In his 1988 essay, “God and Country,” the Kentucky farmer, writer and prophet Wendell Berry takes aim at the institutional church for a variety of offenses. It’s a proper jeremiad, a polemic against his perennial enemy, “the economy,” and in service of his larger point, Berry states a truth so profound and convicting that it’s hung firmly in my mind since I first read it several years ago.

Berry writes of “the practice, again common in the churches of my experience, of using the rural ministry as a training ground for young ministers and as a means of subsidizing their education. No church official, apparently, sees any logical, much less any spiritual, problem in sending young people to minister to country churches before they have, according to their institutional superiors, become eligible to be ministers.”

Most churches within a hundred miles of an academic institution of their particular denominational stripe will be instantly familiar with Berry’s gripe. When I interviewed at one such church shortly after completing my seminary degree and commented on the legacy of that congregation in training up fresh pastors over the years, I was met with a similar degree of enthusiasm as Berry expresses in his essay.

They wanted to have good pastors, not just make them.

None called to stay

Berry goes on to describe the conventional wisdom of denominational leaders in less than kind terms: “The country people will be used to educate ministers for the benefit of city people (in wealthier churches) who, obviously, are thought more deserving of educated ministers.”

And though he doesn’t blame the individual young ministers for their participation in this system, he does note that “in the more than fifty years that I have known my own rural community, many student ministers have been ‘called’ to serve in its churches, but not one has ever been ‘called’ to stay.”

These words struck me like a sledgehammer, and I’ve often reflected on them in the course of my few years serving the people of rural Crowell, Texas, in my first pastorate.

Stepping stone?

The traditional trajectory for a young pastor like myself is to treat a community and church like Crowell as a stepping stone to ever bigger, wealthier urban or suburban churches. But I don’t believe that bigger is necessarily better, or that urban is superior to rural.

I want to be “called to stay” in my small church in my rural community. Churches like mine deserve good pastors too, and I hope to be one for them.

But conventional wisdom considers that a lack of ambition, even a waste of good talent. Conventional wisdom considers my time in Crowell a resume builder and learning period at best, and though neither of those things in themselves is bad, the simple fact that they are given foremost attention in the big picture strikes me as antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ and insulting to the fine people of Foard County and other similar communities.

Now, by challenging the notion that small communities and their churches are undervalued as places of service and worship, I don’t mean to suggest that ministry to cities through big churches is correspondingly bereft of value. Neither Wendell Berry nor I approve of that sentiment.

In the middle of his argument, he pauses to state that “not all ministers should be country ministers, just as not all people should be country people.” And yet there is a need to promote smaller communities and churches as a good in themselves, and not only as a training ground for the bigger and urban.

Consider small churches

Jesus spent his ministry traveling in and out of small communities and was himself reviled on different occasions for his rural roots. Now, certainly, he also taught at the Temple in Jerusalem, but that was not his primary place of ministry. The Sermon on the Mount was delivered in the wilderness. The ten lepers were cleansed in the borderlands of Samaria. He commissioned his disciples to go from the urban center of Jerusalem to the “ends of the earth.”

It’s in that spirit that I call on pastors to consider small and rural churches when the Lord leads you toward your next transition.

It’s in that spirit that I call my sisters and brothers in the faith to visit the small church on the corner before starting membership classes at the big McChurch downtown when they move to a new community.

It’s in that spirit that I implore denominational leadership, Bible colleges and seminaries to champion the small and rural churches in their outlying areas as places where God is especially at work.

Teach our young ministers that these are places to love and serve for more than two years at a time and that the fullness of life can be experienced and enjoyed in these communities. Continue to encourage them to serve the local church in all kinds of paid and unpaid roles while they’re training for ministry careers, but remind them that those local churches are not just ministry labs for experimentation or short-term places to work until they get a real call.

They are themselves the full manifestation of the church of Jesus Christ, and service in those places is eternal in scope.

Chris McLain is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Crowell, Texas.

In the aftermath of the devastation on the Gulf Coast, Houston and the surrounding areas will be under reconstruction for months and years to come. Events like this evoke questions such as “How can a 500-year flood happen three times in a decade?” and “How can a city of this magnitude be restored in such a way that is fair to citizens who do not have the money to rebuild?”

As we saw in the wake of Katrina, rebuilding after a natural disaster does not always happen in a way which is just. In a different time, we would have space to defer these questions, of what it means to build our infrastructure well and how to rebuild in ways which do not erase those without the money to rebuild. That time is now, and Christians of all persuasions should learn from the past that it not be repeated in south Texas.

After the rescue and cleanup, our collective hearts will be called to another longer and more arduous task: recovery. It will occur long after the news cycle has turned toward another disaster and will take place in mundane spaces—in board meetings and in midnight work details. But it is a work which Christians should commit themselves to, remembering those who will be eventually forgotten in the news cycle.

