T. B. Maston died in May 1988.  He came in 1920 as a student to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.  Later, he joined the faculty.

After his first 10 years there, Maston began the Department of Christian ethics. Maston's reputation blossomed through 30-plus more years teaching Christian ethics.

An interesting comment, though, soon after his death was, "T.B.Maston likely will be forgotten within twenty-five years." The observer underestimated the staying power of a life well lived. Paraphrase the commentary on Abel (Hebrews 11:4), "though T. B. Maston is dead, he still speaks."  My perception is, that if anything, Maston's legacy, rather than diminishing, is growing.

Maston, I think, will maintain a place in Baptists' collective memory, because primarily, he was the most authentic Christian I ever met.  That alone will fascinate one.

The longer I knew him, the plainer it became how informative and formative influences had shaped him to be who he was. Influences, such as the effect important people and places had on him give a sense of Maston's impact. How he handled life difficulties reflected his Christ-centered perspective.

Worship and Calling Maston became a Christian when a high school student.  His sense of Jesus Christ being a personal presence along with following God's will were mainstays throughout his life.

Soon after his conversion he answered a call to the ministry. He expressed it best as a classroom teacher and in theological education.  His own journey provided a powerful grist for the innumerable sessions with students seeking a clear direction for where and how they would be ministers.

Heroes and Heroines People's personalities influence one's own.  Maston said his father was the best Christian he ever knew. He learned more theologies at the end of a corn row as he and his father rested than in all his seminary and university training, he said.

His mother was an influence in that she had no more education than the fourth grade.  He decided that everything he wrote would be something she could read and understand.

Essie Mae McDonald, whom he met at Carson-Newman College and married after they became students at Southwestern Seminary, was a stalwart figure through nearly 70 years of married life.  Affectionately calling her "Mommie" he related how she managed their home life in such a way he was free to write and teach more.

Losses Most of us could write our autobiography through our losses, if we stop to reflect in that direction. Following a false idea of the victory of the cross about how Christians do not suffer was not Maston's way.  Instead, he incorporated any sense of losses in his life into a profound understanding of the place of suffering in a Christian's life.

I could recount some of his difficulties, but probably the most significant was the health of the older son, Thomas McDonald, or, as he was known, Tom Mac.

A birth injury caused Tom Mac to live with cerebral palsy.  He was unable to do anything for himself.  Amazingly, Tom Mac, through the care of the family lived past 60.  Undoubtedly, working on this lifelong situation through Christ-centered lenses helped Maston to put into perspective other difficulties.

Places An unassuming individual, Maston spoke softly and dressed simply. Likely, that was a holdover from growing up in a sharecropper's cabin in east Tennessee.

He spent his career at Southwestern Seminary, taking time periodically to earn a Ph.D. in Christian ethics under H. Richard Niebuhr at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.

Maston also taught around the world through several short-term engagements.  Though born in east Tennessee in 1897, he was a world citizen in many respects.  He had an understanding both of places he went and people he met.

Influence Maston was a one-man task force on all facets of Christian ethics. Through his classroom work, writing, and speaking, he put the challenges of living the Christian life before thousands.  He addressed race, church-state issues, economic concerns, family life, the relationship of

ethics and evangelism and missions, and anything else that conflicted with Christian values.

He was not time or culturally locked on what he addressed.  I once asked him what he would be talking about if he were still teaching.  He replied he would take on timely, even controversial, theological and ethical considerations.

Neither a faddish nor an issue-oriented ethicist, Maston recognized ongoing concerns to a Christian.  Inevitably his style was to begin his response to the issue by considering how the Bible could address the matter.

Conclusion Sadly, most of Maston's 30 or so books are out of print. Scores of articles, and audio and video tapes of addresses, however, are handy to anyone interested in getting better acquainted with this man.  He lived Christian ethics like he taught them.  Getting to know him though his work is worth the effort.

October 1999