Coming Full Circle…an interview with Dodd Talbot (full article)

“It’s just so amazing to me that it has been almost 13 years for me to get to this point.  I'll never forget the day that you and I first met.  We were sitting out on the block wall between your house and my dad’s house.  You helped me to realize that some of the Christian people in my life, that I was listening to at the time, just wanted me to view the Bible from their point of view. They were legalistic and wanted me to be legalistic too.”

Question: “So what caused you to turn to God in the first place?”
Life was going pretty good for me—I was married, had a one year old son [Max] and a successful business.  I would have told you that I could pretty much handle anything on my own.  Then one Sunday in January I was out in the desert jumping one last sand dune.  I missed and landed square on my head, breaking my neck.  In the days that followed, lying in the hospital paralyzed, I quickly realize that I'm just as human as anyone else and just as powerless to make myself healthy again.  The fact is that I would've given anything to be able to walk, to be with my family, or to do the ordinary things that I use to do at home and at the business.  At the time, there wasn’t anything more important to me than getting healed and I think that's what really started me to think about Jesus. 
Just when I started to move a little more towards God things really started to fall apart.  The circumstances in my life got even worse, the business began to go downhill, and then my wife decided she didn’t want to be married to me anymore.  Soon, I found myself alone, financially struggling and even though God had allowed me to regain some of my physical strength I was struggling to put food on the table for my three kids. Those few years were unbelievably confusing and difficult, but ultimately they prepared me to receive the truth about myself.

Question: You mentioned that it has taken 13 years to get to this point, what are you referring to?
As a kid I grew up in the Catholic Church where I pretty much was told what I needed to do.  They told me that I had to do this or that in order to be saved.  Then just before I met you I got involved in the LA Church of Christ and they did just about the same thing.  It wasn’t about grace it was about legalism.  They kept telling me that I needed to do certain things instead of focusing on changing my heart.  They wanted me to be baptized in their church, join the church and break up with my girlfriend.  It was all about doing stuff instead of my relationship with God. I remember you telling me about grace and how important it was.  That salvation is about God forgiving us and accepting us even though we aren’t good people. 

When we were selling those Nova [raffle] tickets and sharing Christ down on the Blvd I saw this so clearly.  Since then I’ve really had a heart to share with other people because they need to know about grace.  That it is out there and that it is available for anyone. Sharing the gospel with you, Dave, helped me to be reminded that it is all about God’s grace and not about us being good.   I want people to know about the joy of the Christian life and to get away from all the legalistic stuff that makes Christianity ugly.

Question: So what is your plan of action Dodd?
Well, you know, I’ve committed to some time with you.  Since I’m heading off to Montana in June I really want to find ways to share this gift and these ideas with people in a way that they will understand.  So [on Tuesdays] we are meeting and I’m already getting equipped to share the gospel.  I want to be ready to go out and meet new people and share the good news without messing up.  That’s really important to me especially now.