Grace and Truth

A 200 member “mega-church” in Tokyo. Four daughters who love the Lord. The respect of an entire educational community. And, in retirement, a vibrant overseas ministry to the Ukraine – what sort of man bears such fruit? This query led me to investigate, among so many distinguished names, the life of Mr. Howard Blair.

Biography

A Philadelphia native and a pastor’s kid, Howard first encountered Japan as a young soldier in the U.S. occupational army. There he fell in love with teaching the Bible to fellow soldiers. So he returned to Japan with Phoebe, his wife, in 1953. Following a year of managing the dormitory, Howard assumed the headmaster position of the then fledgling Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ). After four years of administration he decided to return to the classroom, convinced his true gifts lay there, and went on to teach high school English and Bible for 27 years. As a teacher, he particularly excelled. Flossie Epley, former student, recalls, “There was a sense that he appreciated us for who we were and believed we had something to contribute. He was my favorite teacher and shaped the teacher I became.”

Not long into his teaching career, life took another turn. Mr. Nagase, accountant for CAJ, invited him to teach a Sunday evening Bible class at his house. Mr. Blair agreed, and six months later, Kurume Christ Church was born. Howard pastored it until his retirement in 1995, concurrently teaching at CAJ until 1981. Under the combined leadership of Howard and Mr. Nagase the church grew large, and today welcomes 200 in three services, pastored by Rev. Taizo Morimoto.

Mr. Blair and his wife also nurtured a lively family. Phoebe was feisty and outspoken, Howard more reserved and philosophical. Together they raised four spirited daughters. His parenting methods were unusual for the missionary community of his day—he used a less hands-on approach to teaching spiritual truths than most. But God blessed their family; by God’s grace all their daughters follow Christ today.

Grace and truth

Certainly Mr. Blair had faults and weaknesses like all of us, for example, he could be passive in conflict, or lose patience in class. However, his life has borne remarkable fruit. Mr. Blair achieved a remarkable balance of God’s grace with His truth that impacted the lives of many.

Grace

Mr. Blair’s graciousness also showed itself to his family. Oldest daughter Ginny recalls that her generally reserved father displayed a different side in the home. “He was more relaxed, [and] funny. He would make rat-a-tat-tat sounds and chase us around the house,” she says with a smile. While Phoebe leaned more toward discipline, his tendency was to overlook and “take a more lenient stance.”

His grace was evident in the classroom. Rick Seely says, “He gave me things to do; he trusted me. He cared about students, and was a loving man.” Flossie Epley adds, “He accepted people and overlooked idiosyncracies. He had a welcoming personality full of grace.” By all accounts Mr. Blair’s students loved and respected him, and as a measure of that influence, he was invited to give the main address for the school’s 50th anniversary celebration. In addition, a prestigious writing award bears his name.

Grace also filled the atmosphere at Kurume Christ Church. As a boarding student at CAJ in the 1980s, I found myself looking for a church home. Not knowing anything about KCC, my first Sunday there I felt embraced by one of the warmest, most welcoming spirits of any church I had experienced in Japan. The bilingual sermons were also clear and understandable; I found myself returning week after week for more.

Truth

Truth has fallen on hard times in our day. It’s fashionable to be tolerant, but not trendy to divide right from wrong. However, just as love sets limits, so grace sets the tone for truth. The second secret to Mr. Blair’s fruitfulness, then, lies in not only his graciousness, but in his search for truth.

“He challenged us. He wanted you to think about things, and not just accept them,” says Rick. “In class he really listened and didn’t just dismiss ideas but helped us think them through,” adds Flossie. Mr. Blair simply says, “My goal was to . . . engage students in real thinking about the fundamental questions of life.”

His own life reflected that engagement. He read widely in literature and theology. He also took voluntary college courses and attended lectures of theologians touring Japan. Mr. Blair attended basketball games to support the team—with his TIME magazine to read in the stands. His love for learning and interaction with a wide range of literature embellished his sermons.

Christ said to love Him with your heart and your mind (Matt. 22:37). Mr. Blair was one of those rare people who truly did, setting an example for others to do the same.

Take aways

So, a life well lived, a life mixing grace with truth. What can we take away?

Humble yourself before God. 

At critical junctures, Mr. Blair followed God’s voice. These included coming to Japan in the first place, following a Japanese man’s vision for a church and not his own, and leaving the CAJ teaching career he loved, to devote himself fully to KCC

Love your family. 

In the busyness of work and ministry, our families can suffer. However, when we take the time to love and nurture them, we reap a blessing later on.

Love the people you serve. 

This note sounds repeatedly in Mr. Blair’s life. He was a deep thinker, an intellectual man, who nonetheless had a deep love and concern for those whom he taught, worked with, and preached to.

Think, think, think! 

One criticism of contemporary Christians is that we can leave our brains at the door of the church. We may know what we believe, but not know why. Or, we value feelings over thought. But as Mr. Blair shows, our faith becomes attractive when we engage our hearts and minds, our passions and intellects, in other words, our whole selves, in the service of God

Along with all else, Mr. Blair has long loved gardening and still tends plants at his Philadelphia home. As he loves plants, so also has he nurtured the garden of his life and borne rich fruit. In the same way, may grace and truth grow on the tree of our lives.