Youth Ministers and Gospeled Change
A couple recent pictures of Reese Kathryn Cope:
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I’ve written before about my appreciation for youth ministers. That appreciation continues to grow as I hear stories of youth leaders who are instilling a deep sense of justice and compassion in their teens. Someday we may look back and realize that there was a dramatic shift in our churches — a shift that focuses more on God’s work to restore the world (in all ways). And we may realize how much of that took place from the teaching and modeling of youth workers.
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Insightful words about the gospels from N. T. Wright:
“No historian, no reporter, nobody ever tells things ‘just like they happened.’ All stories about all events involve the story-teller in selection, collection, arrangement and hence ‘interpretation.’ That doesn’t mean the whole thing is a pack of lies. It just means there is no such thing as a point of view which is nobody’s point of view. Nobody is ever a fly on the wall. All storytelling is story-telling with a purpose. The Gospels are no exception. To read the Gospels, then, we must continually be alert both for the question ‘what is this telling us about Jesus?’ and for the question ‘what is the evangelist trying to say, through this tory about Jesus, to his own contemporaries?’”
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My name has finally been removed from the www.foracappella.org site. It took quite a while for someone to figure out that I didn’t endorse the statement there. Hmmmm. Hadn’t read my blog, I guess. Keep hoping they’ll take down the scandalous articles that indicate instrumental music is a matter of salvation and fellowship. I’ve read some comments indicating that no one should bother to say anything about it. But those comments are wrong. That teaching is heretical. It reduces the gospel and throws up barriers that shouldn’t exist. Neither singing a cappella nor with instruments is heretical. Teaching that one or the other is necessary for salvation and fellowship is heretical.
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I’m expecting a short World Series, aren’t you? It’s hard to imagine either the Rockies or the D’backs matching up well with the Indians or Red Sox.
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I’ve been concerned about the need for the recruiters of Christian colleges to give the same perspective to potential students that the leaders on campus are providing once the students get there.
E.g., if a Christian college has banned people from speaking on its campus, that’s fine. The administration certainly has a right to do that. But wouldn’t it be ironic if the admissions people wound up recruiting from the congregations where those ministers work? Are they making it clear that they would like the students to attend even though the ministers they’ve grown up with are aren’t welcome?
Or let’s suppose that the administration generally believes that something like instrumental music will condemn you. Wouldn’t it be dishonest if the recruiters went to students from instrumental churches and encouraged them to attend, leaving the impression with the students and their parents that they are brothers and sisters in Christ who are in full fellowship?
The point is that there needs to be a consistent message between the policy and practices of the administration and the impressions given by the admissions counselors.
I would also like to have the college and university fund raising and development departments give the same perspective as the perspective of the ones who hold the power on that campus as they solicit funds from individuals and from corporations. This is honest fund raising to me. Kind of “truth in advertising” and all that.
I think it is very important to keep reminding ourselves in these discussions that Jesus is our hermeneutic. That is, all scripture must be filtered through the Incarnation. Otherwise, we prioritize scripture willy-nilly. A part of why Jesus came and TAUGHT, and not just to die, is to help us make sense of the bible.
And when we do this, when we filter it all through Jesus, Sunday morning worship issues just aren’t on his agenda. Thus, to insist that they are on the agenda is to miss something very important.
To “fix your eyes on Jesus” has profound implications for reading scripture. Profound implications. Let me encourage all who comment to do just that with this issue: FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS.
When I was recruiting for (a number of) Christian colleges, when I was asked the question, “What is ______________ University’s stand on that?” my response was that we had no official stand. Each teacher was different and we valued the give and take of academe even in the Christian college setting. It was the goal of all of us to get to heaven and to continue searching for answers. I was sure that the student would find any number of positions on campus. Unfortunately, many churches blast our Christian colleges into taking positions. So do donors.
