The Speech and Splash of Ben Carson

This past week’s annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington featured a speech that is gaining some popularity and is showing up in followup comments and interviews in many media outlets. Dr. Ben Carson, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, gave a speech that is not only being shared and posted by many on social media, but has some calling for him to run for president in 2016.

If you have heard or read the speech and got excited about it, it’s because you agree with his political solutions to America’s challenges. How do I know that? Because that’s all he talked about. At a prayer breakfast. No, I’m sorry THE Prayer Breakfast. The words that have ignited such enthusiasm in so many have left me wanting more. Much more.

Click on the link here and see for yourself. Dr. Carson is a well-known Christian who has a tremendous testimony. His comments in this speech were fine and even inspiring to those who agreed, but the venue was completely wrong, which is what’s wrong with what passes for prayer breakfasts these days.

He began with four Old Testament Bible verses which were never explained or revisited. I’m still not totally sure how they fit the speech. It would be refreshing if we could get speakers at prayer breakfasts to try to understand what God would want to say from His Word to the listeners rather than decide what must be said then make some lame attempt to find verses to bolster his views (which these didn’t), mention them briefly, then ignore them.

The rest of the speech centered on the importance of education (with some autobiographical paragraphs from his impoverished childhood and the evils of sports being elevated over academics), the national deficit, the overburdened taxation system, and solutions to health care. Jesus is mentioned once – only as a model of the One who explained things in parables, which Dr. Carson then attempts to do, ineffectively.

God is only mentioned in the section on taxation as the One who established the principle of the tithe (in other words, a flat rate system.)

I love Ben Carson. I love his story and his bold faith. It’s great that he has so many platforms to share his views. I just can’t understand why, at a prayer breakfast, he would almost completely avoid talking about spiritual things. That’s my disappointment. That’s where it fell short for me or maybe I don’t understand what prayer breakfast speakers are supposed to do. If so, let’s quit calling them “prayer breakfasts”.

Steve Lanning Says:

February 10, 2013 at 9:36 pm

Hey, Brent,
Great post on Dr. Carson’s talk! Cal Thomas had similar reactions that a prayer breakfast should be just that. I suppose I come at it from a little different side. You know my heart–that I try to be transparent in everything. Yes I agree that it wasn’t the most ‘proper’ venue to share what he did.

Yet, on the other hand, as Tevye would say, our Lord gave Dr. Ben that platform. It was up to him to use it however he felt lead because he would never have that opportunity again. Our own President did set the ‘confrontation bar’ low in no less a venue than his State of the Union address where he denegrated Supreme Court justices. And another time, he berated a US Congressman Paul Ryan when he sat only a few feet away. I’m not saying that turn about is fair play, but that any decorum that once was available is now lost. Dr. Carson did not even berate, he explained.

Certainly one can say that we can catch more ‘flies’ with honey than vinegar, but what if we are dealing with a person who is not attracted to honey? And what if we are dealing with one who has little or no respect for others and that Dr. Carson was God’s man for the message in ‘such a time as this?’ It is not ‘better than’ as to Dr. Carson’s message, it is ‘different than’ in approach.

If Dr. Carson gave that talk at a July 4th gathering, do you beleive it would have had such a profound impact on people as it is doing now? Do you think the news networks would have even given that kind of speech a second thought?

It is just that the platform and venue, to my mind, were ripe for the message. No, some of his stuff on Scripture wasn’t followed up, but that still leaves us with the main message. It is like the platform and venue your tremendous work at Capital Commission gives you and that you handle so well.

Personally, I don’t see how the Kim Walsh ad for the Windows Phone at the bottom of your good post has any bearing on your good post. Yet I do know that an advertiser must have thought that the platform of your blog was what they were looking for. And I certainly do not begrudge you for looking for revenue streams to support your ministry…in fact I applaud you for it! I think we all, within Scriptural grounds, should be looking for and cultivating support where the Lord allows.

This is the first time I’ve really heard Dr. Carson. I probably speak for a lot of people. And his words, as you have rightly stated, do leave me wanting more. I continue to pray for you and Tracy and your ministry (and Tracy’s convelessing!).

Warmest personal regards,
Steve

Brent Alderman Says:

February 11, 2013 at 12:37 am
Thanks for the feedback, brother Steve. As I mentioned in a Facebook comment, Eric Metaxas had a more appropriate address for the occassion of a prayer breakfast in 2012 (video here). I understand all the arguments for seizing the moment for a politically-driven speech. I’ve just been to too many of these breakfasts and seen too many opportunities squandered to share spiritual truth. Carson’s views, in my opinion, do have biblical support but that wasn’t his emphasis. I came away feeling like I had just heard his opinion. Metaxas, on the other hand, addressed issues (like abortion and traditional sexuality – with Obama sitting there) with a finger pointing to the Source of truth that he based his positions on. That is just a more effective approach.

God bless Dr. Carson and may he have many more chances to speak. I’m fine with that. It’s just getting tiring for me to see these events, more and more often, skip Scriptural authority then consider it spiritually beneficial. My point is, I’m not sure it is as effective as it could be. This may take a couple more posts because I’ve got some other thoughts on these prayer breakfasts.

Thanks, too, for the prayers, my friend!