ‘Do whatever He says.’ She knows she’s got Him.”
“Those words hit me hard: ‘Do whatever He says.’ We complicate faith so much. But if He’s almighty God, what a privilege to just follow His lead. That’s how we find peace and purpose. Just do whatever He says.”
For Grylls, faith and adventure have always been intertwined. He previously shared with CP how he struggles with modern Western churches and their sanitized messaging, where people “can’t be honest, can’t express doubt, and can’t fail.”
“Faith hasn’t made my life any easier,” he shared. “I’ve had so many struggles, so many doubts. But I’ve learned that’s OK. Everyone around Jesus doubted. They were 99% doubt and 1% faith most of the time. Faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin.”
“I’m a soldier,” he added, referencing his years in the elite British 21 SAS regiment. “When I get an order, I try to follow it. And the command that’s repeated most in the Bible, 365 times, is, ‘Do not be afraid.’ So I take that as my marching orders. It doesn’t mean I’m never scared, but I do my best to live with courage and make my faith dependent on Him rather than on me.”
“It’s a battleground. We cling to our faith in the good and the bad. Every day I try to start on my knees, say sorry, ask for help and tackle the day with Christ inside me.”
Grylls, who shares three sons with his wife of over 20 years, Shara, has long been open about his Christian faith, even in the most secular corners of the entertainment industry.
His willingness to discuss Jesus on talk shows, in documentaries, and with high-profile guests, including Will Ferrell and Barack Obama, stems from a firm belief that faith should not be compartmentalized from fame.
“We’re not being asked to defend a murderer in court,” he said. “We’re being asked to stand for the Almighty God who created the stars, who is love personified, who came to earth to bring us home. What a privilege.”
“Where do we build our foundations?” he asked. “I don’t want my identity to be that I’m a TV host or an author. I want it to be that I walk daily with the Almighty. Work is work, but I want it to spread light and love, to encourage people to live boldly, with a never-give-up spirit, and to know that faith isn’t weak or weird. It’s strong and empowering.”
That conviction, he says, fuels everything he does, including his partnership with “The Chosen,” the record-breaking Christian drama series that helped ensure the theological accuracy of his new book.
Grylls is set to host “The Chosen in the Wild,” a six-episode adventure series that will follow various cast members of “The Chosen” as they join Grylls for outdoor challenges and navigate survival situations, reflecting on the faith that sustained Jesus’ disciples.
“[‘The Chosen’ team] was amazing,” Grylls said. “They helped make sure everything in The Greatest Story Ever Told is spot-on biblically. We’re even doing a partnership around ‘The Chosen in the Wild.’ I’m so grateful to them, they’re doing such brilliant work.”
Grylls just wrapped filming the ninth season of “Running Wild” and has “The Chosen of the Wild” set to debut soon. But he says all of it now orbits around this one defining pursuit: following Jesus wherever He leads.
“It’s a journey of ups and downs,” he said. “But through it all, I’m hitching my wagon to a star and holding on to His coattails. This book, this story, it’s the one I want to follow for the rest of my life. … This is part of my life now. It’s not going to leave me. It’s grown beyond me; it has a life of its own.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
