A Centers Series: Equipped to Advance the Cause of Christ in Culture

Each Saturday, as the early morning heat and humidity increased, Gabe would finish up his final row, put the mower away, shake the wet grass clippings from his shoes, and go get breakfast with Benjamin Quinn — associate professor of theology at Southeastern and owner of the freshly mowed yard. Gabe originally suggested these Saturday morning breakfasts to Quinn, eager to get to know someone whose work he respected and appreciated, and Quinn wholeheartedly agreed.

Before that summer Gabe had never met Quinn in person, though he had read a number of his books and articles. At that time, while teaching at Southeastern, Quinn also served as associate director of Southeastern’s L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture (CFC), a go-to resource for Gabe during his college years in Virginia.

Over the course of many Saturdays that summer, with coffee in hand, Gabe and Quinn settled into conversations on topics that ranged from goings-on at the CFC to their shared interest in Augustine’s writing. One topic in particular resonated with them both: the relationship between a Christian’s faith and work.

This area of theology, a central point of discussion at the CFC, had interested Gabe for many years. In fact, it played a significant role in his decision to attend Southeastern.

“I knew the biblical rationale for faith and work integration, but I didn’t see it lived out,” Gabe said, thinking back on his years in college. “I saw it in an academic sphere, but I didn’t see it in all spheres. For example, how does our faith apply to family, to government, to the workplace, or to education? I felt like I didn’t understand the practicality of faith and work. But then my time at Southeastern put meat on the bones of what I already had.”

I felt like I didn’t understand the practicality of faith and work. But then my time at Southeastern put meat on the bones of what I already had.

What started as breakfast conversations after an early morning’s work eventually led Gabe to apply for and accept the first Dancer Fellowship at the CFC, an endowed student research position funded by Mr. Don Dancer. As one of many ways in which students can get involved with the CFC, the Dancer Fellowship provides one student each school year with the opportunity to engage hands-on with the work of the center, experience mentorship from its leaders, and help produce center resources.

During Gabe’s time at Southeastern, the Dancer Fellowship played an integral role in his education. Not only did it prepare him for future ministry, but it also strengthened his own faith and ability to apply what he was learning in his classes.

“I wanted practical training,” Gabe said, explaining his decision to attend Southeastern. “I wanted training that I could then apply. At Southeastern, I saw the adage, ‘Every classroom a Great Commission classroom,’ and I realized, this is going to do what I set out to do my freshman year of college — and that is, understand theology for everyday people.”

Transforming the Day-to-Day

Before bringing Gabe to Southeastern, God began to first direct his path away from an interest in business and instead towards ministry.

“I had never had a day of theology in my life, but I fell deeply in love with knowing God,” Gabe said, recounting his first semester in college.

“The first theology book I read was ‘Salvation and Sovereignty’ by Ken Keathley,” he recalled, “and I remember it rocking my world.”

Keathley, during Gabe’s time at the CFC, served as its director and as senior professor of theology. He, in addition to Quinn, would invest in Gabe in many ways during his time as the Dancer Fellow.

“I thought that being a Christian was waking up, sharing the gospel, going to bed, and doing it over again,” Gabe explained. “I couldn’t comprehend why people did anything else if that was what we were called to, if that was what the Great Commission was. But God opened my eyes in college to realize, ‘No, the Christian life is actually all of your life. What you do day-to-day matters to God. It is not for naught.’”

God opened my eyes in college to realize, ‘No, the Christian life is actually all of your life. What you do day-to-day matters to God. It is not for naught.’

“During that time, I couldn’t get enough of learning about who our God is and wanting to be able to translate these deep theological doctrines in ways that people in the pews can easily understand.”

It was with this mindset that Gabe arrived at Southeastern in 2020 and two years later stepped into the CFC and his role as the Dancer Fellow.

“Let Them Be Shaped by Truth”

As one of Southeastern’s four ministry centers, the mission of the CFC is to equip ministry leaders to advance the way of Christ in all of culture. It does this through a variety of means — foremost of which are its mentorship program, weekly podcast, and regularly published articles from contributing writers. Over the years, the CFC has also hosted a variety of events featuring guest lecturers who speak on culturally relevant topics and how Christians might approach them from a biblical perspective.