At age 17 I visited Harding for Spring Sing and had a great trip. I applied, was accepted, and received a scholarship offer. Then I got a look at the student handbook. No girls in the guys dorm? I guess I could get past that one, in the name of avoiding temptation. No beards (I assume a rule for men) without a physician’s approval. What???
Never mind that I never had grown a beard, or desired to. Hadn’t campus officials ever seen the “real” paintings of Jesus?
Back in the mid-60s I know of a man who was recruited to ACC (as it was known back then). The brochure depicted the campus with green grass and trees (appealing to someone in the midwest). Upon arrival, there was a single building whose exterior was adorned with a small lawn and a couple of trees. Welcome to West Texas circa 1966.
I also would like to truth in professor beliefs/stances published so my kid and I would know what stances they have. This is mostly posed to the Bible department, but I guess I could also apply my request to business. I certainly want a “supply sider” teaching my kids economics. Don Jackson, where are you?
I believe the Bible professors have a great deal of influence over these young, impressionable students. Mostly for the better, but at times they seem to impose their will on the young adults and not let them come to a conclusion based on their own struggle to study and understand.
I think Hilliry Clinton is a Marxist, thanks in part to her youth minister.
I would also like to SEE truth….
I can’t type.
Since part of this post was about youth workers I have to ask is the Dr. Jim White who commented above the Jim White that was a youth minister in Bossier City, LA at Airline Drive? If you are such Jim White please jump over to my blog site and leave a message I’d love to catch up with you.
Renee
I agree completely with Dr. White. Christian colleges should be a place where many different views can be held and expressed in a spirit of fellowship and mutual respect. But the reality is that many schools and their donors view their mission as on of reigning in those who are straying from “the truth.” Therefore we have Bible faculty making statements like the one I heard this past year. “It is the position of this university that…” What in the world is that supposed to mean? Are we really to believe that all students faculty and staff are to line up on cue behind certain doctrinal positions or get canned?
What I fear the most is that sentiments like that setup our colleges and universities as arbiters of who is “in” our fellowship and who is “out.” So what happens when a COC college decides that a faculty member is not is “good standing” if she attends an instrumental COC? I am convinced that if there is a formal split within COCs, it will happen at the hands of our institutions of higher learning
As a fund-raiser for a Christian University, I don’t agree with some of the positions of our administration, nor of all the positions of the Bible faculty. It would be impossible to do so, as even they don’t agree on all things. I try to take the approach Jim White (hi, Jim) takes, and let people know that there will be many views on campus, and most of us don’t agree with all of them, but are working within the system to try to present Jesus as completely as possible. I know everyone in our office does the same, and would bet that most in these positions around the country do the same. Since we deal with donors with varying opinions on all these matters, too, to do otherwise would require a pretty good liar.
I attended a “Christian” college in the south and at one time worked in a ministry position in a church of Christ that was considered “liberal.” What was funny to me is that even though I was not considered a “brother” by these nice folks, I still receive requests for financial support.
As one who attended two ICC colleges (and graduated from the second one I attended), and as one who worked in admissions for 2nd said college–we were anxious about approaching ANY subject that would turn a student away. However, we were also impressed upon with the objective that several things were not tolerated: 1) Speaking ill of other religious academic institutions; 2) Be honest about the school and its mission–even if this means you have to refer questions to someone else, and 3) Pray for your recruits. This said, we were a very small school in Dallas that accepted students from many different denominational backgrounds.
Dr. White, you are correct when you say that churches and donors do all they can to dictate a school’s stance. Money is a reality in Bible Colleges, too.
First things first. Reese Kathryn Cope is adorable, squeezable, & loveable. I LOVE her little sumo-arms. My now 22 yr. old son’s baby arms were like that. Lint got in the creases at times.
I’m with Joel Maners—esp. the last paragraph.
Mike,
Come on brother, haven’t we had enough with the instrumental music talk.
My daughter, a sophomore at ACU is currently taking her 4th bible class. She has been so impressed with the discussions and how the professors handle everything. The classes are structured to teach THE BIBLE, not any specific doctrine. One professor in Freshman Bible Majors class would not even give his opinion on a controversial subject because he feared the students would not form their own opinion, they would want to be on “his side”. I was very impressed.
