Howard Hendricks, a long time professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, died in 2013. I was introduced to him through my time in Dallas playing professional golf and my time with The Navigators, an organization on whose board he served.
I heard him speak on a couple of occasions, each time with great impact. He was funny and had a deep love for the Scriptures and the one they spoke of – Jesus Christ.
You may have never heard of him, but he had a significant impact on the kingdom of God and the world in which you live. He was a funny, godly man who lived the Great Commission – giving himself to evangelism and personal discipleship, training up a whole generation of pastors and teachers.
I thought about him again this week as I read a blog Tim Briggs wrote for CSO on him right after Hendricks’ death. If you haven’t met him, maybe this will help you gain a glimpse of his heart and grow in your heart for evangelism.
It was touching to see all the tributes to Hendricks come across my stream on Twitter. It was clear that God had used him in a mighty way. If you’re not familiar with him, I would suggest you check out some of the videos and articles here.
I thoroughly enjoyed these tributes. He was known for many things but what struck me most was his heart for lost people. He didn’t just talk about evangelism, he lived a life of evangelism. These below tweets from John Bryson particularly caught my attention:
“If you aren’t hearing shits & damns everyday, you aren’t doing evangelism.” Prof Hendricks Day 1, class 1, at DTS
“Replace that family bible on your coffee table with an ash tray, you’ll know your starting evangelism”. Prof. Day 1, class 1
Please excuse the language. I think it is appropriate to leave it in. Beyond the language, I wonder if these made you feel as uncomfortable as they did me?
Evangelism is hard to think about, let alone do. When I think of reaching out to people, I think about people who look, sound, act, talk, etc. like me…but aren’t Christians yet. As I typed that sentence, I’m reminded once again that there aren’t a lot of those people out there.
Hendricks got it though. He knew that if you are going to reach people, it’s going to get uncomfortable.
If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we value our comfort more than we do reaching people with the gospel.
I hope these quotes challenged you as much as they did me. Ask yourself, do you value your comfort more than reaching people? Do you really love people enough to bear language and behaviors that are different than yours?
Howard Hendricks did. I have a feeling he died a fulfilled man having the privilege of being used by God in a mighty way. I hope that I can experience that same satisfaction.
