When Mission and Academia Collide

Dr. Anthony Le Donne’s departure from Lincoln Christian University has created quite a buzz on the internet.  The attempt is being made to make Dr. Le Donne a martyr for intellectual freedom.  I am not so sure that this is the heart of the matter, but in Dr. Le Donne’s own words:

“I am writing with disappointing news. After over a year of pressure from Lincoln Christian University donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees, the president of the university has decided to terminate my employment. I have been told that this decision is in direct response to the publication of my popular-level book, Historical Jesus (Eerdmans, 2011). I have no doubt that the LCU administration made a staunch effort on my behalf, but eventually needed to assuage the fears of (what I am told) is a largely anti-intellectual constituency.”[1]

Sometimes I am too flippant.  This can become a hindrance when I have the opportunity to do good and instead try to be funny.  At least two opportunities were presented to me during my time at Lincoln Christian University.  Both took place in group settings.  The first was a “think-tank” session where several seminary students, past and present, were asked to reflect on a possible change in the school’s name from Lincoln Christian College and Seminary to Lincoln Christian University.  We were asked by the school president what questions we might have.  My only question at the time was, “How much more per hour will it cost me to have the word ‘university’ on my degree?”  See?  Flippant.  (Although I was paying $500 a credit hour before I finally earned my MDiv!)  I should have instead asked, “What will this mean for Lincoln Christian’s emphasis on being a sending school and remaining true to her identity as a Restoration Movement institution?”

Another opportunity came during my exit interview from the seminary about this time last year.  This interview took place in a group setting (I guess in order to save time).  The usual questions were asked, the usual pat answers, for the most part, were given.  Finally, the inevitable closing question was asked:  “If you could be president of the university for a day, what would you do?”  My (paraphrased) answer to that question was:  “I’d be more interested in keeping this institution’s focus on being a sending school rather than in expanding its academic reputation and options.”  My response was met with instant opposition from several of my peers.  Generally speaking, the negative reaction could be summed up as (1) we need Christians in all vocations, (2) and Lincoln needs to pursue academic excellence.  To both of these assertions I agree.  Not just being flippant but also a people-pleaser, I refrained from elaborating on their responses with the two immediate thoughts that came to mind.

First of all, if someone wants to get a business degree and then actually get hired, one ought to go somewhere that offers a business degree that is respected in the business world.  Yes, we need Christians in every vocation (well, save for exotic dancing, pornography, telemarketing, and other unsavory entrepreneurial fields—only slightly joking about the telemarketing, by the way), but when we turn a school whose focus is preparing men and women for Christian vocation into a school that tries to “be all things to all people,” the school quickly loses its identity.  This has happened again and again to schools within our particular movement.  Bethany College is a prime example.  Founded by Alexander Campbell in 1840, it makes no claim to being a sending school or a Restoration Movement institution today:  “The College's program of classical liberal arts education prepares students for a lifetime of work and a life of significance. Bethany places particular emphasis on leadership and incorporates pre-professional education in dentistry, engineering, law, medicine, physical therapy, public administration, theology and veterinary medicine.” [2]  There’s also Butler University, Texas Christian University, and Pepperdine, to name a few other institutions founded by our movement but who have now all but lost their identity as a Restoration Movement schools.

There’s a reason we have Christian campus ministries, and it’s not just to evangelize students who do not know Christ.  Campus ministries ought to also exist in order to provide college students pursuing non-vocational ministries a place to preserve and nurture their faith while swimming the strong currents of secular academia.

So if a Christian is seeking a non-vocational ministry field, I would point them to a secular liberal arts school with a strong campus ministry presence, a Christian liberal arts school that has a reputation for generating graduates who excel in the particular vocational field the prospective student is seeking, or a Christian sending school that partners with a secular liberal arts school to provide its students with vocational diversity.  I would not recommend that a student who wants to be a businessperson go to a school known for preparing men and women for vocational ministry.

