John Mark Hicks: seeing the big picture
Chris Pepple |
In Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding, co-authors John Mark Hicks, Lipscomb professor, and Bobby Valentine, pulpit minister at Palo Verde Church of Christ in Arizona, write about Lipscomb and Harding: “Their lives are also beacons in the storm that can help us see our way to living in the shadow of the coming kingdom of God. They illuminate a path that allows us to be true to the best of our heritage, true to the God we believe is working in and through, and to point nonbelievers to a way of life that images the restoration of God’s promised shalom on earth. We are called to participate in a truly rich pilgrimage of faith in the coming kingdom. On that caravan route we find not only Lipscomb, Harding and Boll, but Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Peter and Paul. Most significantly, it is a path that follows Jesus into the future kingdom of God.”
This book seeks to recover a piece of forgotten history from 1906. The authors ask if anything good can come out of memories from 1906. That year symbolizes the deep division within the Stone-Campbell movement. When released at the end of 2006, one hundred years after the division, the authors reflect upon the kingdom theology and spirituality represented in the lives, thoughts and practices of Lipscomb and Harding. The book, however, is not merely an historic overview. The authors believe the kingdom theology and spirituality of Harding and Lipscomb provide the contemporary church with a way forward into the future.
“With this book, we wanted to emphasize the positive aspects of our heritage from 1906,” say Hicks. “We don’t try to explain the division. We embrace the values we thought the contemporary church should embrace. I write with the church and church members in mind. The book is meant to be used to affect the life of the church. I write not just in pursuit of scholarship, but as a means of serving.”
Hicks, professor of theology at Lipscomb University and adjunct professor of Christian doctrine at Harding University Graduate School of Religion, also writes with students in mind. He wants students in his classes to see their place on that caravan route. When he lectures, he wants his students to do more than just glean a few theological facts to take with them on their journey. He hopes his students can reap the blessings offered by God when they take part in God’s mission daily. “I enjoy helping students see the big picture of God’s story and how they are called to participate in God’s mission in every aspect of their lives. When they realize that their vocation is part of the kingdom of God, they live their lives differently. They see their daily work as a mode of participation in the kingdom of God.”
Hicks has been part of the Lipscomb University faculty since 2000. He previously spent nine years at Harding University Graduate School of Religion where he still serves as an adjunct professor. He has published six books and numerous academic and popular journal articles. He has taught in 39 states and 18 countries. He has taught in Korea eight times and in Japan twice. He has also lectured in Uganda, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Croatia, Italy, Ukraine, Jamaica, England, Wales, Russia and Honduras.
He recently returned from a semester with Lipscomb students in Vienna as part of Lipscomb’s Study Abroad program. From September 7 through December 1, 2006, he introduced sixteen students to the history, art and music of the European culture while also teaching them western humanities and theology. “It’s thrilling to see students experience this for the first time,” Hicks comments. “It’s experiential learning. We can talk about one aspect of history and go tour the spot where it happened.”
2006 Study Abroad students in Vienna heading out into Vienna to learn the subway, bus and tram systems and begin to sightsee.
Along with his exciting experiences in his personal and professional journeys, Hicks has also faced many challenges in life. “My first wife died when I was 22 years old,” Hicks states. “That reshaped my faith. As I dealt with my anger, I moved away from my mechanistic view of faith to a more relational view of God. I stopped thinking of Christian life as a series of rules and rewards. We are in a dynamic life together with God.”
Hicks also faced the death of one of his children. His son, Joshua Mark Hicks, died on May 21, 2001, at the age of sixteen after a long struggle with the genetic condition called Sanfillippo Syndrome. Children with Sanfillippo Syndrome are missing an essential enzyme that breaks down a complex body sugar called heparin sulfate. This sugar slowly builds in the brain, stopping normal development and causing hyperactivity, sleep disorders, loss of speech, dementia and typically death before adulthood. There is no cure, yet.
Despite these losses in life, Hicks moves forward to help people see the big picture of God’s story. He and his wife, Jennifer (who is a clinical instructor in the nursing department at Vanderbilt), work to help nurses see their career choice as a kingdom vocation. “Nurses work with people in the brokenness of the world. They see pain and illness, but they are kingdom lights to many people.” As a theological mentor to the nursing students, Hicks meets with them twice a semester to engage in dialogue about their profession and their role in God’s story.
“I want to encourage people to engage life in a faithful way,” states Hicks. He engages life fully and faithfully as he lectures across the nation and around the world, as he dialogues with nursing students and as he teaches on the campus of Lipscomb University.