I gave this talk as the 2021 Global Pentecostal Lecture. I ad-libbed the ending, which (as you’ll see if you make it that far) is why the manuscript just trails off. I’ll have to come back at some point and finish what I started. Maybe.
I. Introduction
After Dr Waddell had invited me to give this lecture, and after I had agreed to do it, we realized I needed a title. I suggested, more or less off the cuff: “‘The Mind is Drawn by Love’: The Created Christ, the Creator Spirit, and the Conversion of the Imagination.” A day or two later, he suggested, very gently, that I perhaps consider an alternative—something a little less obtuse (my word, not his; as I said, he is gracious). So, I offered three, and asked him to select one, because I loved them equally:
“The Mind is Drawn by Love”: What Art Can Teach Us (that Philosophy Can’t)
Show, Don’t Tell: Art, Conversion, and the Limits of Apologetics
Shut Up and Kiss Me: The Art of Christian Ministry at the End of the Culture Wars
He (with a student’s help, I believe) decided on the second, in spite of the fact that it was, he said, “a little spicy.” Before I had heard back from him, I had asked another friend what he thought of the titles, and which he thought I should use for this lecture. He noticed a progression in them, and suggested I use all three, showing how the practice of ministry is changed, drawn into alignment with the movements of the Spirit, only as we imagine conversion differently. So, that’s what I’ll do. First, then:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Speakeasy Theology to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.