Over 40% of incoming ACU students are not associated with the Church of Christ. My daughter’s freshman roommate was not even aware that we (ACU/church of Christ) did not use instruments in worship until she got to Abilene. I do not know how it is at other C of C affiliated schools, but at ACU the students feel very secure to express their beliefs and opinions, and to experience other worship situation. I am proud.
I believe we should strive for unity. Shouldn’t these issues have been settled years ago? Universities I believe should be preparing our majors for ministry. We should be preparing our majors for bring people Christ and real workings of ministry so you won’t see minister burning out every two years.
Or is it that the professors so out of touch with real ministry that they teach these petty issues and leave the ministry majors helpless when it comes to real ministry matters and bring people to Jesus that leads them to burnout and leaving ministry.
Is it that we focus on these issues of instrumental music, praise teams, women’s issues, that we ignore the majors like the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Gifts, Laying On of Hands, etc?
by the way, Reese IS awfully cute.
first off, preacherman….the issue is FAR from being settled.
and Dr. White, i respectfully disagree about our goal being to get to heaven. i think that puts the focus too much on us and what we can do to “reach” that goal, which is in fact nothing. on the contrary, i believe that our salvation rests in the cross alone and that our “goal” as children of God is to give Him glory, not just to gain eternity for ourselves. chances are i probably mis-read your post, and for that i apologize. i do, however, COMPLETELY agree with the church/donor influencing the institution picture you drew. very insightful.
Find yourself a state university with a great campus ministry and it’s amazing how trivial some of these matters become! Gotta love those ministers and student leaders on our state university campuses.
Pman-I agree with your thought process here. It is difficult to work in ministry and bridge the gap between those who have been participating in these petty issues for years, and those who are taking a more “wholistic” approach to Christianity and ministry.
This is my main question: How do we bridge this gap and work together for the Lord? I’m really sick of all this, and I didn’t grow up in the C of C. Other denominations deal with these things, too.
Mike said, “Or let’s suppose that the administration generally believes that something like instrumental music will condemn you. Wouldn’t it be dishonest if the recruiters went to students from instrumental churches and encouraged them to attend, leaving the impression with the students and their parents that they are brothers and sisters in Christ who are in full fellowship?”
Let’s turn the question around. Let’s suppose that the administration and Bible faculty at a school really believe that instrumental music is a non-issue, but won’t come right out and say that for fear of alienating too many in their current base of support. Wouldn’t it be dishonest if recruiters from that college went to students from non-instrumental churches and encouraged them to attend, leaving the impression with students and parents, who may actually believe acappella is the scriptural form of worship, that they have nothing to be concerned about if they choose to attend said school?
You know, there is posturing and there are personal attacks flying around on BOTH sides of these kind of issues. Those on the right are really good at character assassination and writing people up. Those on the left are really good at aiming sarcasm and condescension toward those who they believe are just not as enlightened as they are on these issues. Quite frankly, I am sick to death of both and neither are showing the spirit Paul wrote about in the 14th chapter of Romans.
Having worked at a CofC Christian college and viewing things from the inside, I can tell you that such a university with such a view does not care nor will it make an issue of matriculation that a student come from a church with the same viewpoint as said college. Most Christian colleges would love to have students from any and all churches come their way. Money drives the machine and their is no association between taking the parents’ money and coordinating the beliefs of the college and the student’s home church. It’s much the same as our attitude in our churches where we are happy to have people from “other churches” come our way because we think we can convert them to the “truth”, but we would never attend their churches. The same hope exists in these kinds of colleges.
All of that said, no college can completely control what an individual professor says in his/her classroom. However, when treatment like you discussed becomes known, that professor should be ask by their department chair or college president to apologize to the student involved preferable during class time. If that kind of treatment is acceptable policy at the institution, I would recommend that the parents and student seek out another school.