Secondly, pursuing academic excellence and embracing viewpoints that are destructive to one’s stated mission do not have to coexist.  Many of Dr. Le Donne’s supporters have accused the school of sacrificing academic freedom/excellence in making this move.  Any institution has the right to maintain standards by which it is able to carry out its stated mission, so academic “freedom” is limited in any institution of higher learning.  (Just ask intelligent design advocates who have been canned from secular schools!)  There has been a lot of dancing around the issue by these same people concerning Dr. Le Donne’s book, but the fact of the matter is he does implicitly challenge several key Christian doctrines when his position is taken to its inevitable conclusion.  John Hobbins says it well when he sympathetically responds to a pro-Le Donne blog post:

“LeDonne challenges the tacit (not necessarily the real: you will appreciate the distinction) epistemological foundations of broad swathes of Christendom. 

“Moreover, at least not in the book in question, he does not offer a cogent alternative epistemology whereby a believer in Jesus in the sense of Philippians 2, Romans 1, or John 1, to cite confessional statements from the NT, would have justified belief.

“Am I missing something? 

“LCU's mission statement is plain as punch. Whereas I am convinced that LeDonne is an excellent scholar, it is not clear to me that he was contributing well to the objectives of the institution which hired him unless he also articulated a religious epistemology (a rationale of justified belief) compatible with his findings as a NT scholar.

“Since I have some knowledge of the tradition LCU represents, I would add that this would appear from the outside to have been a train wreck just waiting to happen.

“Here's hoping that an institution that relates to a more post-modern polity (in the positive sense!) picks up this fine scholar.” [3]

I was one who expressed my concern about Lincoln Christian University’s direction when approached by an official representative of the school.  The interesting thing about the conversation is that Dr. Le Donne was not even on my mind, but his was the name that popped up in immediate response to my concern.  But Dr. Le Donne’s position in the historical Jesus conversation was only a symptom of what I saw as a larger concern.  It appears to me that the institution seems far more interested in gaining the world of academia’s approval than it is in preparing men and women for vocational ministry.  I was as much told so when the remark was made by the representative that there isn’t a need for preachers like there used to be.  If that is indeed the case, fine, but don’t ask churches and other donors who for years have given their support for the express purpose of preparing men and women for vocational ministry to be happy when you shift your focus to something else.  And when your shift includes the tacit approval of perspectives on what we can know from the Bible that clash with the perspectives of those same churches and other donors, only the naïve would see no inevitable fallout.

I believe Dr. Le Donne is a fine scholar, possesses more intellectual firepower than I can ever hope to have, and will leave a bigger mark in the world of academia than most.  That’s why I see this as a win-win situation both for him and for the university.  I have no doubt he will be able to find a place where he can continue to exercise his intellect and promote his ideas, and Lincoln has taken a positive step in retaining the identity that the majority of her supporters and alumni want her to keep.  But there is still work to be done in this latter endeavor, and only time will tell if this was only a speed bump on the road to "progress" or a turning back to values the school was founded upon.

If you want to lose my respect, all you have to do is call me “anti-intellectual” “fundamentalist,” or someone holding to a “sectarian, obscurantist view of Christianity” (all comments recently posted in response to Dr. Le Donne’s departure from LCU) merely because I disagree with you on how to approach the Bible from epistemological, historical, hermeneutical, and theological perspectives, or because I disagree with you as to what LCU’s emphasis should be.  I don’t see name-calling as very helpful in this dialogue.  Just because my worldview conflicts with yours does not give either of us license to bash the other.

Did LCU's administration cave to pressure from donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees?  I imagine there’s some truth there.  But the greater question is, was it right for them to do so?  In my eyes, LCU is offering a product, a product funded, supported and carried out by those same donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees.  If those entities are unhappy about the product being produced, then they have every right to make some noise and threaten to take their support away, or give it to an institution that will produce the product they are seeking.

Bottom line on this whole issue is this:  if you are unhappy about this move by Lincoln Christian University, do something about it.

Stop merely writing angry blogs.  Stop signing your name on petitions.  Start writing generous checks, and when you do, sign your name on them.

In other words, don't be upset because people put their mouths where their money was; instead, put your money where your mouth is.

