One of the most annoying, regrettable, and life-changing events of my life happened when I was in college on a Campus Crusade summer project.
One of my colleagues was a feisty but searching teenage girl on summer break from her junior year of high school. She and I talked regularly about work, struggles, friends, and life. She would regularly challenge me about what I believed, and we had numerous lively but friendly disagreements.
One day she came into the room where I worked. She had been drinking — which should have tipped me off — and she wanted to talk about evolution. I have no intention of saying anything about that topic, but it was a bad combination: a slightly tipsy young woman and an arrogant smartypants. Me.
I was well versed in all the “facts.” I quickly demolished her assertions, shredded her confidence in her beliefs, and argued her into an angry silence. She never spoke to me after that day.
Whether I was “right” by any measure was, and is, irrelevant. I may have won the argument. But I lost a friend — and, far worse, whatever faith I carried had no power to help her at all. I hadn’t convinced her of anything. I had only driven her away.
I have prayed for her more times than I can count. Maybe someday, if God is merciful, I will be able to ask her forgiveness for being so unkind. Either way, I learned the most important lesson I know: engaging other people must be marked — and driven — by love.
That was a long time ago. Yes, I am an old guy.
I eventually pursued my passion for teaching the Bible by attending Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA. The decades since have been filled with worship leading, youth ministry, and Bible teaching at every level — junior high, senior high, college, and beyond. The curriculum I developed during those years became the foundation for the most important things I have ever learned, and the backbone of what you will find on this blog.
One more thing: Miles Armbruster is a pen name. I write in other genres as well, and the publishing world has very little patience for authors who refuse to stay in their lane. The pen name keeps things clean. The ideas here are real, the convictions are genuine, and the love — imperfect as it is — is completely my own.