A Tribute to “Prof” Howard Hendricks

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If you were to look back over your life, who has had the most impact on you, besides your parents? Who has most influenced your faith?

I would list a handful of men, and one of them is featured this week in our latest YouTube video: Dr. Howard Hendricks.

You may not have heard of Howard Hendricks, but he was one of the great Christian leaders of the last century. He left an incredible legacy in leaders that he helped train during his years as a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). It’s been over a dozen years since he graduated to heaven at the age of 88, but the seminary still maintains a tribute page filled with testimonials from men and women who were touched by his teaching and discipleship.

Hendricks, called “Prof” by his students, left his mark on more than 10,000 students during 60 years of teaching. I’ve never known anyone who has worked at one place for 60 years. But Prof wasn’t just anyone. He was always a cut above the herd.

I was one of those who soaked up his classes during the year I spent at DTS in the mid-1970s. I’ve always said that I “majored in Howard Hendricks.” I took all five of his classes that year, and it nearly killed me. But he kept me at the edge of my seat with his teaching.

He and his wife of over 66 years, Jeanne, also became good friends of ours.

Prof had the ability to come up with phrases that cut through the fog in our brains with clear biblical truth. If you do an internet search on “Howard Hendricks quotes” you will find many web pages from former students listing statements that made an impact on their lives. For example:

“Fear not that your life shall come to an end—fear that it will have no beginning.”

“My fear is not that you will succeed, but that you will succeed in doing the wrong thing.”

“You can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close.”

“You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.”

“It’s a sin to bore people with the Bible.”

“Our problem is that we are in the Word but not under the Word.”

“Most people don’t think, they just rearrange their prejudices.”

“You are able to do many things. But be sure you find the one thing you must do.”

“The measure of you as a leader is not what you do, but what others do because of what you do.”

“If we stop learning today, we stop teaching tomorrow.”

And while Prof’s teaching was second to none, it was his personal mentoring and discipleship that multiplied his impact. He had the uncanny ability to step into a young man’s life at just the right time to give encouragement and express his belief that God would use him. I certainly benefited from this encouragement and mentoring for more than three decades. Prof marked my life permanently with his infectious love for Jesus Christ and for the Scriptures.

Hendricks was also a great champion for marriage and family. In fact, he planted the seeds that ultimately resulted in the ministry of FamilyLife, which I led for several decades. While speaking at the U.S. Congress on the Family in 1975, Hendricks made a statement that captured the attention of three leaders from Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as Cru) in attendance. He said, “In Dallas/Fort Worth it takes three weeks of intensive training to become a garbage collector, but about all you have to do to get married is to stand before the justice of the peace and grunt and you are in–you’re married!” The Christian community, he said, needed to prepare couples for marriage.  Those three Campus Crusade leaders took this charge back to their leadership, and a year later FamilyLife was launched.

So as a result of Prof’s challenge, over its 50-years FamilyLife has impacted millions of couples in more than 100 countries.

He encouraged and exhorted FamilyLife staff on a number of occasions, was a guest on FamilyLife Today radio, and both he and his wife, Jeanne, were a huge encouragement to over 50 couples who spoke at FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® marriage getaways. In fact, my latest YouTube video features some highlights from one of Prof’s messages, a biblical perspective of aging and retirement.

I guess what has impacted me most is how Hendricks continued to run all the way to the finish line and make a global impact for Christ in his final years. He didn’t coast to the finish despite losing his right eye to cancer, falling off a platform while speaking (at the age of 80) and breaking a couple of ribs, and battling other health issues. He modeled what it looks like to continue to grow as a man and pour his life into others. He was a man of convictions who was on a mission to the very end.

Another of my favorite memories was of joining Prof and Jeanne for dinner with some friends the night before his retirement celebration a couple years ago. I asked Prof, “What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?” He told the story of when he was a young man and was seriously dating a young lady who was not headed in the same direction he was.

He said that he was growing spiritually and had the conviction that God wanted him to go to seminary and study the Scriptures. These convictions were not shared by the young lady, so he went over to her house to break off the relationship.

That was not what she wanted to hear. He said that he had to pry her fingers off his car so he could drive away. And then he had to tell his father, who highly valued education unless it came from a seminary, that he was going to go to Dallas Theological Seminary. In essence, his father told him he was wasting his life.

Prof spoke tenderly of his father, a military man, and how he had prayed for more than 40 years for him to come to faith in Christ. His dad made a commitment to Christ just a few months before his death. Prof stressed the importance of continuing to pray for family members and friends who show no interest in the gospel.

At the retirement celebration luncheon the next day, a handful of Christian leaders spoke about the impact that Prof and Jeanne had made on their lives.

One pastor told how, as a 16-year-old, he was influenced by Prof’s statement, “Men, nothing will create more doubt in your lives than trafficking in unlived truth.”

Michael Easley, pastor and author, said through tears how Prof had “given me permission” to try things and to be a leader. His favorite quote from Prof: “Sin will keep you from this Book and this Book will keep you from sin.”

David Jeremiah, a pastor, author, and radio host, told the story of how as a first-year seminary student he’d sat slumping in the back row of Prof’s classes. Prof soon summoned him to his office and gave him a wake-up call, “If you continue to sit on the back row slumping, you are wasting my time and yours!” Jeremiah moved to the front row and said he had been sitting up straight ever since.

And Chuck Swindoll, another influential pastor, author, radio host, and former chancellor of DTS, sheepishly shared a story that he’d never told anyone. Chuck said that when he was in seminary back in the 1960’s, he babysat Prof’s kids one night. He admitted that he looked through the papers on Prof’s desk and found a bank statement. Two things struck him: He was amazed at how little Prof was paid to teach, and he couldn’t believe how much he gave away!

Chuck went on to speak about Prof’s impact in his life. He told how, at the lowest point in his life and ministry, Prof had put his arm around him and said, “Whatever it is, I will be here when you need me!”

After all these men spoke, Prof stood up and was momentarily overcome with emotion. I don’t think I’d ever seen him cry, but God’s goodness overwhelmed him and for a few moments the words wouldn’t come. Finally, Prof told how, as a young man when he was just starting seminary, a professor put his arm around him and said, “Howard, God has a great future for you.”

That’s an understatement. But it illustrated the power of believing in someone, of passing on truth and encouragement to the next generation.

What a man! What an impact! What a legacy!

Be sure to listen to Howard Hendricks talk about a biblical view of aging and retirement in my latest YouTube video!

One final word: I need your help. My YouTube ministry, “Inspiring Courageous Faith,” has received a pledge for $50,000 if we match it with gifts from folks like you by December 31. As of today, we are well short of taking full advantage of this generous pledge. Could I ask you to make a year-end donation and help us in our mission of giving courage to students, married couples, parents, singles, and grandparents to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in their generation? Click here.