I went to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. It was a wonderful experience. After seminary, I was appointed as an associate pastor at First UMC of Lakeland and had a good relationship with the college. In fact, one of my favorite professors once invited me to be a guest speaker in his class. It was a sociology class, and they were studying religion and society. He wanted a local pastor to come and speak about the church and community. I was still a little wet behind the ears, but I thought I did a pretty good job explaining my role and answering questions.

As the class was wrapping up, there was a student in the back of the class who raised her hand high. I called on her and she asked, “Why are you a Christian?” I replied, “Excuse me?” She repeated, “Why are you a Christian? …