What your church can do

In this time, I’d like to specifically draw our congregational attention to the groups who make the local recovery possible: the myriad nonprofits and churches, who themselves have been devastated by hurricanes and floods. My friend, Elizabeth Grasham, has put together the following wonderful proposal, which I will simply quote here:

“This level of disaster can be an ‘extinction level event’ for small non-profits, including churches. If the constituents of a small non-profit have to divert all of their income towards rebuilding, or if they are forced to move altogether because of disaster, that hits the bottom line of the organization.

“Here’s my challenge to you:

“If possible, have your congregation choose one of the affected churches in the Houston area (or Corpus, or Port Aransas, or wherever) to become affiliated with. Maybe you send $500 a year to keep their food pantry going. Maybe you pay for their Sunday School curriculum for a year. Maybe you commit to a yearly mission trip to be of service to that church and its community. Whatever – become a long-distance supporter of their ministries to help them stay afloat during what is going to be a protracted recovery process.”

‘A wealth of generosity’

In the middle of 2 Corinthians, Paul asks the fractured, embattled Corinthian church for a huge favor, writing “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia;  for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. … Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others” (2 Corinthians 8:1–2, 7-8).

What Paul is asking here is nothing less than asking a frail, fractured church to give to another congregation in need, one that they have never met, and one which they may never personally have contact with. And in that, they prove their generosity, exhibiting the unity of the body of Christ. What he is asking for goes beyond a one-time gift, but partnership, commitment to another unknown body that will bind them together long after the immediate rescue is over.

Long-term partnering

The Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief is an amazing group which gives selflessly, but I am asking that churches not let this outstanding group be their only representative. Consider partnering with a church you have never met in a tangible, long-term way, that the witness of Christ in the world would not be extinguished by the storm.

Such an action is more than charity—it is fleshing out the very prayer of Jesus that we would be one, a unity which exists in Christ but which we are ever called to embody in the world in our worship, and now, in our finances.

Myles Werntz is assistant professor of Christian ethics and practical theology and the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in Abilene. Email him at Myles.Werntz@hsutx.edu.

During my first three years of ministry, I served as youth minister at First Baptist Church in Port Aransas. Port Aransas is an amazing place filled with special people.

As I think back on my time there, I am so thankful for many who took me in like family. I am thankful for many who helped with my ministry, and I am especially thankful for my pastor, William Campbell, who showed me how to love a community well.

Hurricane Harvey has left destruction in its wake on the small town of Port Aransas. At the time I am writing this, homes are still uninhabitable. The people of Port A have to commute from surrounding areas to clean up during the day and be off the island by dark. There is no power yet.

Their water is close to being turned back on, and many are trying their best to do the initial work of assessing and cleaning what they can. Some homes are destroyed, and all have been affected in some way or another. A Google search of the town will show the destruction the storm left behind.

One thing I am sure of is that the people of Port Aransas will rebuild. They are strong, compassionate and united. They also need our help.

Houston has received a ton of national attention and rightly so. They need all the help they can get, but let us not forget the small towns along the coast that so many of us have visited and enjoyed. Let us not forget the smaller churches doing all they can to not only rebuild but also be the hands and feet of Jesus to their communities.

We as the body of Christ, and especially as Texas Baptists, must respond to our brothers and sisters in need. We must pray. We must give. We must go.

Pray

We all can pray, and we should not discount the importance and power of this action. Port Aransas needs your prayers. My prayer for them this week has been Psalm 29:11: “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!”

Let’s pray for those affected by this storm. Let’s pray for them to know the power and presence of God in the midst of unspeakable grief and loss. This is our first and greatest response on behalf of those who have lost so much.

Give

This is a time for the church to live out our compassion by being generous with the gifts God has given to us. We have been blessed in order to bless those in need.

Give your money to help churches, families and communities rebuild. Give your money to organizations you know and trust. Give to Texas Baptist Men. Find a church affected in these areas and give to them. Contact First Baptist Church Port Aransas and know they will use every dollar they receive the help their community.

So many have already been so generous, but this is going to take a long relief effort. We must continue to be generous for years to come to help this area of our great state.

Go

These areas are going to need volunteers to help them clean up and rebuild. If you are able, head down there and help. Use your own hands to clean up and rebuild. They are going to need us. If you can’t go yourself, do what you can to make sure others are able to volunteer their time.

This is our time

We talk a lot about what it means to be the church, how we can be salt and light and what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Well, the time for talking is over.

This is an opportunity for us as the church to live out the mission statements we write for our websites. This is a chance for us to truly be the physical hands and feet of Jesus to those who really need us at this moment.

We must pray, give and go in response to Hurricane Harvey.

We must be the church.

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.

If you’re not satisfied with Jesus, don’t worry. You’ve got gospels galore in this pluralist, postmodern age. Take your pick.

Two of our current favorites are the privilege gospel and the supremacy gospel.

The privilege gospel

Those who teach the privilege gospel teach advantages are sure signs of God’s blessing. Because privilege is a sign of God’s approval and blessing, the privileged should be protected and maintained in their comfort and security, regardless of the cost to the less and the least privileged.