And to be fair, I think it is the obligation of the parents to examine thoroughly the beliefs and policies of any college, Christian or otherwise, before enrolling their student there.
On a slightly different note, I attended a very, very conservation Christian college, but at that same college I was taught to think for myself and two or three of the professors I had there help me develop a scholarly and open mined orientation to preaching and teaching. If you look over lectureship programs like Pepperdine, Lipscomb, or ACU, you will see many of those students from my days at that college who are now prominent teachers and preachers in our churches and universities. And it all began in that environment. Unfortunately for most of us, we would never be invited to participate or speak at this institution, but they still ask for our money.
May God help us all and give us his peace,
My heart jumped with joy at the pictures of Reese. What a darling.
I continued to read and my heart grew heavy with sadness. When will we ever stop preaching creeds, preaching instead, “Jesus and Him crucified” – and take to heart what Oswald Chambers wrote: “When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; We do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him.”
So I went back to the pictures and am leaving the blog for mundane daily tasks with a heart filled with joy. She is so beautiful!!
About all I can agree with here is that is one adorable baby.
How would admissions at ACU be affected if your views were disclosed in recruiting materials?
Randy,
When will it get settle? Will it ever? Why can Christians just put aside pride for the sake of love and unity? Jesus tells all men will know that we are disciples by our love and if we don’t love how our brothers than how can we love God. Or do we just as individual independant churches need to jus start focusing on ourselves for the sake of unity since we are all independant, with indepent leadership and organizations. Being non-denomination in the true sense of the word. I’m not trying to be rude I am really genuine and sincire in asking these questions brother. It is just bothering me. I want unity. I know Christ does as well. Can you give me your take?
preacherman, i’m sorry if i came off short earlier. i agree with you more than anyone in that i hate that this is even a debate. it’s flat out ridiculous and causes dissension on both sides. unfortunately, i agree with you in that i don’t think it will ever be settled. we’re broken and sinful, and quite frankly i don’t think this will ever be a non-issue in the churches of Christ. i would love for unity to overcome petty differences, but i’m afraid i can’t offer any advice on how to go about it. i’ve long ago given up on this argument. i know God loves me whether i’m singing aaccaappeellaa (misspelled purposefully to avoid misspelling accidentally) or i’m dancing in the street naked as long as it’s giving Him glory. thanks for your questions…i wish i had answers.
I’ve come to believe that it’s best to let universities be universities and to let churches be churches. Neither can do the job of the other particularly well, no matter how hard they may try.
Matt Elliot is right about Christian groups at state universities. When I was in college, I attended a state university while at the same time, my then girlfriend attended a conservative Christian college. When we got together on weekends, the issues we discussed were like night and day. It was almost as if we were coming from different planets. I guess in a sense, we were.
Troy – Seriously. Do you think Mike’s views are well-concealed? I would think that this is one professor (adjunct, I believe) who has hidden nothing.
Some of the responses here seem a bit well-rehearsed and maybe a bit disingenuous.
Of course there is diversity on campus. There are Obama supporters and Romney supporters; Clinton supporters and McCain supporters. Some are supply-side; others are not. Some believe instrumental music is wrong; others don’t.
Seems that this post is not about that. Jim, your question seems irrelevant to me. It would be relevant if certain colleges banned people from speaking on campus because they think instrumental music is wrong.
An example: Suppose the most popular speaker in Churches of Christ is banned from a campus. Should the teens at his church know that if recruiters from that school come there? Would it matter to them and their parents to know that their minister isn’t welcome there? And what if that speaker has thousands of teens come to hear him every year at Winterfest and other youth rallies and have been drawn to Christ partly through his teaching? Should they know that he isn’t welcome there? And what about their parents and potential donors who have been impacted by him at Tulsa, lectureships, etc.? Should they know?
Just an example.
