Recently I read from a fifteenth-century book something that was commonly understood by the Ancient Christian writers and is also common knowledge for Orthodox Christians and many Roman Catholics: honoring and learning from the saints of old. However, Protestants are not as good at this. We have a few missionary heroes who, in Protestant vernacular, might be considered “saints”: William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot. Yet these are distant figures for most of us.

Then today, I read that John Perkins, the great Christian leader who founded Voice of Calvary (VOC) in Mendenhall, Mississippi, passed away at the age of 95. When I was in college in the early 1970s, VOC and John Perkins were heroic figures for many new Christians. I later met him personally and he seemed to embody much of what we read about in the Bible as marking the community of faith: caring for the poor, preaching the gospel, uniting people of different classes and races in society.

Perkins embodied a basic outline for his life as a faithful servant of Christ. This included:

  • Relocation
  • Reconciliation
  • Redistribution

Relocation. It is hard to preach the gospel or wipe away tears from people living in a different part of the city. So, Perkins challenged us Christians to consider moving across the tracks, out of the suburbs, into an apartment or to a new city. My wife, Nancy, and I took that challenge seriously and moved to the Anacostia region of Southeast Washington, DC so we could reach young men in the city. It was only one summer, but it helped build the foundation for us to relocate to reach others in Asia, and then in the East End of Pittsburgh. Working with InterVarsity, some of our students followed Perkins’s model and likewise relocated.

Reconciliation. This has been a concern of mine and Nancy’s throughout our adult lives, so we have struggled to help bring people together who are naturally separated. Related to reconciliation is the need to understand different cultures and social classes, and so we made it a priority for people to learn about other cultures. I came to understand that reconciliation is an essential element of the gospel, and even of evangelism. In Jesus’ “Nazareth Manifesto” (Luke 4:14-30) the main message is two parts: God’s grace and love, and that grace and love are meant to include your enemy. We know reconciliation is hard because the very nationalistic (or ethnocentric) Jews wanted to kill him for expressing love for a Sidonian woman and a Syrian general. Perkins opened our eyes to the centrality of reconciliation, a theme that is woven throughout Scripture.

Redistribution. To many people, this may sound like socialism. Yet what could be more Christian than feeding the hungry? As Jesus said, “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well” (Matthew 5:40, NIV). When I raise money for poorer students to attend seminary, I am asking for the wealthy to “redistribute” their resources. And when we, as individuals, give to World Relief, World Vision, or any other benevolent organizations we are doing the same. John Perkins knew the importance of being aware of and reaching a helping hand to under- and unemployed people.

As a person, Perkins was gentle, kind, firm, biblical, and a friend of all he met. He was mistreated and beaten by white police when unjustly imprisoned during the Civil Rights movement, but he embodied forgiveness and worked with white professors and pastors. It is worth reflecting on his life—both his theology and ministry—so that we might become better Christians.

When talking about how we resist “the old enemy,” Thomas à Kempis makes the following comment as if Jesus was speaking to him: “Know that the old enemy strives, in any way he can, to block your doing good and to keep you from your religious devotions: from honoring the saints and from devoutly remembering my Passion.”[1] In other words, a primary way to resist Satan is by remembering and honoring the saints of the past in conjunction with the Passion of our Lord.

My personal faith and courage to resist pride and temptation have been deepened when I remember my mentor, Dr. Samuel Moffett and his wife, Eileen.[2] In remembering the “saint” John Perkins, I find this description in the New York Times helpful:

Mr. Perkins’s central insight, which he first gained in the 1960s, was that faith leaders could best help impoverished communities by connecting spiritual nourishment—helping people develop a rich interior life with Jesus through the Gospel—to a more programmatic mission of fostering social and economic uplift. It was a faith-based Christian social movement that he called the “whole Gospel.”[3] 

[1] The Imitation of Christ, Part III, chapter 6.
[2] Attentiveness, “Mentors.”
[3] John M. Perkins Dies at 95; Evangelical Minister Espoused Social Justice. March 14, 2026

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist, president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is author of the “Attentiveness” blog. He welcomes comments, responses, and good ideas.