As Gabe started in his new role, his responsibilities included helping edit articles for the CFC’s blog and even contributing a few of his own. He worked side by side with the center’s staff, who guided him in his work, brought him into weekly team meetings, and welcomed his input on the content the CFC curated.

It wasn’t long before Gabe realized that the people at the CFC were not just practiced thinkers but also experienced practitioners. Both Quinn and Keathley, as pastors and shepherds of God’s people, viewed their work through the lens of their congregations.

Gabe described watching these two men wrestle with questions such as, “How can we pastor our congregations, not only from the pulpit but also in leading them to think rightly about their everyday life?”

At the heart of Quinn and Keathley’s ministries, Gabe explained, was the idea that “these people are shaped by something. Let them be shaped by the truth.”

A Faith That Applies to All Aspects of Life

Over time, Gabe began to see God growing his own ability to apply the Christian faith in all areas of life.

“In my preaching classes, I personally struggled to find application of the text,” he recalled. “But as I experienced the CFC up close and personal as the Dancer Fellow, the step of application would come much more naturally because I was thinking of other people or ways in which the text impacts our daily choices.”

In his original decision to attend Southeastern, Gabe knew that he wanted to serve in a shepherding role, though he wasn’t sure what exactly that would look like. He continued to keep ministry at the forefront of his mind as he pursued his education.

One class in particular, on the subject of disciple making, helped him begin applying what he was learning in the CFC to a ministry-specific context.

“I think understanding that Christ is Lord over all aspects of your life puts a different weight on disciple making,” Gabe expressed. “It becomes more than, ‘Are you reading your Bible, or are you praying to God? Are you sharing the gospel?’ The question instead becomes, ‘Are you recognizing God in all aspects of your life?’”

The question instead becomes, ‘Are you recognizing God in all aspects of your life?’

One of the final assignments for Gabe’s class required him to create a disciple-making plan. As he researched and wrote, Gabe became increasingly aware of how many books on the subject failed to consider the Christian faith’s application to six out of seven days of the week.

At the time that Gabe was both finishing his disciple-making class and his role at the CFC, he also served as the executive assistant for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (NC Baptists). Not long after graduating in spring 2023, he moved into their role of engagement strategist for convention relations.

“As a result of that disciple-making class,” Gabe said, “the following year at our NC Baptist Disciple Making Conference, I had a breakout called ‘Work is Worship.’ And that turned into putting everything I had done with the CFC together with everything from that class and making a breakout to help inform and instruct other pastors across the state.”

Called to the Same Mission

As engagement strategist, Gabe is able to come alongside and encourage the many pastors he interacts with on a weekly basis. He’s found that much of what he learned at the CFC is highly applicable for the average pastor who is walking alongside church members, most of whom are daily navigating the cultural issues around them.

Another part of Gabe’s current role as engagement strategist has connected him with a recent Baptist initiative called Co-Labor, which is dedicated to equipping Baptists to integrate faith and work for the common good. While working with Co-Labor, Gabe has been able to continue applying what he learned at Southeastern and during his time in the CFC.

In an article he has been writing for Co-Labor, Gabe has been able to expound on the profound relationship between Christ’s Great Commission and the integration of faith and work.

“There are people who are sent as missionaries because God has called them to that,” he explained, “but God has also called people to be homemakers, and God has also called people to be mailmen and pilots.”

“Our mission is the Great Commission, and it doesn’t highlight any one person specifically. It highlights Christ! God gives the growth. But we need the planter and the waterer, and we need all of these people to be working at the same time towards the singular mission.”

Our mission is the Great Commission, and it doesn’t highlight any one person specifically. It highlights Christ!

For many students like Gabe, the CFC provides crucial opportunities to consider and connect their Christian faith with their everyday lives, the culture around them, and the biblical mandate to go and make disciples. To learn more about the CFC and its resources or how you can engage with the center’s work, visit cfc.sebts.edu.