Brian McLaren said last week that whether you worship with instruments or not is not important. It’s the words that you sing. And there are too many “me and God” songs floating around right now. We need to strive to find (or write) “we and God” songs as well as “what God is doing in the world” songs. And then it shouldn’t matter if a guitar accompanies them or not.
Jim Shelton = cogent thought. in regard to recruiting, none are pure. in regard to instrumental music, even this blog perpetuates the division.
“I’ve come to believe that it’s best to let universities be universities and to let churches be churches. Neither can do the job of the other particularly well, no matter how hard they may try.”
James, I agree with you completely. The problem is, some are willing to use Christian universities as a wedge to drive people apart by enforcing their particular view on one issue or another. The question is, is this a legitimate mission of a Christian university. What exactly is the mission of a university in the COC tradition? Unfortunately, there isn’t a consensus on that right now.
I’m guessing there is an unspoken orthodoxy just about anywhere you go. There certainly was a tacit orthodoxy at the A&M CoC back in the ’80s and early ’90s; not sure if it persists today. But it wasn’t necessarily the College Minister who set or enforced it; the students kind of self-selected so that the orthodoxy existed by default. The A&M CoC was middle of the road, as CoCs go, which I conclude based on the fact that we had by far the largest CoC Bible Chair in the Brazos Valley at the time.
There is a middle-of-the-road orthodoxy, I guess: If you’re a liberal or a conservative, don’t ask, and don’t tell.
BTW, Mike, your strong comments on what’s heretical about the whole “instruments” war were refreshing. It’s far past time to call a spade a spade and get on with the weightier matters of the law.
P-man, if you’ll look closely, Mike wasn’t really talking about instruments at all; or at least that’s the way I read it. His real target was any use of peripheral matters – matters of personal conscience, a layer or six removed from the gospel core – as a test of fellowship in Christ. THAT is heresy, not because it deviates from sound doctrine, but because it masquerades as sound doctrine while distracting the believer’s focus from justice and mercy and faithfulness under Christ’s wing.
qb
QB – Exactly. Thanks. I’m tired of the question of whether one can worship with instruments or not. (Personally, it’s almost a moot issue for me. I’m at an a cappella congregation where we celebrate that heritage — but don’t confuse it as God’s only way.) What IS important is the way an issue so peripheral can be made a matter of salvation and fellowship. THAT must alarm us.
1) Great photos of Reese!
2) I am grateful for the men that were my youth ministers and would love to know where they are today.
3) I still believe that when we get so focused on the hermaneutics of scripture and the exogesis attached to a certain passage of scripture, complete with an original Greek interpretation, eyes glaze over and people begin to wonder, “What is it that we are talking about?” Let’s get real and discuss matters of importance…Helping our youth establish their own faith. Feeding the poor. Helping the homeless. Assisting unwed mothers. Providing resources for families in conflict.
All this over a piano? If I do not laugh, I will cry.
Jim S. – As I’ve read things you’ve written over the past couple years, I’ve developed this funny sense that if we were in the same town we’d be pretty good buddies. Like most friends, we’d be on different sides of a few things — but buddies nevertheless.
Qb,
Then why not have stress the core which is love one another and saving the lost. I believe that if the devil can get us to focus on instumental music, praise teams, womens role in the Church, Fellowship halls, how songs do we song, song styles, how long the sermon is going to be, should we do small groups, should we have women deacons, elders, and on and on. When we focus on all those issues. The church is usually looking inward and usually fighting with one another. Instead of loving one another and looking outward to those who need Jesus Christ. Is it time for us to settle some of these issues? Will we? Can we? Can we move on? Is there hope for unity? Jesus says all men will know you are my disciples if you love one another. God may we answer that prayer! May the world see our love and we they see us see something they want, something missing in their lives. Jesus. God. His Holy Spirit. My heart’s desire is to bring as many people to Jesus as possible whether it be through the interenet, phone, knocking door, giving them my testimony in the store, because we are living in the last days.
I love you brother!