If you think LCU ought to be a place where someone like Dr. Le Donne can have the academic freedom to explore and promote whatever ideas he wishes, then give the institution the financial freedom to be such a place.

Convictions that cost nothing aren’t worth a whole lot.

The Many Faces of Facebook: An Open Letter to Christians Who Use Social Networks

There are tons of blogs and articles on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Facebook statuses out there; just ask Google about it.  So why am I bothering to offer my perspective on the issue?  Well, it’s not that I think I can add any new information to the conversation.  However, I would like to address this issue from a Christian perspective, and in particular, I’d like to address it to my Christian friends.

With over 900 million users, Facebook has become one of the world’s largest cyber gathering places.  It’s a great way to share information, to voice opinions, to have conversations, to promote people/places/things, to stay in touch with long-distance friends, and to connect with people we’ve never met face-to-face.  Expressing oneself requires only a few keystrokes and the click of a mouse.  But like anything else inanimate, Facebook is a tool that can be used for good or ill.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, knew how dangerous our speech could be.  Close to 2,000 years ago, he wrote, “It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell” (James 3:5-6, MSG).  The principle carries over to the written word as well, perhaps even more so.  Once something is put down on “digital paper,” it’s pretty hard to take back.

Facebook got its name from the book with students’ pictures, names, and basic information which some colleges and universities hand out at the beginning of the academic year to help their student body get to know one another.  But sometimes when I read certain status updates, I wonder if people have inadvertently wandered in from other sites.  Below are seven “alternate” Facebook sites all Christians need to avoid.  (I picked the number seven because it’s Biblical—yes, that’s said with a wink.)

Firstbook.  Firstbook is especially popular in the small town/rural community.  The members of this social networking site love to be the people with the latest 411, especially if the news is particularly tragic.  If they hear that someone’s Aunt Lucy passed, or so-and-so’s son got busted for pot, or what’s-his-name got in a serious car accident, their fingers will lock up if they don’t hit the keyboard within 5 seconds to let everyone else know that they were the first to know.  Sometimes this will be disguised in obscure terms, like, “Praying hard right now” (see Vaguebook below), so that they can justify leaking the information out when someone comments with, “Why?  What’s going on?”  Often their Firstbook cronies will know all the gory details before immediate family members of the person(s) involved do.  This is really insensitive, especially in the event of someone’s death.  If I lose a loved one, the last place I want to hear about it is from some distant acquaintance’s status update.

Rebook.  (No, not the shoe brand, that’s Reebok.)  This site offers a vast smorgasbord of items for its uninspired and unoriginal subscribers to pass on to others.  Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate something being passed on if it’s thought-provoking, newsworthy, insightful, or humorous.  If you find something interesting, by all means, pass it on.  (But really, folks, there has to be a limit to talking cat pictures and snarky “greeting card” covers, right?)  The really annoying ones I’m talking about here are the reposts telling me if I love Jesus, world peace, baby seals, tofu, etc., I, too, will repost this information.  The absolute worst are the ones that claim a prayer will be answered, an angel will get its wings, world hunger will be solved, etc., if I share it.  These people should be thankful I don’t pass these on; otherwise, God might indeed answer my prayer and they’d no longer have the capability of polluting my newsfeed with such posts.

Vaguebook.  Vaguebook is the information superhighway’s gathering place for people silently screaming for attention.  You know the type.  They’ll post something like, “Ticked off! >.<” “What comes around goes around,” or “Words can’t convey how I feel right now.”  Their Facebook friends will gather over said status update and scratch their heads as they wonder what this post is all about.  Meanwhile, the original poster is dying a slow death inside as they watch their baited line float along the currents of the newsfeed.  Then, that first comment finally appears:  “Everything all right?”  “Can I do anything for you?”  “What’s wrong?”  With the hook set and feeling validated/loved, the Vaguebooker will then open the floodgates on the unsuspecting but compassionate inquirer.