Amos, an Old Testament prophet, delivered a bracing condemnation of the privileged who use the poor for their own gain. Amos taught Israel their denial of justice and their oppression of the poor would result in their destruction. The true gospel teaches God expects God’s people to enact justice for all.

The nature of privilege—the ignorance, whether willful or naïve, of the suffering of the unprivileged—allows for the ascendancy of our second current favorite gospel.

The supremacy gospel

Those who teach the supremacy gospel teach the best life is realized when lesser people—the undesirables—are subjugated or exterminated. The supremacy gospel is preached by racial and ethnic groups all over the world and often leads to genocide, the wiping out of entire populations of people.

Given supremacy’s historic penchant for genocide, God’s people must resist any expression of human supremacy. Today, God’s white people must resist its white form.

From the first words of the Bible, we learn God created humans—all humans, regardless of color and gender—in the image of God. All humans, then, are sacred and should be treated as sacred, created in the image of God and bearers of God’s image.

Peter offers a response to the supremacy gospel. When Peter’s enemy—a Roman military officer—believed in Jesus, Peter said:

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35 NIV).

Peter laid aside his own supremacist ideas in favor of the teachings of Jesus, the true gospel, who taught that in place of hate, in place of killing those we oppose, we must love and pray for them.

The problem of other gospels

The problem with other gospels is they distort the truth by using the language of the true gospel. Not long after Jesus returned to heaven, the good news (the gospel) Jesus came to deliver was distorted by people who thought Jesus’ way was too good, too miraculous or too wrong to be true. Much of the New Testament was written to resist these distortions, these false teachings creeping into Christ’s church carried by false teachers.

False teachers are of two kinds:

• those who claim to be inspired by God but who are not inspired by anything more than their own imaginations, and
• those who are inspired not by God but by a spirit of falsehood.

The problem with other gospels is they are perpetrated by false teachers whose teachings deceive us by sounding too much like the true gospel.

The true gospel

The truth of false gospels is that the true gospel really is too good and too miraculous. We don’t deserve what Jesus did. We can’t earn it, and we can’t do it for ourselves.

The truth of the true gospel is that it is open to all who call on the name of the Lord, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, gender or social status (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13).

The truth of the true gospel is that none who accept it are better or worse than any other, for in Jesus, divisions of color, ethnicity, gender and status are to cease (Galatians 3:26–28).

The truth of the true gospel is just as Paul wrote:

“That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that [Christ] was buried, that [Christ] was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NIV).

The truth of the true gospel is just as John wrote:

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. … Everyone born of God overcomes the world. … Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. …

… God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I [, John,] write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:1a, 4a, 5, 11b–13, NIV)

There are many gospels out there, but only one leads to life.

What gospel are you following? Are you chasing after comfort and security, power and dominance, or are you chasing after Jesus, the only One in whom is abundant and eternal life?

Eric Black is pastor of First Baptist Church in Covington, Texas, and a member of the Baptist Standard Publishing board of directors.

An uncomfortable but inevitable question recently appeared as a text message on my phone: “What do you think about the Confederate statues being taken down?”

How does a pastor respond to such a text with brevity and wisdom? I thought long and hard about my reply because, in our current cultural climate, a text message can be so easily misinterpreted and distributed virally that it may actually be wiser to thumb-type these important words: “I’ll get back to you.”

Nevertheless, I fully trusted the person who would read my response, and I hammered out some statements woefully void of a great deal of theologizing. After a few more minutes of pondering, my mind’s browser finally sprang to life and pulled an old file that contains a wise prayer first uttered by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1943: “God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.”

I thought, “This prayer says exactly what I’m thinking!” Let me elaborate based almost primarily upon Niebuhr’s prayer and general line of thought.

The problem with “I’m not racist”

When it comes to recent racial tension and chaos in our nation, we simply must face the fact that we cannot change the history of American racial tension. It is useless either to tear down or to prop up statues of Confederate soldiers if doing so is simply an act of guarding a group’s power and pride. Perhaps, then, a re-engagement with our American history is needed now more than ever.

For example, I highly recommend a groundbreaking book called “Divided by Faith” by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson, sociologists at Rice University. Through extensive research, Smith and Emerson theorize that a majority of both black and white evangelical Christians in America today engage in something called “racialization.” Racialization refers to the social constructs of a given society or group which exclude others based upon economic, political, racial, lingual or physical differences.

Smith and Emerson suggest that most of our racialized activities come out of a basic ignorance of ways to appropriate love for our neighbors. For example, we could be quite mistaken when we say, “I’m not racist!” just because we do not seemingly act like our ancestors in the pre-Civil Rights era. Saying “I’m not racist” is simply like putting on a fresh suit of clothes that dolls up the hidden agenda of self-promotion. We oftentimes dress up in the right and acceptable language of our peers in order to gain acceptance with them, yet the heart can remain unchanged and soiled.

One must search deeply within the recesses of his/her heart to find that all of us need redemption and mercy when it comes to the race issue. There is a tension between good and evil in all of us. We cannot fix a problem by saying, “I’m not racist.”

