Burkholder was a gift to the church
by Myron S. Augsburger, Harrisonburg, Va.
Our brother J. Lawrence Burkholder was a special gift of God to the church (see page 38). He lived what he taught— that we have one vocation, to be disciples of Christ—and this vocation guides us in selectivity with our choice of occupation. I well remember this emphasis from his class at seminary, a correction of the common general misuse of the word vocation, as though it means occupation or profession. His emphasis on discipleship was in the same vein as that of Bonhoeffer.
As a colleague in educational administration, I found his perspective most stimulating, never satisfied with just passing on knowledge, but calling us to wrestle with the relation of particular insights in the arts, humanities and sciences to the whole. As a theologian he kept our focus on the large meanings of the lordship of Christ and of the kingdom of God for society. He extended the implications of this rule of God into the sociopolitical areas more than most of us, calling leaders of state to ethics of justice and equity.
Thanks be to God that the Spirit gifts the church with such people in its different periods of history.
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