Joe Miller: From all of your travels over the past four years, who have you met that inspires you the most in both who they are and what they do in their service to Christ?
George Barna: Matthew Barnett, pastor of the Dream Center, is the real deal. His passion for helping people is contagious. Francis Chan seems to be authentic in his quest for genuine spiritual growth. Mike Huckabee is the best model I have encountered of someone who is able to take his or her faith into the political arena and impact that arena through the uncompromised application of biblical principles. Andy Stanley is, for me, the best teacher of scriptural applications I have encountered. John Saucier, a little-known evangelist and discipler of young people and professional athletes, has been an inspiration to me through his consistent effort, willingness to be bold and creative, and devotion to the Word of God.
Frank Viola: It’s been the “unknown” Christians who are gathering together in various cities, who are hungry for more of Jesus, and who are learning to live by His indwelling life together, especially those who have a heart for the poor, the oppressed, and the hurting in their neighborhoods. These Christians don’t return evil for evil and know the secret of losing when under attack and being gracious toward those who misunderstand and misrepresent them.
They are the salt of the earth in my judgment. Many of them are humble, of meager means. When I meet such believers, I walk away having seen my Lord. And I thank God that the song I’ve been singing for many years is taking visible shape in some quarters. I’ve also been impressed and inspired by the Millennials who make comments on my blog posts.
Joe Miller: Lately, because I have been teaching college and seminary students here in California, I have been writing about the changing world of Christian education. I hope this is not too far out of your area of expertise, but do either of you have some insight regarding what is good about Christian education today and what needs to change?
Frank Viola: We have an entire chapter on Christian education in our book (Chapter 10). In it, we discuss where Christian education came from, including the origin of the seminary and the Bible college. On a personal level, I have a special passion for young men who are called to the Lord’s work. I think that many seminaries and Bible schools have wonderful teachers in them. And as far as traditional teaching methods go, they are quite good.
But as I’ve argued in Finding Organic Church, I believe the best way to educate and train others is to duplicate what Jesus did in Galilee and what Paul did in Ephesus. Jesus and Paul both trained younger workers in a hands-on way. It was on-the-ground, real-life, intentional mentoring that went on for years, and it was done in a real-life ministry context. I wish more older servants of God would begin to do this. (Many of them whom I respect have no concept of it.)
Right now, the typical young person who is called to the Lord’s work sees the seminary as the only option for ministry preparation. In short, while the typical seminary is good at what it does, I’ve met scores of seminary graduates who admitted that they didn’t get the kind of training that ministering to people with real problems demands. Nor did they learn how to minister and unveil Jesus Christ to others. Billy Graham once said something priceless about this very issue.
George Barna: No comment.
