Bootleg Preacher

Will Campbell is unknown to many, but ought to be known by all. He is a self-described bootleg preacher. A Baptist, he spent much of his life offending the sensibilities of all Baptists, but especially those of the First Baptist Church type. I had the joy to see him lecture at Mobile College [now the University of Mobile], a conservative institution of higher education in Mobile, Alabama. It was so conservative that the powers that be did not consider me sufficiently orthodox to serve as an adjunct prof.

How did someone like Will Campbell get there? The rebels within the Philosophy and English departments, not the Religion department, conspired together to invite him to campus.

One of his major claims to fame, as far as I am concerned, is the fact that he was the inspiration for Doug Marlette's character, the Reverend Will B. Done, in the KUDZU cartoon strip. Unfortunately, Mr. Marlette was killed in a car accident last year, and KUDZU is no more. Obviously, Will Campbell is known for much more than that, but the KUDZU reference is still a thrill for me.

I mention Will Campbell because I came across an old issue of Christian Century (November 27, 2007) that has an interview with him. One of the Q&A's struck me.

Q: As you look back on your career as a minister, author, and activist, what gives you the greatest sense of satisfaction?
Just trying, you know - just showing up. I was no hero in the civil rights movement, but I was there, and that was something. If anything in our faith were taken literally, it would be so revolutionary that we wouldn't recognize it. And I don't mean just the Christian faith either, but the Jewish faith and the Muslim faith as well. We don't live by our own preachments. If we did, everything would change.

There is a lot to unpack in this, but I want to dwell on just one point. Just trying, just showing up, can be something of great power and influence. None of us is called to be a "superhero," but we are called to try. We are called to show up when folks are denied justice - to give them the support of our presence. We are called to do more than write a check; we are to stand with them as our sisters and brothers (whether we know them or not).

That is what Will Campbell means, I think, about living "by our own preachments." That is the hard part of this life of faith we claim.