The Calling

In October 2011, Jemar Tisby sat in front of his computer, his hand hovering over the keyboard. On the screen in front of him was the form for a new Facebook page, which Tisby had filled in with the details of his latest project—a group he was calling the Reformed African American Network. As he did his final check, he felt a tension. He wanted this group to be small, but he had a sneaking suspicion that once the page went live, it would take on a life of its own. Was he ready to follow along and see where it led? Swallowing his doubts, he pressed the “Enter” key. Looking back now, he’s glad he did. Nearly five years later, RAAN has grown from a Facebook page to a Christian cultural powerhouse, producing and hosting some of the most honest and influential conversations on justice, diversity, and racial reconciliation the church has seen in decades. Tisby, meanwhile, has fully embraced his role as RAAN’s Co-founder and President, even as he continues to serve as Director of the African American Leadership Initiative and Special Assistant to the Chancellor at Reformed Theological Seminary’s Jackson campus. For Tisby, though, racial justice isn’t just a pressing cultural issue—it’s his calling, and it’s never been more timely. In a season when Christians nationwide are puzzling out how best to respond to protests, shootings, and domestic frictions surrounding race, he has a vision for how churches can cultivate a commitment to racial diversity. How else can churches create space for all of God’s people in their congregations? Find out on this week’s episode of The Calling, as CT managing editor Richard Clark chats with Tisby about #BlackLivesMatter, being the only black member in a Dutch Reformed church, and why racial reconciliation is a gospel issue, not just a social issue.

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Callings come in many forms—a moment of epiphany, a wise word from a mentor, a quiet prayer before an altar. Dan Claire’s came when the Rapture failed to happen. A fifth-generation Floridian who dropped out of medical school to pursue ministry, Claire pastors the Church of the Resurrection (affectionately nicknamed “Rez”) in Capitol Hill, where he’s served since moving to Washington, D.C. 17 years ago. Before going to seminary, though, he was a student ministry leader at the University of Florida—at a time when Christians in his town were busy preparing for Christ’s imminent second coming. If you’ve also been left behind, then it may be the perfect time to listen to this week’s episode of The Calling, where you’ll hear CT managing editor Richard Clark chat with Dan Claire about being a med school dropout, getting ordained in the Rwandan church, and the challenges he faces pastoring a transient congregation in the heart of the nation’s capitol. Trust us . . . it’ll be (ahem) rapturous.

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This week on The Calling, join CT managing editor Richard Clark as he chats with Núñez about his side gig as a doctor, his calling as a church planter, and how he thinks we can be more thoughtful and less cavalier about grace.

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Joe Thorn, founding pastor of St. Charles, IL’s Redeemer Fellowship and author of Note to Self and Experiencing the Trinity, is one pastor who refuses to stay silent on mental illness. He struggles with clinical anxiety, and whether he’s blogging about such topics as artisanal pencils, writing books on ecclesiology, or preaching a Sunday morning sermon, he’s open about it. In fact, Thorn believes that talking straight about his experience of mental illness is an essential part of his pastoral calling. This week, join Thorn and CT managing editor Richard Clark as they talk about growing beards, converting to Christianity from Satanism, what it really means to cause others to “stumble,” and how congregations come alive when pastors are open about their weaknesses.

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On this week’s episode of the The Calling, Barber joins CT managing editor Richard Clark to talk about his entrepreneurial calling, the weirdness of Portland, and how the church can be a voice for the marginalized in the public square.

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When you’re stuck in a Boeing 747 at 35,000 feet, how do you pass the time? If you’re J. D. Greear, odds are you talk with your neighbor about God. (And if that sounds awkward, trust us, he knows.) An author, theologian, and pastor of The Summit Church of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Greear is one of those rare birds who is so passionate about evangelism that he’ll take almost any opportunity to strike up a biblical back-and-forth—even if, by his own admission, he crashes and burns as often as not. You might think that someone with that much ministerial fire tends to shoot first and aim second—“the fields are ripe for harvest,” after all. In fact, though, Greear is a big fan of waiting. Whether he’s helping young college students plan for their futures or writing about how churches stand to “gain by losing,” Greear always tempers his missionary fervor with the knowledge that God’s work often involves long periods of preparation. It’s part of why he thinks the years people send in seminary are worthwhile. On this week’s episode of The Calling, Greear sits down with CT manging editor Richard Clark to discuss his latest book, running for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and why the Holy Spirit is better than having Jesus as your senior pastor.

