I recently shared about how to transition from Christian to secular in the academy. It certainly had a good dose of verbal irony, but it was an attempt to identify a historic problem of the drift away from Christ centered education to humanism and secularism. Forbes shared an article a few years ago about religion and education that identified this same problem.
So if it is indeed a problem, then the real question is, what does one do about it?
How does a University President or a Board of Trustees direct an institution back to the place where Jesus is again the foundation? Here are a few ideas though they come with a high price tag and painful process.
1. Make sure the President and the board of Trustees are all on the same page with the problem and the painful process of moving the school in the right direction. If there are a number of Trustees or a president who are not interested or concerned about the direction of the school, no changes will be successful or lasting.
2. Call a faculty meeting. Publicly and clearly identify the core beliefs and essential mission of the institution. Give every faculty member time to process the change of emphasis away from secularization and back to a Christian foundation. If part of a denomination, include the beliefs, lifestyle covenant, and historical values of the denomination.
3. Build strong relationships with the churches making up your constituency. Meat with groups of pastors to hear about their concerns, values, and needs. Make it clear that you are seeking to reclaim the institution for the kingdom. Seek out ways to benefit the local churches you serve. If the academy serves the church, the church will provide for the academy. This relationship must be nurtured for future students and financial support.
4. Know the place of the academy in the work of God in the world. The academy serves an important role of training clergy to be faithful and fruitful workers in the harvest field. Being Spirit filled is essential in this capacity. To educate the mind without quickening the spirit is to do little more than create an educated devil.
5. Know the place of the academy in the work of God in the world. Universities are also tasked with training people for all kinds of occupations in a Christian context. This is rooted in a biblical morality, emphasis on evangelism, and fulfillment of the Great Commission. Academic excellence is important (and should be emphasized), but to establish students in righteousness is indispensable.
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6. Hire faculty who are in alignment with the values, beliefs, mission, or ethic. These are the kind of employees who will build the team and be fruitful. They will go out as faithful servants of Christ and His church. The ministers the academy produces will then love the doctrines of the church and seek to fulfill the Great Commission. This results in churches sending their young people and donors writing checks.
7. Fire faculty who are not in alignment with the values, beliefs, mission, or ethic. They will only serve to distract, discourage, and be an ongoing source of detriment to the mission of the school. They may insist on their "academic freedom" or rely on their "academic reputation" but these things are always trumped by mission & purpose. (Note: Freedom always has boundaries so that it does not become licentiousness.)
8. Speak with orthodoxy and in clarity on controversial issues. Do not use double speak or ambiguity to confuse your constituency (this lacks integrity). Real leadership is willing to make sacrifices for truth. Walking in the Spirit requires us to "lose" some temporary things so that we may "gain" those things which are more enduring and valuable.
9. Remember why God raised up the institution. Read the founding documents, charter, speeches, and sermons given. Read any historical document you can find to be reminded of why the academic institution was put on the hearts of the men and women who started it, provided for it, worked at it, etc. God blesses an institution as they recall what He placed on the hearts of the founders and fulfil that mission.
10. Maintain accountability for spiritual vitality, academic excellence, and faithfulness to the core values/doctrines of the institution. The temptation to compromise these standards will be consistent, but to reclaim the school, standards must be raised, not lowered. The academy must be accountable, not so much to the larger academic community, but to the church from which it has been birthed.
11. Walk in the Spirit. People will attack, darkness will seek to envelope, and you will lose friends. Be faithful to the Lord, humble yourself before Him, and at the right time He will bring the victory. Truth and love are not mutually exclusive values for those who walk in the Spirit.
This is hard and costly work, but worth it. I wonder if there would be some in our generation who would pay the price on their knees for God to bring a great victory in this area!
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