The problem with education

Further, we seem somewhat powerless to change the ineffectiveness of educational and political models in the current national crisis. In other words, our efforts at educating the masses, especially children and youth, are not keeping up with the social problems of the times. It is not enough for us to say, “Education through the schools and universities can fix this.” Increasing support for our educational systems is certainly worthy of our time and effort, but we are in desperate need of new wine and new wineskins.

Take, for instance, my educational journey. It was not until well into seminary training (master’s degree courses) that my peers and I had to face down directly our racial tendencies and, as well, racialized ways of leading churches.

In fact, it was after reading Taylor Branch’s three epic historical volumes about Martin Luther King Jr. that I finally can see where statues of General Lee may be more than a bit disturbing to my black brothers and sisters! Why did it take me that long to figure it out? I dare say it was because of a few educators who dared to ask the hard questions about life rather than teaching us facts simply for us to pass a test.

What then can we change?

Fortunately, there exists some recommendations for fighting the fiery brand of racism raging across our nation today.

First, may we note some sharp and distinctive ironies at work in our culture? For instance, there seems to be a large group of citizens who desperately desire to be left alone, to isolate themselves in order to be responsible citizens. The irony, however, is that isolationism does anything but encourage a responsible citizenry.

We see this kind of thing at work on a much smaller scale in some family environments. The mantra is: “If the problem is not discussed in the home, then it must not exist.” Just because we hide behind our big doors and gated neighborhoods does not mean we have solved the problems of conflict within the community. Engagement with others beyond the scope of social media and insignificant surface interactions is desperately needed in our society today.

Consider another irony that many of us in America today equate happiness with making ourselves comfortable. If we follow this line of logic, then dealing with racism would be easily solved by throwing more resources, namely money, at the incongruities of our lives. This is apparently why our culture is so overly consumed with materialism and with blaming neighbors, politicians, educators and ultimately God for not providing the resources to make us happy.

I’m discovering, though, that the equal distribution of resources may never provide fulfillment of human life in a given society. Not that we should always keep the rich richer and make the poor poorer, but our current methods of accommodation seem particularly unrealistic at this point. Money and governmental administrations will not solve our problems, and we should cease looking to these as the primary outlets of life support. There are deeper spiritual problems afoot other than leveling the economic playing field of society through political models.

The solution: Seek wisdom

Second, we should consider changing our methods of arbitrating conflicts where those who have more money, political prowess or shrewder negotiating tactics seize power and dictate the majority’s opinion. Dr. Niebuhr again: “The question which confronts society is how it can eliminate social injustice by methods which offer some fair opportunity of abolishing what is evil in our present society, without destroying what is worth preserving in it, and without running the risk of substituting new abuses and injustices in the place of those abolished.”

In other words, those who seek to deal with our current problems run the risk of using tactics that look eerily similar to those they decry as abhorrent. Isn’t it something that we oftentimes look more like our enemies than we care to admit?

May the Lord give us great wisdom at this point to love him above all and love our neighbor as ourselves.

So, let us pray for God’s grace to accept what we cannot change, to change for the betterment of our neighbors what we can while we still have time, and may we obtain wisdom to know the difference between the two.

James Hassell is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas.

I am a two-time alumna, former staff member and current faculty member at Hardin-Simmons University.

One of HSU’s traditions has included the Six White Horses program, which performs at a wide variety of events including rodeos and parades. In their performances, each of the six riders bears one of the six flags that have flown over Texas in modern history.

Recently, HSU decided that the Six White Horses will no longer carry any flag representing the Confederate States of America.

President Eric Brutmyer wrote to faculty and staff, “Each flag carries with it a context. In ideal circumstances, flags are unifying symbols, serving as common representations of purpose and pride. In other cases however, flags can be divisive symbols which create conflict and disunity.”

Pointing to the life’s mission of HSU founder and abolitionist Baptist pastor, James B. Simmons, President Bruntmyer stated that the decision continues HSU’s “commitment to unity in the purpose of Christ’s love.”

Willing to confront our complicity

I was present in a faculty and staff breakfast when the discussion of discontinuing to carry a Confederate flag was first announced. Upon hearing this news, I felt two distinct emotions.

First, I felt an immense sense of pride to be a part of an institution that is willing to confront its own complicity in racism.

On social media, I have seen dissent with President Bruntmyer’s decision among my fellow alumni. People say that carrying a flag represents an emphasis on history that should not be silenced. And I would agree with them. We should always seek to know our history.

Our history has formed us into who we are, but hopefully our history also informs us on how to be better followers of Christ in our current story.

Learning and engaging our history is different from honoring its mistakes by flying a representation of an entity created to sustain slavery and which has contributed to the institutional and systemic racism that still permeates our society today.

No country is perfect. Flags of other countries, as well as our own, also represent oppression and marginalization. But, in the case of the United States, a flag of the Confederacy is a symbol of the devaluing of human life in our society, and thus it is not something worthy of paraded celebration.

