Interviewer: Ever wondered what other people of faith believe, what their faith means to them, how they live it? That’s what this audio podcast is about. It’s called “All Faith Counts,” because well, all faith does count. The more each of us knows about other people’s faith, the more we understand, accept, and respect them for their belief. Hopefully, this is a reminder of all the good faith brings to our world. We’re going to hear today from Derek Earl, a Southern Baptist, as he shares how the principles of his faith define his life.

Derek Earl: My name is Derek, I’m 30 years old, so I’m a millennial. I’m a husband, and father, and a Southern Baptist. I play guitar, and piano, and just a variety of other instruments, and then I started playing, maybe in seventh grade or so, probably… I was grounded in my room, and couldn’t do anything, and so I had a guitar. I was like, “Well, I guess I’ll learn to play this.” And then I just kept pushing because I wanted to be better. At some point in time, there was kind of a switch in my mind from wanting to be like this great, famous guitar player, and the switch was like, I want the one who gave me this talent, which was God, I wanted Him to get the credit and the glory for any skill that I have. All of my songs right now, are usually worship songs, or songs of praise, and just talking about how good He is.

[Singing] “God, be merciful to me, I’m hiding underneath your wings, ’till the storms of hell pass by, I’ll cry to God most high. Come your king of mercy…”

Derek Earl: As Southern Baptists, we believe in the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the inherent word of God; that God revealed who He was to us through the Bible, and that through it, we can know who He is, and what His plan for salvation is. We were born sinful, and that we need a Savior and that we can’t save ourselves because we’re just not good enough, (chuckles) and that’s really the core piece of Christianity that is grace.

Interviewer: Like other Southern Baptists, Derek feels strongly about his belief in grace. We asked him to explain the concept of grace to us.

Derek Earl: So, grace, by definition, is undeserved, unmerited favor. So, there’s nothing you can do to earn it, or deserve it. It’s something that has to be freely given. And the Bible says that God freely gives grace to His people. And so, if I was trying to explain grace—gosh—I would really just have to point back to the cross and Jesus. Here is God in the flesh who comes down, lives a perfect life, dies a brutal death. And then offers you, at your worst—that’s what the Bible says—salvation. And to think that—wow—He’s going to give me all of the reward here for living perfectly. And I didn’t do anything for it. And I think that would be the Christian doctrine of grace.

Interviewer: Belief is only powerful if it results in action. Derek feels his belief in grace reflects in his actions.

Derek Earl: Knowing that God has offered that kind of grace, it should, and it has, caused me to respond in such a way to other people that I want to offer them kind of the same thing that He’s offered me. It would be wildly hypocritical of me to know that God has offered me such grace, and then for me not to extend it to other people in moments when they fall short. So, I try to treat everybody to the best of my ability, like I know that God has already treated me, and that’s gracious and kind, patient, loving, slow to anger, slow to speech. I’m not perfect at it. Thankfully there’s grace. (Chuckles)

Interviewer: Often in today’s world, if a person of faith doesn’t measure up, it’s easy to label them a hypocrite. Derek has a unique view for those who feel this way.

Derek Earl: I’m absolutely a hypocrite, and perhaps even, you know, the king of hypocrites. That’s what it means to be a Christian, that we admit that we are flawed and we aren’t perfect. And not only that, but we’re not going to be, and in fact, we can’t be. And we rely on Jesus’ perfect work, and His perfect life to not even fill in the gaps, but literally to be all of it. We’ll never measure up. The Bible says that even our best works are filthy rags, you know, in light of who God is, and His perfection. So, if we’re at all leaning on our own strength to make up the difference, we’ll never get there. So, when somebody says “Hey, well you say you’re a Christian but you’re far from perfect.” I’d say, “Yes, and amen! And thank goodness for Jesus because He was perfect.”

Interviewer: Derek has been a faithful Southern Baptist since his youth, but it’s often easy to give up on religion. He’s frank in sharing why he continues in his faith.