Inyourfacebook.  The passive-aggressive set have made Inyourfacebook a cyberspace success.  Here is where people can unload on others with relative impunity.  Got a beef with your next-door neighbor?  Your boss?  The school board?  That rude checker at Wal-Mart?  Someone else’s bratty kid?  No problem!  Log in and give them a good what-for so everyone can see just how mad you are and how you aren’t scared to show it.  Cool thing is, you can do this all from the relative safety of your La-Z-Boy, and if the target of your ire gets offended, there’s nothing that says you have to answer that angry knocking at your door.

Blackbook.  No, this isn’t a site to store all the contact information of your past loves.  Blackbook is where people go to suck the joy out of all others.  Every status update from them is a complaint, a grim observation, or a dark cloud seeking to rain on everyone else’s parade.  Some people, like me, are pessimistic by nature, but the Blackbookers revel in spreading their gloom to all corners of the global community.  Don’t try to cheer these folks up, either; they seek not comfort, but company, for their misery.

Foulbook.  The ESRB has rated this site “M” for mature, meaning that status updates from Foulbook’s subscribers may contain “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.”  (I take issue with the “mature” and “adult” ratings of the ESRB.  Exactly how mature or adult is a person who consistently reduces the English language to crude profanity and talks incessantly about inappropriate subject matter?)  Foulbook, sometimes called “F-book” for obvious reasons, is where you can find statuses filled with cursing, shared images one step removed from outright pornography, and constant glorying in ungodly behavior.  “Tied one on last night, it was great, lol.”  “That @#%&$* better watch out for me.”

“Check out the (insert body part here) on this hottie!”  “@#$#%#$ #$%#$%^ !@#^*% #$%#$%!!!!”  Foulbook makes NetNanny dial 911.

Samebook.  Samebook is where Christians go to blend in with the culture around them.  Nothing about their status updates, interests, or likes would make anyone suspect them of being a Christian.  This makes it a haven for those who don’t want to offend anyone, who believe “religion” is a private matter not to be shared in the marketplace of ideas, who are more worried about what people think about them than they are the final destination of those same people.  Often the argument Samebookers will make is this:  “If I’m sneaky about my faith, then I’ll eventually be accepted by those in the culture around me.  Then I can share my faith.”  But that moment of sharing never comes.  There’s too much of a price to be paid.  People might think you’re a kook.  They might mock you.  They might even unfriend you.  That’s why Samebook will always come free of charge.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating a cyberChristian ghetto like Faithbook or Christbook (yes, these sites exist), where Christians only hang out with other Christians and talk about their latest witness wear purchases.  We need to be engaged in the culture around us.  But if all we do is mingle with those around us and never show the distinguishing marks of being a Christ follower, what’s the point?

Do your posts look like they belong on any of these sites rather than Facebook?

If you’re feeling a little put-upon by this blog, I’d like to encourage you with this confession.  I have to admit that it’s somewhat embarrassing for me to share this.  There have been times when my status updates look like they could have come from a great many of these sites themselves.  I’m a recovering abuser of my Facebook opportunities, and I still fall from time to time.  So I don’t come to this issue from on high with an outstretched index finger of condemnation (please ignore my humorous-to-me profile picture as you reflect on this), but as a partner in brokenness seeking to soften my sharp edges along with yours.

Here’s a simple acronym I came across several years ago that can help all of us in our quest to make the most of our Facebook posts.  It was originally intended for our speech, but it crosses over into status updates and tweets as well.  I don’t know where it originated from, so I can’t give credit; if anyone knows the primary source, please post a comment below.

T.H.I.N.K. before you post.

T – Is what you’re about to post TRUE?

H – Is what you’re about to post HELPFUL?

I – Is what you’re about to post INSPIRING?

N – Is what you’re about to post NECESSARY?

K – Is what you’re about to post KIND?

These are not easy standards with which to approach social networking.  Often a post can be true but not helpful, necessary but not kind, or kind but not true.  But if we can filter our posts through this grid, I think we will find the quality of our status updates markedly improved.  

Facebook is not just a pastime; it’s a tremendous tool, and like any tool, it can be used for good or for ill.  Above all, Facebook, just like any other expression of our identity, ought to point people to the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Let’s do our best to make the most of it.  “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out” (Colossians 4:6, MSG).  Blessings!