Personally, I am proud of HSU’s president for being brave enough to challenge tradition in the name of love and respect for all humanity.

But why not sooner?

The second emotion that I felt upon hearing the news was one of embarrassment and contrition. As proud as I am of the fact that this decision has been made, I am equally as sorry that the decision has not been made sooner.

I grew up in a neighborhood in which my white face was the minority. I had friends who were brown and black. We would stay out till dark playing in the streets together. But at some point, around middle school, we all began to mostly gravitate toward friends whose skin tones were more like our own.

I thought I was the opposite of a racist because I had grown up in this way. But I didn’t realize how much that gradual separation between me and my childhood friends meant.

I went off to join a group of friends that were mostly white and who had a lot of opportunities, just as I did. I didn’t realize how much white privilege was shaping the formation of our adolescent selves and the lives that we got to live.

My white friends and I were never stopped or approached by the police … except for that one time on prom night. (Sorry if I never told you that, mom.) People never moved to the other side of the street when we walked by. They never wondered if we were coming into a store to steal something.

We lived in a world in which we had privilege simply because of the color of our skin, and we had no idea that was the way it was.

Admitting my white privilege

It’s difficult to confront white privilege and to be willing to admit that I have benefited from the fact that institutional slavery existed in this country just a few hundred years ago. It’s difficult to admit that my ancestors were probably people who perpetuated the devaluing of human life.

So I am embarrassed that I have attended and worked at an institution that flew a flag representing systemic racism and I didn’t think to say something sooner. And I beg the forgiveness of anyone offended or hurt by HSU’s association with that flag.

White Christians, we have to do better. We have to admit when we are wrong and when we have been wrong in the past. We have to be willing to challenge tradition for the sake of love. We have to sacrifice so that reconciliation can begin — that is the example of the Christ we follow.

Meredith Stone is director of ministry guidance and instructor of Christian ministry and Scripture at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. She is a member of the Baptist Standard Publishing board of directors.

Ah, back-to-school time. Sometimes, children in my church ask me what grade I’m in. I tell them I’m in the 18th grade and watch their eyes widen.

Jake Raabe I am in my second year of graduate school, working toward my master of divinity degree at Truett Theological Seminary. I have my bachelor of arts degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor with a double-major in English and Christian studies.

Looking back fondly

This time of year always makes me nostalgic about starting college six years ago. Lots of excitement accompanies this time: moving away from home for the first time, starting a new life in a new city, being considered an “adult” for the first time and so on. For students pursuing a religion degree, a unique kind of excitement exists.

Going to college as a church member studying for some type of ministry is a great experience: one leaves with a sense of support and encouragement by their church community that I can’t imagine any other type of student feels. (Well, at least if you’re a man. If you’re a woman, I imagine you get less encouragement and more bad exegesis of 1 Timothy 2 and second-guessing of your life ambition).

At the same time new religion, theology, and ministry students feel encouraged by their congregations, a suspicion of higher education pervades American Evangelical churches. In the weeks before I left for college, I often heard, “Don’t let education ruin you.” When I graduated college and was preparing for seminary, I heard a similar sentiment: “Don’t let seminary ruin your faith.” Seminary/cemetery jokes ensued as well. As excited as churches are to see their young men (and, in some fortunate cases, women) begin training for ministry, a real fear exists that education will somehow “corrupt” them.

Blessed is the theology student

I understand this impulse, and, frankly, I think it’s at least partially our fault as students. As a young theology student, I forgot how lucky I was. I forgot that, given the chance, almost any member of my church would have switched places with me. What follower of Christ wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to spend four years of their life devoted to the study of God, God’s word and the Christian community throughout history?

You—the person going to study Christianity for the sake of ministry—have no idea how lucky you are.

You’ll get to spend hours, days, weeks, months and years in contemplation of difficult subjects. You’ll do this with resources—books, professors, assignments and so on—that those in your congregation don’t have. You will change your mind on important issues as a result of your studies, and your congregation won’t understand why because they don’t have the same time and resources as you.

You’ll find new ways of reading biblical texts and thinking about God, and you’ll forget just how long and painful getting to that point was. And, for that reason, you may resent your congregation for not thinking the same way as you or immediately adopting the new insights that you spent months and years developing. You’ll get frustrated, thinking of them as “close-minded fundamentalists” for believing something you may have believed three months ago. They’ll become equally frustrated, thinking you’re “another student turned liberal by <insert college>.”

Evangelicals have a reputation for being “anti-intellectual,” and it’s probably earned. But religion students certainly don’t help the case by forgetting our privilege, in being able to study in the first place, and by expecting those around us to immediately change their minds on ideas we wrestled with for months before becoming comfortable with those ideas.

Be slow to anger and quick to listen

How do we in the study of religion combat this idea that education is a bad thing? I believe we do so by remembering that whatever we do or study, and whatever our career aims are—pastoral ministry, nonprofit work, religious academics—we do what we do in service to the church.

The point where we find ourselves frustrated with the church or feeling like it’s holding us back is the point where we have forgotten why we do what we do.

