Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 08:2 (Fall 2011)
Article: Thank You To The Man Who Changed History
Author: Peter Kendrick

JBTM 8:2 (Fall 2011) p. 35

Thank You To The Man Who Changed History

Peter Kendrick

Dr. Kendrick is Regional Associate Dean for Georgia and Alabama, and Professor of Theology and Culture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ever since my graduation from school, at every Southern Baptist Convention that I attend, I always come around the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary booth hoping to find just one person: Dr. Dan “Smoke ’em” Holcomb. When I find him I say one simple sentence: “Thank you for making such a difference in my life!”

How can one professor make such a singular difference? I could say that he was the role-model of an effective, dynamic, and compassionate professor; he was definitely that. I could say that he was one of the most accessible teachers I’ve ever had; that would be true. It was his daily custom to stop by the cafeteria to talk with us. I could say that his lectures were detailed, challenging, and enthralling; they were definitely that. I wish I could say that his tests were easy; they were not. In fact, they are still some of the hardest tests I’ve taken and lived to tell about.

How can one professor make such a singular difference? In one of those teachable moments, sitting in the school cafeteria, Dr. Holcomb made one of the most profound and life-changing statements to me that has served as my compass in teaching.

There were about four of us that day. Dr. Holcomb took a seat and asked all of us a simple question: “Why is the study of history important?” We smartly answered, “Because it’s required for graduation.” He shook his head. We braced for what we knew would be Dr. Holcomb’s pontification on the intellectual and cultural benefits of Christian history, but instead he replied, “Because it is His story and your story.” History, for Dr. Holcomb, was never about dead people, dates, and mind numbing pointless factoids about why something happened. History, he said, was nothing less than the story of God’s compassion and redemptive work. It was His-story and His-story was worth studying.

Just as importantly, history, for Dr. Holcomb, was a drama in which I had a role; it was my story. That day, Dr. Holcomb asked us, “How many people does it take to change history?” The answer was one: one Christ, one Esther, one Martin Luther, one Oskar Schindler, one Anne Frank, and one Martin Luther King, Jr.; it only takes one person to change the history of, if not the world, one life.

JBTM 8:2 (Fall 2011) p. 36

It felt as if he was looking straight at me when he said, “Who knows? You can be that one person!” In that one teachable moment Dr. Dan “Smoke ’em” Holcomb changed my history. “Thank you” jus...