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The moment you hear Trillia Newbell’s voice, one feature sticks out: her infectious joy. Although her books and articles have addressed such difficult topics as fear, sexual brokenness, and the need for diversity in the church, Newbell has a reputation for facing down darkness with an unshakable buoyancy. As she herself writes, “I’m not optimistic because I’m naïve (at least not completely) or because I think there isn’t evil in the world (my heart often proves otherwise) but because of the gospel.” Despite Newbell’s successes as a writer and women’s ministry leader, however, her hope hasn’t been won easily. Like many whose day-to-day lives are shaped by ministry’s demands, she still struggles to balance her vocational service to the body of Christ with involvement in her local church. Newbell joined CT managing editor Richard Clark for this week’s episode of The Calling, where she shares her wisdom on dividing one’s time between one’s calling and one’s congregation—stopping along the way to discuss the draw of Twitter debates, the joys of parenthood, and how remembering that we’re the worst helps us to love others best.

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“The church is anti-intellectual.” If you’re a church leader—and especially if you’re an evangelical—you’ve probably heard that claim a thousand times before. (Heck, we’ve even made it.) But while the prophetic shadow of Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind may still loom large over the landscape of American Christianity, a growing number of bright lights are giving an increasingly thoughtful church reason to hope. One of those lights is Matthew Lee Anderson. You probably know Anderson as the founder and erstwhile regular contributor to the blog Mere Orthodoxy, where he’s written lengthy essays on everything from Trump’s implications for evangelicals to sexual ethics to why “deep reading” is vital for a robust faith. His most recent book, The End of Our Exploring (Moody, 2013), argues for the importance of question-asking to the Christian faith, urging a dogged pursuit of intellectual integrity that, as he says in this week’s episode of The Calling, has implications for local church ministry. What does that kind of top-shelf ministry actually look like? Find out by joining CT managing editor Richard Clark as he chats with Anderson about teaching Sunday school, evangelicalism’s bad rap, and why we reason about what we love.

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In the church’s quest to help people find and respond to their calling, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated champion than author, speaker, and Exponential co-founder Todd Wilson. Over the course of seventeen years of ministry, Wilson has used his entrepreneurial know-how to create a raft of organizations, systems, and publications designed to help leaders find their “sweet spot” and provide local churches with tools for deep-rooted, multiplication-driven growth. Before all that, though, Wilson was up to something else entirely: nuclear engineering. In fact, he worked for the Division of Naval Reactors for a full fifteen years before feeling a call to full-time ministry—a call that emerged, he says, from an early and prolonged midlife crisis. In this week’s episode of The Calling, join CT managing editor Richard Clark as he chats with Wilson about his entrepreneurial calling, how to keep your vocation from overwhelming your life, and what aircraft carriers have to teach us about the church’s mission.

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The church is growing increasingly diverse—but what does this mean for our Sunday morning services? One of the foremost thinkers trying to answer that question is Sandra Maria Van Opstal, a writer, speaker, and pastor at Chicago’s Grace and Peace Community who’s also a leading champion of multiethnic worship. In pursuit of her calling to mobilize Christians for reconciliation and justice, Van Opstal has led worship for organizations from Willow Creek to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; trained missions leaders at colleges, churches, and conferences across the country; and recently written a groundbreaking book on why cross-cultural praise is an experience meant for everyone. Like all ministers, though, Van Opstal knows well the challenges that accompany her calling. Getting the church to join together in manifold witness is hard work, after all—especially when you have to juggle day-to-day concerns with the demands of mission. Sound familiar? Then you’re in good company. Join CT managing editor Richard Clark as he talks with Van Opstal about her calling to mentor leaders, invigorate worship, and uphold the needful beauty of a diverse church.

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