I’d like to close with a quote from Helmut Thielicke’s “A Little Exercise for Young Theologians,” a transcript of the first lecture he would always give to his introductory theology classes at the University of Hamburg:

If the theologian, however, does not take seriously the objections of the ordinary washerwoman and the simple hourly-wage earner … surely something is not right with theology. … The church has the prior right to question us, even if it does not and cannot understand the details of our work; for we are pursuing our theological study in its very midst as surely as we are members of that church.

Young religion students, enjoy the road ahead! But never forget that you do what you do in service of the church. That’s what I wish I would have known six years ago, so learn from my regrets.

Jake Raabe is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas and a writer. Follow him on his Facebook page.

The scene in Acts 4 of the early church gathered together and praying for one another is powerful.

Peter and John have just been released from the council with the command not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore or face dire consequences. The reprimanded disciples run back to their brothers and sisters in Christ and report what has happened to them and the sure future of the church if she continues to proclaim Jesus. In verses 23–31, we see the response of these early believers.

Zac Harrel They stop everything and they pray together.

The church today needs to follow this example. While we are not being persecuted like these believers in Acts 4, we are in a moment in our country where the church needs this prayer. The church needs the filling power of the Holy Spirit.

In this prayer we see a powerful request built on the foundation of trusting faith.

The foundation of faith

First, we see the faith of these believers in their sovereign God. They confess that all they have seen, heard and experienced in the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are according to the plan and purposes of God. God is working even in the midst of their persecution to redeem and restore his world. They trust God.

We need to trust God. This moment of chaos and evil seeming so prevalent needs a church standing on the foundation of a hopeful, trusting faith. To be who we are called to be and to do what we are called to do, we must be men and women of prayer who stand on the foundation of deep trust and faith in God and his good plan.

A request for boldness

Out of this faith, the church together makes one request of God. They ask God to help them “continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). In the face of opposition and in the midst of chaos and evil, they ask for boldness.

They don’t ask for safety or comfort; they ask to have the boldness to speak the word of God.

The church today needs boldness to stand for the truth of God’s Word. This is not a call to be politically incorrect. This is not a call for the church to be loudmouthed and full of hate.

True boldness in our day is to stand for the value and worth of all who are made in the image of God. True boldness is not to let the gospel be co-opted by right or left but to be willing to offend both with the truth of God’s word. True boldness is not just our words, but our actions as well.

Will we be bold enough to open our homes and our lives to those who disagree with us and who look different from us?

The church must stand with radical love and kindness proclaiming the truth of the word of God, calling all to repentance and faith in Christ. The disciples asked for boldness to proclaim the gospel, not the talking points of their political party.

We must ask God to give us this same boldness to speak his word with love.

God’s answer

Verse 31 tells us what happens next. God answers their prayer. The followers of Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continue to “speak the word of God with boldness.”

God answers the prayers of his people when they pray to fulfill his will and redemptive plan of salvation. God will answer our prayer if we pray on the foundation of a deep faith for God to give us boldness to truly be the church.

This world needs the church to be bold with God’s word, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk by faith in the plan and purposes of our good God.

Will you pray with me for God to make us bold with love and kindness? Will you pray with me for God to help us let go of safety and comfort for the sake of the gospel? Will you pray with me for God to give us a deep faith as the people of God?

Pray with me and let us be amazed together how God will be faithful to answer the prayers of his people.

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.

The Washington Post reported on August 9, 2017 that Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, declared that President Trump had the biblical authority to “take out” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Leaning exclusively on a vague understanding of Romans 13, Jeffress argued that the passage “gives the government … the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers.”

Mitch RandallHere is what the passage actually states: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God … For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad … But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:1–4 NRSV).

A clear warning

Now, let’s be very clear, this passage was not written to the governing authorities but to those Roman Christians living under their authority.  Paul was not creating a “How To” manual for emperors and presidents. He was, however, encouraging Christians living under an oppressive regime to act with integrity and grace.

Paul’s warning is clear: Christians should honor the authority of governing leaders while at the same time understand there will be consequences for unruly and unlawful behavior. Paul never makes the argument that emperors should kill but simply acknowledges the reality they do when given a purpose to do so. 

Jeffress misses the mark in his argument when he neglects to consider other passages of Scripture, even those close to Romans 13. Immediately preceding it, Paul wrote, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19–21).

When pastors and theologians fail to consider the entire Bible to make an argument about doctrine, then we fail to be objective and thoughtful practitioners of the Bible.  When Christians fall short in measuring our theology against the teaching and life of Jesus, then we can be found guilty of using the Bible for our own objectives. 

Picking and choosing

Back in 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention decided to eliminate one important sentence within the section on the Bible from their confession of faith. In that section in 1963, the sentence read, “The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.” Now, only conjecture is left to determine why this sentence was eliminated from the SBC’s confession of faith, but we might now be witnessing the damage it is causing.

