This time ten years ago (almost to the day) I was packing my things to move from Oklahoma to Texas so I could begin my educational career at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. I would have never guessed then that ten years later I would be packing my things again to move from Oklahoma to Canada so I could begin my professional career.
I have been reflecting on the type of person I have become in the last ten years and am glad that I have become the person I now am. I think leaving my family and most of my friends was a good thing for me. I still remember lying in my bed at Southwestern that first October wondering how everyone back at Crossfire (my church’s youth group) was doing at the annual Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards) festival. I remember missing Mother’s & Father’s Day for the first time and not being able to get over the fact that dad’s barbeque chicken and mom’s potato salad was being enjoyed by everyone in the family but me. It was difficult to leave them, but it was good.
I am grateful for the family, friends, and pastors that I had up through high school. Without your guidance, I would have never been able to leave Oklahoma in the first place. I am thankful that as I went through many changes these last ten years that you have been patient with me. To some, I have become a completely different person. To others, you have witnessed these changes gradually and so they are less striking.
While I can never put into words how grateful I am for those that helped me the first eighteen years of my life, I want to take a few minutes to reflect on those that helped me that last ten. I have changed a lot in the last ten years and most of those changes have come through the influence of new friends and new family that has come into my life.
I thought it might be an interesting exercise to list out some of the changes that have taken place since I first moved from Mustang. What I know is interesting is that the group of people that have influenced me the most over the last ten years would disagree about almost every one of the changes listed below! Some of these are trivial, some quite important, and some are somewhere in between. In no particular order…
- I now think that developing the life of a mind is required to grow spiritually.
- I am in the process of becoming one with a beautiful woman.
- I am now more of an OU fan than an OSU fan (though I still pull for the Pokes when they’re not playing OU).
- I am much more hesitant about saying non-Christians will spend eternity in Hell.
- I no longer worry too much about cursing on occasion (but do think that cursing often demonstrates a lack of vocabulary and creativity).
- I now wish American churches were less patriotic on Sunday mornings.
- I no longer listen to rap.
- When the radio is on it is probably tuned to a talk radio station, but when I do listen to music, it is most likely classical or jazz.
- I recognize that Catholics are Christians.
- I know what eschatology, soteriology, modal realism, epistemology, and “Gettier problem” mean.
- I went from loving everything Republican, to hating everything Republican, to agreeing with many things Republican, but for different reasons.
- I think altar calls are more often designed to make the pastor feel good than for the those walking down to the altar.
- I no longer think consuming alcohol is a sin and thoroughly enjoy fine scotch (or at least as fine a scotch one can buy on a graduate student budget).
- I used to find no problem with Christians serving in war, then thought it was completely unacceptable, and am now thoroughly undecided because both sides can make a very good case.
- I began to avoid Wal-Mart because it put the “mom & pop” stores out of business.
- I now realize that Wal-Mart probably does more good for society than it does bad, but still avoid the place because it is too often overcrowded and staffed by incompetent employees (low prices comes at a cost).
- I no longer think attending church three times a week is a requisite for being truly devoted to Christ.
- I think seeker sensitive churches are silly.
- I think we should be concerned about the environment because it is pretty to look at and not because it is intrinsically valuable.
- I no longer think homosexuals are the scourge of society, but still think the New Testament calls all homosexual acts sin.
- I think a decent case can be made for the legalization of marijuana (and no, I don’t smoke it).
- I no longer think certain events have to happen on earth before Christ can return.
- I think many, if not most, of the good things in life are not fun.
One of the changes that took place over the last ten years that I am most happy about is that for each position I take above, I can give a good argument supporting that position. We all go through life with beliefs about the world around us. Some of those beliefs are true and some are false. We need to be able to give good arguments for our beliefs, and those that we can’t adequately support, we should seriously consider abandoning.
When I left for university, I was not able to adequately examine my beliefs. I could not give an argument (and when I could, it was not very good) for just about any of the things I believed. God has allowed me to become acquainted with certain people that poked and prodded at me until I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew. They helped me examine the case for and against different positions and taught me to be humble throughout. They taught me that rigorously examining our beliefs is an essential element to growing spiritually. I am who I am now because I have always had people willing to give of themselves to help me grow.
It is late now, and I am sure I will forget someone, but I would like to mention some of the individuals I met after moving away from Mustang that have played a large role in my life. So, to Jeff Magruder, Paul Alexander, Andrew White, Adam Fithen, the Wells family, the Dennis family, the Slover family, my Talbot professors, Dale and Jonalyn Fincher, Adam Stowell, the Tanyag & Tano families, Josh Seachris, Rusty Jones, and of course, my wife Tina Marie, I say thank you for picking up where those before you left off. If, in this new chapter of life, Tina Marie and I can find people half as loving and thoughtful as you, we will be blessed.
