Clint Hail has had an exciting, varied life. A West Point graduate and a former infantry officer, he now serves as Community Transformation Director in Costa Rica for e3 Partners Ministries. Clint has also attended two Theopolis Institute courses.
Clint recently told Theopolis about his experiences in the military, his work at e3 Partners, and the important role that Theopolis has played in forming his ministry.
You served in the U.S. Army. Tell us about your experience there. How did it help to prepare you for the work you’re doing today?
I attended West Point from 2004-08. When I graduated I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery. My first station was at Fort Polk, Louisiana with the 4th Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, and I was assigned as a Fire Support Officer in an infantry reconnaissance company – known to the brigade as “Ghost Troop.” We deployed in fall of 2011, and while there Ghost Troop was assigned a special role that immersed us into most of our brigade’s heaviest fighting.
While with Ghost Troop, I was blessed to be in the presence of outstanding leaders. Two of my peers, the company’s platoon leaders were incredibly dedicated servant leaders. Their platoon sergeants (the platoon leader’s second-in-command, and almost always his elder), despite their harsh exteriors, faithfully and sacrificially served those in their charge.
However, two leaders somehow stood above these men. Our commander and his first-sergeant (the commander’s enlisted counter-part) embodied the best of the officer and non-commissioned officer (NCO) traditions. Our commander could inspire loyalty and confidence through his selfless, empowering method of leadership and his excellent tactics. Our first-sergeant, aside from being a single-minded disciplinarian, was also an expert logistician, medical evacuation coordinator, convoy and air movement planner. With perhaps the most combat experience in the entire brigade, he knew how to keep order in chaos. He and our commander formed an incredible team and understood how to work with each other, even when they didn’t see eye-to-eye.
When I say that I’m impacted by the cost of leadership, it was around these men that I really learned what that cost requires. To lead the way they did – sacrificially, consistently, uncompromisingly – comes with a high price. They had to hold their reputations lightly; they had to bear their responsibility in the face of isolation and loneliness; and their time was not their own. All these traits of service are why the military is described as a calling. I remember discipleship to Christ being described in the same way.
For our young people in the church, the state’s military should not be the place to learn and live out Christ-like leadership. Right now, however, in America it seems to be the only place where it’s possible to do so. Therefore, we need to, at all costs, restore the church’s culture of sacrificial leadership. Jesus established the culture of the church by his life, thus it’s founded on righteousness, justice, peace, reconciliation, and suffering. After all, Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We fail to take this responsibility seriously because we struggle to believe that the church is the body of Christ – not a metaphorical polity, but the true polity – and that we have our own culture initiated by baptism, gathered around a table, and centered on the cross.
Now you work for e3 Partners Ministries. What is e3 and what do you do there??
e3 Partners Ministries is an international church-planting ministry, unique in its focus on serving and equipping local national church networks. We are in fifty countries with local national leaders in each of those countries who, together with our U.S. staff coordinators, drive the strategy for reaching their area. e3 Partners also developed and oversees the widely known I Am Second media ministry (www.iamsecond.com). We also have a growing domestic church planting initiative through e3 USA.
I joined e3 Partners last spring because I found out about their church-based approach to community development – what others call holistic missions. Currently, I am the e3 Community Transformation director for our networks in Costa Rica. Also, I’m part of developing content for training, and I’m working hard to bring what we do internationally to churches here at home.
Community transformation empowers churches to fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission. When churches are committed to fulfill the Great Commandment (loving God and their neighbors as themselves), and fulfilling the Great Commission (teaching others to do the same), transformation happens.
We take churches through a process of facilitated self-discovery, based on the book of Nehemiah, and help them drive the decision making process. We coach them to understand that God has already given them so much in the way of resources right there in their own community. Generally, the issues that these churches tackle deal with economic or agricultural development, community health and sanitation, water, education, and justice/human dignity.
When churches take the lead in addressing these problems, their relationship with the community almost always changes. They start to be viewed as leaders and their neighbors now want to hear what they have to say. It’s the difference the between a salvation culture, and a Gospel culture.
How did you find Theopolis?
As a result of my deployment, I began questioning my faith, my culture, and my direction in life. Once God brings you to a place of questioning and examining all your fundamental assumptions – assumptions about yourself and the world that you didn’t even know you had – you start asking yourself why you thought and behaved that way at all. And once that happens, it’s only a matter of time before you start digging deeper to find other unexamined presuppositions. This chain reaction eventually lands me at Theopolis Institute
Through this long chain of reflection and digging deep into Scripture I became aware of the rich inheritance of our faith found in its thinkers, leaders, missionaries, and martyrs – Christianity became less kitschy and more dangerous as I continued to dig for truth. While on this personal quest a friend introduced me to Dr. Jordan’s and Dr. Leithart’s body of work. I was amazed and deeply impacted by their ability to get into the eyes, ears, and world of Scripture. By following Dr. Leithart’s blog I eventually learned about the Institute.
How have the Theopolis courses affected the way you do your daily work?
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from studying with Theopolis Institute is how to think biblically and consistently about worship and mission. Evangelicalism is plagued by false dichotomies: faith versus works, relationship versus religion, traditional versus contemporary, and on and on. The Institute focuses on going “back to the basics” of Christian faith and practice. What does worship and mission look like in the Bible and how was it embodied in the early church? Approaching it from that perspective forces us to step outside of our current cultural norms/biases and determine in what ways we’re lacking and how can we become more biblically consistent.
Theopolis Institute has also renovated my understanding of the global ecclesia. Where once I didn’t know that there were Christians outside of the milieu of mainline evangelicalism, I’m now more aware of, have a broader perspective of, and more charitable heart towards our brothers and sisters across traditions. I think Scripture has much to say in the way of correction and reproof for all of us, but I’m grateful for the Institutes ability to see the beauty in our broken mosaic. e3 Partners Ministries is firmly evangelical, but it helps to have a faithfully ecumenical outlook even working within contemporary Protestantism – not to mention it impacts the way you view the field when you’re out on the “front lines.”
What would you say to other students who are considering studying at Theopolis?
No matter your tradition, if you think that the Lord is calling you to some sort of leadership role, within the church or in the world, you need to seriously consider attending Theopolis Institute. Both the church and the world today are overwhelmed by a tide of cultural confusion. It has become so difficult to determine where truth begins or ends that as Christian we need to focus on a “back to the basics” approach to studying Scripture. By “basics” I don’t mean simplistic or immature; I mean we need to be willing to submit all of our cultural and doctrinal assumptions to the Word of God and all it to refresh our understanding – of everything.
As the West approaches another pre-Christian era of its history, and Christianity booms across the globe in various cultural contexts, we as leaders in the church must have the capacity to navigate through Scripture and the life of the body in a way similar to the earliest Christians. That said, the goal of Theopolis is not to facilitate tribalism nor is it to promote compromise, but it’s to encourage a devotional and thoughtful unity within the body of Christ. rawing on the best of the church’s history they have taken serious steps in building up and promoting this “Reformed Catholicity.”
This endeavor demands great discernment and biblical wisdom; commitment to the truth and power of the God’s Word; and the willingness to step into serious conflict for the sake of Christ’s name. The men who lead Theopolis Institute prove that they take this call seriously. I’m so grateful for their example set, and I think anyone considering if they ought to attend the Institute should know that they would be powerfully impacted by their experience.