For Christ's sake: An interview with brother Jed

Last Friday, I set out to answer that question. Brother Jed and I arranged a Mall-side interview while his family mingled with students. Cindy, his caffeine-bashing wife, was testing out a student's skateboard. Two of his younger daughters were playing gr oup frisbee, while his eldest was busy outdebating a graduate student. I smiled and turned to Jed. This, I mused, will be interesting.

Why do you do this?

"I'm out to justify the ways of God to man. I want to defend the character of God against his critics. You'll notice there's a theme to many of the questions students ask me, and they revolve around an attempt to condemn God and justify themselves. I want to bring them to the point where they utterly condemn themselves and justify God, where they say they're wrong, they deserve Hell, they are guilty, and God's been right all along. That's true repentance. Then, of course, I want to bring them into a savin g knowledge of the Lord, so they can have their sins forgiven and receive the gift of God, which is eternal life."

Have many students been reformed through what you're doing?

"Well, yes. Some students have sent me testimonies of faith as a result of my ministry over the years. I've got e-mail from people who heard me way back in the '70s. See, these students will remember our visit to the UA, long after they've forgotten the n ames of practically all their professors."

Has anyone ever attacked you?

"For students to get physically violent, or threaten violence, even though I received a death threat today, is unusual. I've been pushed and shoved around a lot, and had people take swings at me, though they typically miss. Once in Kent State, I had 500 s tudents ready to mob me. I got arrested for my own sake there. The judge checked out my story the next day and dismissed the case."

Do you hope your five daughters will do the same thing you do?

"I hope so. I think this is the type of a job for a man more than a woman. I think they'd like to marry and bear children, and I hope they continue our vision of the campuses. They often talk to students on the sidewalks. It's so ironic to me that people accuse me of brainwashing my children. If I were brainwashing my girls, this is the last place I would bring them, where they hear all sorts of different views, most of which are contrary to what I teach them. We're not brainwashing them. We do believe it 's important for them to hear different points of view, and be able to intelligently defend Christianity. I don't want them to believe just because their parents believe. That's not real faith. I want them to believe because they've thought things through , heard all the arguments, and have reached their own decision."

When was the last time you sinned?

"Well, it's been a good while since I've sinned. I don't want to sin, I hate sin. I love God too much to sin. So, sin has been very exceptional in my life for years. If I have committed any sins, it might temporarily be a bad attitude, but not any overt s ins like stealing or a violation of the Ten Commandments."

In the Wildcat last week, you called yourself a "perfect servant of God." The Bible explicitly states that hubris is the worst sin. How do you see those as compatible?

"I don't recall using that exact terminology. I believe all Christians, true Christians, are servants of God. Jesus said, 'Be therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.' I am what I am by the grace of God. Now this is a moral perfection we're talking about. Certainly I'm not perfect in knowledge, I'm not physically perfect, but I have a pure heart, in that I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and love my neighbor as I love myself. That's all that God really requires of us."

With that, Jed and I turned again to the Mall. It was six o' clock, and the last sermon had ended at five, but patches of people remained on the grass, debating, talking, listening. Everyone was discussing religion. I looked at Jed, and we smiled.

I believe most of what Jed Smock said was bullshit. I do not believe Muslims, Jews, or even Agnostics like myself are going to Hell for following God on a different path. But I do believe Jed Smock accomplished something great. He brought the discussion o f God back to people who can easily, and have easily, forgotten Him. His methods were acidic, to be sure, but students need an occasional ass-kicking, and contrary to popular belief, Jed Smock had every legal right to give them one. I'm glad Brother Jed c ame, for on the Mall that day, and every day, students were forced to turn inward, and look upward.

Mark Joseph Goldenson is going straight to purgatory as a freshman in psychology and molecular and cellular biology. His column, 'Gold Standard,' appears every Friday.

By Mark Joseph Goldenson (columnist)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 21, 1997