Derek Earl: From my teenage years on to now, I think what it’s done over the years, progressively, is just continue to help me love people more because I see how much God loves people. Because I can say with all honesty, that I’ve not always been like the most loving guy ever (chuckles). But seeing how God loves me, and seeing how He’s continued to care for me, continued to guide so many of my steps, I’ve got quite an array of experiences, even at 30. And I’ve seen how God has continually been there through a lot of those experiences and has helped maybe get me out of some messes, and has been there for me. And so, my faith has definitely been an eye‑opener in that I need to love more than I do because God loves me.

Interviewer: A common argument regarding faith is that it divides people, creating barriers, and bringing judgment. As a practicing Christian, Derek shares his thoughts about this.

Derek Earl: When you live in a society filled with different faiths, and filled with different people, filled with different ethnicities and races and all sorts of things, it can be very easy to divide off into little groups or camps. And when you see the gospel, in the way that it’s presented, that Jesus came and He died for me, as a 30‑year‑old white male, you know, a millennial, and then He also says that He dies for every tribe and tongue and nation. That He came to gather people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, it breaks down a lot of the dividing walls that we see in culture and society. And so, for me personally, my faith, is the thing that should unite people, whether you’re white or black or Hispanic or poor or rich or lived on that side of the tracks, lived on this side of the tracks, Jesus unites people.

Interviewer: Another common belief often held today is that one doesn’t have to attend a worship service in order to be religious. Certainly, attendance only doesn’t a believer make, but Derek sees it as something more. He sees it as a way to connect with people.

Derek Earl: I have heard people say that before, that you know, I’m religious, but I don’t go to church, or I don’t have any sort of kind of gathering. When you read the New Testament, it seems like the apostles and the disciples almost had kind of a pre‑conceived idea and assumed that you would gather with people. The New Testament doesn’t make a lot of sense in isolation, like as a person, living apart from other believers. It seems like a lot of the pieces of sanctification of growing in your faith, have to do with being in community, learning to love other people, learning to be slow to speech, learning to be patient, learning to be kind. Well, it’s super easy to do all those things alone. So, it seems like the writings and the instructions that they give us in the New Testament assume community, and assume gathering. And then I would possibly just quote Hebrews 10 that says, “Don’t neglect to gather together, as some often do” (chuckles). So, pretty much, I think the answer is there.

Interviewer: So, speaking of gathering together, Derek explains his worship activity in a typical week.

Derek Earl: We’re weekly involved with a Southern Baptist Church. Yeah, we attend weekly on Sundays. I lead the musical worship on Sunday mornings. We’ve got a small youth group, and so I’ll teach them on Sundays. We do sort of a Bible study. And then during the weekdays, they meet with our senior pastor once a week, and we kind of talk, how to live the Christian life better, I guess you could say (chuckles). And then on Thursday night I host a Bible study at a coffee shop and we get just a bunch of friends together, and we open our Bibles and we talk about doctrines or we talk about current events, we talk about politics. That’s kind of really an open forum where you can just bring different topics to the table and see what the Bible has to say about it.

Interviewer: In closing, Derek sums up how his faith allows him to be involved in something greater than himself. It’s what he calls “fulfillment.”

Derek Earl: You know, I find it really interesting that all people seem to be looking for something greater than themselves, whether they want to call it faith or God or meaning. It seems like universally that tends to be the case. People want to find something to fulfill them, and then they look for it in money or relationships or family even. And the Bible says that true hope and true meaning and true fulfillment is found in Jesus, and sure enough, from the moment that Jesus really stepped into my life and let me know, “Hey, I’m that thing that you’re looking for,” I can’t compare it to anything else. It’s definitely it. To know that I don’t deserve grace, that I don’t necessarily deserve any sort of favor, and yet He offers it to me anyway, and then the Bible says, “at my worst.” Like that to me is… that’s life‑changing.

[Singing] “He exalts as God above, with faithfulness and steadfast love, none can comprehend your worth, your glory fills the earth. Come oh king of mercy, lay me down in glory, your sovereign grace upholds me. I’m down on my knees, surrendering, long live the king…

Interviewer: Thank you, Derek, for taking your time and sharing with us the ways your faith builds your character and brings good into your life. And thanks to you, our audience, for listening. We invite you to visit Faithcounts.com to learn and be inspired by different faiths, because our world is a better place when all faith counts.