Loving acts earn a hearing for the gospel, Metaxas tells DBU audience

DALLAS—Christians not only should engage the culture in authentic and engaging ways, but also lead with loving and caring acts that provide an opening for them to present the gospel, author and cultural analyst Eric Metaxas told professionals in medicine, business, religion and education during a leadership lecture at Dallas Baptist University.

Cultural analyst and author Eric Metaxas (center) is welcomed to Dallas Baptist University by Adam Wright (left), vice president and dean of the Gary Cook School of Leadership, and Jim Denison, founding president of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture and senior fellow of the Institute for Global Engagement at DBU. (Photo / Brittany Partain)“We have to live our faith in a real way,” Metaxas said. “That’s the No. 1 thing we can do. If we demonstrate our love for others, that communicates something that is very, very important.”

Humble and loving acts—not irrefutable logical arguments—earn Christians a hearing for their faith, he insisted. 

“I think that it is important for us to understand that even though the Bible is logical and our faith is logical, at the end of the day, it isn’t about logic. It’s about the Holy Spirit,” he said. “Sometimes we have to understand that for someone to even listen to the logic or to whatever we have to share, it is going to take an act of love and an attitude of humility.  

“Being sensitive is a form of love. You are not going to change the truth, but you are going to change how you communicate if you really love them and want to reach them.”

Institute for Global Engagement Leadership Lecture Series

Metaxas, whose biographies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce remained on the New York Times bestseller lists several weeks, spoke on the DBU campus as a part of the inaugural Institute for Global Engagement Leadership Lecture Series. DBU’s Institute for Global Engagement sponsored the event.

Metaxas recently launched a daily radio show that highlights his practical engagement of Christian truth with the culture. He delivered the keynote address at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C.

In addition to the leadership lecture, Metaxas also spoke to the DBU student body in chapel, presenting his Christian testimony. 

“The Lord wants to speak to each of us,” Metaxas told the students. “And he does so in a variety of ways.”

Established in the summer of 2014, the Institute for Global Engagement is a joint effort between DBU’s Gary Cook School of Leadership and the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture. The institute provides programs and events that bridge the gap between academics and professional life, attempting to provide thoughtful and practical Christian engagement in the public sphere.

Metaxas a ‘model’ for institute

“When we began looking toward what the IGE could mean and these types of lectures could accomplish, we wanted to begin with somebody who would capture and would model as an example all that the IGE intends to be,” said Jim Denison, founding president of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture and senior fellow for the institute. “So, we began with Eric Metaxas. He was not only our first choice; he was our only choice.”

Adam Wright, vice president and dean of the Gary Cook School of Leadership, noted university leaders felt privileged to have Metaxas on campus.

“Eric Metaxas is the type of voice we want to bring to campus for these events—a voice that helps to bring the power of the gospel to bear on the daily work of our lives,” Wright said.