When Jesus is taken out of the equation when we read, interpret and apply the Bible to important situations, then anyone is left to pick and choose passages of Scripture that fit their preconceived ideals. When those preconceived ideals merge with political agendas, then the stage is set for what we have seen unfold with Jeffress’ claims.

Without Jesus to guide our thoughts and conclusions, we can make arguments for war against those we dislike and instill oppressive laws against those who worship differently than us. If we insert Jesus back into the equation, then we Christians must ask ourselves, “Whom would Jesus take out?” 

Emperors, kings and dictators have been trying to answer this question for over 2,000 years. When church and state have worked to together to eliminate common enemies with the sword, the only thing to suffer has been the gospel itself. 

If only we had Jesus saying something about what we should do with our swords when faced by an enemy? Ah, yes, how quickly we forget. 

On the night of his betrayal, as soldiers came to arrest him and Peter drew his sword to strike, Jesus said, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). 

Now, there is an idea!

I think I will go with Jesus on this one.

Mitch Randall is the pastor of NorthHaven Church in Norman, Oklahoma.

Thirty-two teams in the league, with each team carrying about two quarterbacks, and a quarterback who has led his team to a Super Bowl cannot get job.

Dante WrightThere has been chatter among the NFL and its fans about the reason for Colin Kaepernick’s inability to find work in the NFL, even as a backup quarterback. Back in May, Giants owner John Mara said, “All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue.” His quote suggests that the issue of Kaepernick’s patriotism and activism is the reason for his unemployment.

Other reasons have emerged that state he’d be a distraction, he doesn’t care about football, he doesn’t want to play football, he’s not a good player, and he hasn’t expressed that he actually wants to play.

Everyone has a reason for his scarlet letter.

Who needs to change?

The most recent reason for Kaepernick’s unemployment is from Michael Vick, who states that Colin Kaepernick will not get a job until Kaepernick changes his image, starting with cutting his hair. If anyone knows about changing one’s image, it is Vick, who, after being a successful quarterback, found himself in the federal penitentiary for running a dogfighting ring.

Vick was given a second chance to play in the NFL. Vick meant well, but his advice does not reflect the reason for Kaepernick’s league-wide blackballing. In fact, it is not Kaepernick that needs an image change, but the league itself.

What is it about Kaepernick’s image that needs to change? He has no criminal record and no record of drug or domestic abuse. He is not out partying all night, and he is level-headed and to himself. In other professions, this would be a laudable person to have as an employee and representative. So, what is it that makes his image undesirable?

‘A willingness to risk’

Kaepernick is a rebel rouser . . .

. . . for the right reasons, calling our attention to the bigotry and hypocrisy of our nation. In doing so, he questions what patriotism is by protesting — peacefully I might add — the national anthem.

He holds camps for disenfranchised youth of color, teaching them their rights, and he is outspoken and knowledgeable about the pain in black communities. He has opted to use his platform, as Muhammed Ali did in the past, to not only raise awareness but to be an activist.

This is the image everyone wants him to change.

Why not just be a football player? they say. However, Kaepernick got it right. Our positions of power and privilege are to be used to transform society. There must be a willingness to risk it all for what is hard yet right. In fact, we must be willing to take the righteous path even if that path leads us away from the things we love.

The NFL’s image

While Kaepernick’s image is being questioned, it is interesting to me that the NFL’s image is not. They are a league that insists on signing players who have a history of domestic abuse, among other problems, and while these crimes certainly create problems and distractions for teams and fans, they are not deal breakers for players receiving sizable paychecks.

They are not hurdles too high for players and teams to jump over, but an outspoken black activist is a deal breaker. He is too much of a distraction. He takes away from the joy of the game, while these other issues are mere stains. What hypocrisy!

As the league overlooks abuses against humanity, they blackball someone who calls attention to them and wants to transform them. While the NFL boasts of paid patriotism, it neglects to see that the atrocities committed against women by their players and against sex slaves by their fans and employees during the Super Bowl are in direct contradiction to the patriotic fervor they espouse.

The bottom line is that Kaepernick hurts their bottom line and shines a light on the nation and the NFL’s tarnished image.

Dante Wright is pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church—known as the Pinnacle of Praise—in Round Rock.

“Maybe in a perfect world, but that’s not the world we live in.”

I’ve heard some version of this statement several times in the last week, in various contexts. I think the nexus for the last time was a discussion about my and my wife’s shopping habits.

Jake RaabeWe have serious problems with Walmart that keep us from shopping there unless absolutely necessary. Instead, we frequent our town’s farmers market. Our Christian convictions lead us to believe that buying locally and directly from farmers is more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable, so that’s what we try to do.

This is, of course, significantly more expensive than buying from Walmart and means we typically have to make less go further. We don’t “proselytize” for farmers markets, but if we’re asked about our shopping habits, we don’t mince words about the damage we think that mega-chains like (especially) Walmart are doing to both society and the environment. (Fear not, Texans: HEB is actually a pretty great company and a fantastic alternative to Walmart).

The conversation usually moves to “but Walmart is cheaper, so that’s where people will always go” (even if the low prices are due to employing sweatshop workers in third-world countries).

