Interview with Thabiti Anyabwile
- Thabiti, I want to welcome you to the
ref21 blog and I look forward to your insights and contributions. Tell us
briefly a little about yourself and your family.
I grew up in
Carolina
young woman named Kristie at freshman orientation. In something of a mystery, she decided to
become my wife almost seventeen years ago.
We have three children and live in Grand Cayman,
Islands
senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman. I enjoy jazz–the classic, straight-ahead
stuff not that light Kenny G nonsense–basketball, chess and checkers, reading
and writing.
- You have a fascinating conversion story. Can you share it with us, briefly?
The Lord saved me from His wrath and to His glory about 12
or 13 years ago. I had been for some
time a practicing Muslim and a real enemy of the cross. In college, I’d say I was something of the
campus Saul.
One year during Ramadaan, up early in preparation for prayer
and the fast, I was reading the Qu’ran and had a settling awareness that what I
was reading could not be true. I could
not reconcile the Qur’anic claims that the Books of Moses, the Psalms of David,
and the Gospels were true with the claim that Jesus was not the Son of God and
that salvation was not by faith in Him.
The more I read the less coherent Islam became. The more I committed myself to faithful
observance, the more aware I became that I was not righteous at all.
I left Islam and for about a year wandered between
agnosticism and atheism. Christianity
was never an option. I assumed that all
religions were equally false. Near the
end of that year, my wife and I miscarried our first child. That was hard providence. The Lord humbled us deeply.
While sitting at home depressed, I “happened” across a
pastor on television preaching through the book of Timothy. At the time I would not have been able to
explain it, but the words of the Scripture had life. I watched his show faithfully and eventually
learned his church was in the
to attend the church. That Sunday, the
pastor preached from Exodus 32. It was
Law and gospel, and by God’s indescribable grace, my wife and I both came to
saving faith that Sunday morning.
- You are about to appear at the Together for the Gospel conference.
What was it like?
That
must be one of the most humbling privileges of my life! Everyone one of those men at the conference
are heroes of mine. MacArthur is one of
the first expositors I ever heard.
Sproul taught me theology through Renewing Your Mind radio. Mark taught me to love the church. Piper forces me to exult in Jesus. C.J. models such humility and joy, and Lig’s
scholarship is exceeded only by his graciousness. And who is more courageous than Al
Mohler?
Then
there is this funny-named guy “Thabiti Anyabwile.” It’s a privilege to serve with them and to
count them friends. I am deeply grateful
to God for the opportunity to learn from them and to labor with them for the
gospel of our Lord.
- As you think about today’s church
(let’s narrow the field to reformed churches) what do you see as the
issues of greatest importance?
Preaching
the gospel with clarity and power.
Faithfully teaching the whole counsel of God that the Lord’s people
might grow into maturity. Cultivating by
prayer, teaching and dependence upon the Spirit the kind of love in our
congregations that mark Christians out as Christ’s disciples (John
13:34-35).
- Are there things happening in the
church today that give you encouragement for the future?
The recovery of biblical exposition excites me greatly. It’s thrilling to see men commit themselves
to the Scriptures, to humbly depending upon God’s word, and to watch the Lord
bless His word in the lives of His people.
The amount of quality things being published encourages
me. I trust the Lord will use it to
define the trajectory of His church for generations to come. I’m especially encouraged at the growing
number of reformed African American writers who are helping to spread robust
biblical truth in those quarters of the Lord’s vineyard.
- I’m hoping that at least one of our
new bloggers brings a better taste in music! Are you a fan of Led Zeppelin
or Black Sabbath?
Oh, that’s hilarious!
Man… I’d have to go with Black Sabbath because at least they have
“Sabbath” in the name. If it’s not
Parker, Coltrane,
Brown, Stitt, Tyner, Rollins, Jamaal, or the like, I’m afraid I’m not much use
to the blog. I’m digging a number of the
young Reformed holy hip hop artists–Curtis Allen, Shai Linne, Timothy Brindle,
Christcentric, etc. But beyond that, I
sing because I am a Christians not because I’m musically literate!
- What is it like to live and minister
in the
The Lord has wonderfully blessed me in giving me this group
of saints to love and shepherd. The
people here love the word of God, the gospel, and each other. My family and I have been the recipients of
overwhelming generosity, hospitality, encouragement, and support.
The
to beautiful and hospitable people. The
country enjoys a Christian history it is quite proud of and fighting to protect
in many ways. It is as diverse as any
major metropolitan city, and in that sense is a great outpost for the
gospel.
It’s almost always 80+ degrees, sunny, and clear blue water
on white sandy beaches. So, those who
don’t want to suffer for the gospel should consider easier places to live!
