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The Priest And The Professor


So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (vv. 6-8)


John Shelby Spong is a controversial former Episcopalian Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. In his autobiography he tells of his days as a student at the University of North Carolina. There he met David Watt Yates who was rector of the university Episcopalian church, the Chapel of the Cross. Yates had a profound effect on his life. Spong describes him as "a unique human being, and a single man in every sense of the word. A militant low churchman, a courageous, if not always inspiring, preacher, and a man of deep convictions, he was a total abstainer from alcoholic beverages and a dedicated pacifist."

When World War II ended, churches across the country were filled with people giving thanks. Reverend Yates led his congregation not in a service of thanksgiving, but in prayers of forgiveness for having taken up arms against fellow human beings. Spong comments, "Some people came that night with gratitude in their hearts and left with enormous hostility. David Yates, however, was undeterred."

Yates had a ferocious integrity that led him to frequently speak out publicly against the evils of racial segregation. This often upset members of his congregation. Remember, at that time many churches in America preached that racial segregation was the will of God. Yet when confronted, Yates would challenge people to defend segregation as God's will.

There was a second person who was influential during Spong's university years: His professor in philosophy, Louis Katsoff. He was the polar opposite of Yates -- a committed atheist. When Spong told him he had taken philosophy to help prepare him for his goal of becoming a priest, Kastoff responded "that Christianity was a helpless hangover from another age" and that Spong should not waste his life in such a way.

Years later, after Spong was ordained a priest, he returned to the Chapel of the Cross to speak to a men's meeting. To his great surprise he saw Professor Katsoff in the audience. He was no longer an atheist. He had been a baptized and was now a committed Christian. Spong went to visit Katsoff at the professor's home and during conversation asked how it was he'd been converted. Kastoff replied, "David Yates finally got to me."

Now Spong was even more surprised. He asked, "How can that be? You can think rings around him."

Professor Katsoff responded, "David didn't outthink me. He just outlived me."

Being a good witness for our faith doesn't mean we have to become intellectual giants or have a convincing answer for every question -- though these things can be helpful! What God requires of us is that we live out our faith.

In Acts, Luke reminds us that we will receive power to be witnesses for Christ. If we will live boldly as Christ has taught us then God will empower us with the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.


(John Shelby Spong, Here I Stand [New York: HarperCollins, 2000], pp 49-52.)