In contemporary American society, the dollar is king. We make economic decisions based on what gets us the most for the least in return. But then again, Christians are citizens of Americans secondarily; we are first citizens of the kingdom of God, and in the kingdom of God, proper treatment of other humans is more important than paying less money for a pair of shoes.

See, Christians live in two worlds: the world that is, and the world that will be. Jesus’ incarnation, life, death and resurrection have changed the world in a profound way. Because of Christ’s work, we are free to die to ourselves, to live a new, changed Christ-centered life.

The kingdom of God is here in part, and we should live accordingly. We should live according to the standards of God’s kingdom: the love of our enemies, the respect for all people, the self-discipline of Christian discipleship. God rules the world, all of it, and those of us that are citizens of God’s kingdom should live accordingly.

At the same time, God’s kingdom is not here on earth in the same way that it one day will be. Paul tells us that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The world, in other words, is waiting to be completely and totally redeemed at the time of Christ’s return.

Not only the world, says Paul, but “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” We too recognize that we live in a world fundamentally changed by the work of Christ but one still waiting for its complete redemption when Christ returns.

The kingdom of God is both here and yet-to-come. It is both in our midst and something we look forward to in expectant hope.

The people I talked to this week didn’t understand why my wife and I paid more for our groceries. In American society, saving money is a high cultural value. In the kingdom of God, respect for persons and compassion are higher values. Because we live as citizens of God’s kingdom, we live by a different set of values than the culture around us. God’s kingdom teaches us that people are more important than saving money, so we spend our money at places where we know that no product sold involves abuse or exploitation.

Remember: Christians live in two worlds. Though we may exist for now in a world that doesn’t mirror God’s intentions for creation as it should, we derive our values from the world-that-will-be.

“That’s just the way things are” isn’t an excuse for Christians. We don’t live according to the way things are; we live according to the way things will be.

Jake Raabe is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas and a writer. Follow him on his Facebook page.

Recently, while sitting on a porch with a calming stream babbling by in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, I was suddenly filled with anxiety and fear. It was early in the morning and no one else was up. The air was clean and cold, but the stillness of the moment did not translate to my heart.

The reason for this anxiety and fear was not clear. It seemed to creep up on me out of nowhere. My heart was in a battle of faith, a battle to believe God is bigger than my fears and my anxiety. The passage of Scripture I was reading in that moment was Psalm 29.

This Psalm calls us to worship the Lord, to ascribe glory to his name because he is on the throne. As I was sitting on this porch in the cool of the morning, watching this stream rush by below me, I read verses 3 and 4: “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.”

The Lord is on the throne. He is Lord over these waters and he is Lord over my heart. He is Lord over this fear and anxiety, which seems to dominate so much of my life. My heart needs to hear the voice of the Lord, the voice of this majestic and glorious King. His voice calms these fears and holds back this anxiety.

What Elijah heard

As I was thinking about the Lord, as I was ascribing glory to His name and longing to hear His voice, my mind turned to the prophet Elijah and his struggle with fear and anxiety in 1 Kings 19:9–18.

Elijah has defeated the prophets of Baal, and now he is fleeing from the wrath of Queen Jezebel. We see him struggle with fear and anxiety, with exhaustion and depression. He feels alone and abandoned, and he is searching for God and the voice of God.

He comes to a cave and lodges in it when the word of the Lord comes to him, calling him to come and stand in God’s presence. Elijah comes out to hear God, to be in the presence of God, to stand before the Lord.

A great and strong wind tears by breaking the mountain in pieces, but the Lord is not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake shakes the mountain, but the Lord is not in the earthquake. After the earthquake comes a fire burning down the side of this mountain, but the Lord is not in the fire.

Finally, after the wind, after the earthquake, after the fire, there comes the sound of a low whisper, and there is the voice and presence of God.

Elijah gives his list of grievances. He tells the Lord what is causing him so much fear and anxiety, and God reassures Elijah he is not alone. God has seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and God will call others through Elijah to help these people persevere. God speaks to Elijah in the low whisper, in a still small voice.

The low whisper of God

On that porch in the early morning, I thought I needed the wind, the earthquake, the fire to calm my fearful heart. The truth is, many times the powerful voice of the Lord does not come in a shout; it comes in a whisper.

The calming voice and presence of the Lord is not found in the noise; it is found in the quiet. The Lord speaks to us in a low whisper, and the tragedy is, much of the time we cannot hear his voice because our ears are full with the clanging of the world around us and the fear within us.

We hear the voice of the Lord when we are quiet. Step away from the wind, earthquakes, and fires of this world and prepare yourself for the low whisper your heart needs.

Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming, and they are multiplied by the busyness and noise of our world. Our hearts weren’t made to be plugged in and only busy. We were also made to rest in the presence of God.

Quiet your heart and open your ears to hear the still small voice of God. You may be in the middle of the wind, earthquake or fire, but the low whisper is coming.

Don’t miss it.

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.