About the decision to be a minister, I did not receive any blinding light or have any earth-shaking spiritual experiences. It was more a series of experiences. I learned to care about others because a few others cared about me at critical points in my life. I decided that I could best fulfill what I came to believe most important in life in the ministry. I never got wrapped up in the trappings of religion, and I never failed to understand that the church was a very imperfect institution and instrument. Yet, I am convinced that the Christian perspective on life, and that the Biblical understanding of the nature of human beings, offered and still offers the best and only hope for the future. Without that perspective and understanding, all human strivings are in vain.
If I have learned anything from my efforts at trying to be a Christian, it can be summed up like this: It is better to believe in something greater and better than myself; it is better to live with faith and trust than with fear and doubt; it is better to care than to hate; it is better to share than to worry about accumulating; it is better to live a full joyful life rather than an empty happy one; it is better to serve than to demand service.
- Jerold Irvin