A Conversation with David Barton Part One

What prompted you to engage in this area of ministry?

At the risk of engaging in religious clichés and Christian-speak, the simple answer is: God. My background made it highly improbable (for several reasons) that I would ever do what I am now doing.

First, I grew up in rural life in Texas. The town in which I live had only 220 folks when I moved there, and up to three years ago, I was still able to ride my horse to work (5 miles). In rural life, we have a tendency to fulfill literally God’s command in Exodus 20:9, “Six days shalt thou work”; consequently, working 12-14 hours a day, six days a week, is common. And in our town, the average response time for a call for help to the sheriff was one hour. I say this to explain that in this type of rural life, you learn to be independent – to do things for yourself. You really don’t need (and often don’t want) outside help from the government, for you have your community – your local church, your family, and your neighbors. In fact, in many rural areas, most country folks would be happy not seeing someone from the government; further, they generally have no desire to engage in politics; and additionally, they tend to avoid attorneys and the law, tending to believe that the law complicates rather than simplifies life (in rural America, your personal word is your bond and is generally sufficient as your only contract).

Second, in addition to a rural lifestyle, I grew up loving science and math. I attended college on a math and science scholarship, and after college I taught math and science in high school; I was not a fan of the study of history or the humanities.

Finally, I was actively involved in church work, serving on the staff of various churches in positions ranging from youth director to music director to director of Christian education to associate pastor.

All of this is to say that growing up, and during my early years of employment, the four things I definitely didn’t want to be involved with were law, history, government, and politics – and now I’m intimately involved with all four! Therefore, I conclude it is a God thing, for I would not have voluntarily chosen the areas in which I am now involved.

Where I am now, of course, has occurred through a number of smaller steps over a period of years by which God has guided us to what I am doing today. And I have no doubt that those providential steps will continue and may well guide me into other areas in the future that I might not have anticipated or pursued on my own initiative. This is not to say, of course, that there has not been hard work and long hours and much personal retraining involved; there has been. It is just that once I believed that God had directed me into something, I know that I need to commit myself to it with all my heart, body, soul, and mind.