Mike — I wouldn’t disagree with that. I think you’re correct — and, we may not even disagree about as much as you might think. Probably a few things, but that’s what makes it interesting.
All I can say is … ACU did a marvelous job at educating me for Christian Service & Leadership throughout the World. The experience was Life-Changing. Kids/Churches/Parents should look into attending and/or sending their children to ACU! Jordan Maples (’97)
I love what Don H. Morris said in his inaugural speech on Feb. 21, 1970 to a strong group of ACC/ACU supporters.
… “I hope that in being a Christian college we will always be a bulwark in support of Biblical teachings and Christian living in this world. I hope also that we can always be a liberal arts institution in the finest traditions of higher education. We shall expect to continue to explore, as fully as our talents, time, and resources will permit, issues facing modern man. There are no subjects on this earth, or in outer space, or in the metaphysical realm, which we cannot study on the campus of a Christian institution of higher learning. Everybody can know our basic commitment, but I hope that people will also realize that there are no closed minds and no off-limits subjects on this campus so long as in our teaching and practice we operate within the framework of our historic commitment. We can study – and I hope with a fair and reasonable approach – even those viewpoints which might not be in agreement with our basic presuppositions. In this way we can see to it that students and faculty are aware of the currents and crosscurrents of our age and that the education to be pursued at a Christian college is highly relevant.” …
Jordan Maples (’97)
Amen to Matt Elliot.
The term Christian University is almost a paradox, in that the concept of University is to critically think and examine all kinds of ideas so that the student is stretched, challenged, and forced to truly think for him/herself. This is, of course, an ideal that is never truly achieved perfectly, but for the Christian world to separate itself from this idea and form higher education institutions that already have a preset agenda regarding thought and worldview is to defy the concept of the university itself. Thankfully, some of this ideal does go on in some of our Christian universities, but that is only despite the fact that they are Christian universities.
Christianity must carry a voice into our universities, which I believe is the incredible mission of campus ministry. But we should be wary of the idea of dictating the agenda or work of the university, which is exactly what we have done with Christian schools.
/did grad school at ACU
P-man, you asked “why not just stress the core, then, and quit getting all worked up about stuff like this?” Good question.
There comes a time, every so often, when in order to make progress up the mountain, you have to throw off those things that have revealed themselves as unnecessary hindrances to the life of faith in community. You have to make a conscious decision that those entanglements *are* such a hindrance, and you have to do the hard work of throwing them off and calling others to do the same so that, as a community, we are no longer burdened by such things; we agree to jettison them and to be freed to pursue those things closer to the core of the good news.
As you might expect, I have in mind Hebrews 12:1ff. Heresies, such as the one that Mike has identified here today, are a matter of “missing the mark” – badly. As such, they are sinful entanglements by definition.
As long as that unneeded rope is dangling between my feet, in other words, continuing my push up the airy summit pitch is unnecessarily dangerous. Sometimes ya just gotta stop, throw it off onto the ground, and continue up the hill with greater nimbleness and lighter weight. (Wetterhorn Peak, ca. 2000)
qb
Perhaps I can simply state what the “problem” is ….
Gods says that the most important thing is that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. One way that we demonstrate our love is to obey Him in all things.
Striving for obedience =
Striving to fulfill His teachings =
Sifting the Bible for “truth” =
Defining truth and our conscience about it =
Expecting others to define truth the same way =
You don’t really love God unless you love God the way I love God.
That’s the flawed progression I see so often. Love turns into legalism, then to judgment, then to cinicism and even hatred (though we would never use that word). The grace of the cross is forgotten and replaced with the notion that our performance earns us something in God’s eyes.
I agree with Mike that it seems a little unbalanced for a college that has openly banned a minister for his beliefs, to intentionally recruit students from that minister’s church family. That’s unfair to the students and makes the school’s conviction look less than strong, and subsequently, less meaningful.
I loved my state school experience, and attribute much of my personal spiritual growth (as an adult) to that campus ministry. It lead me to the path I took into ministry, and some of the people and experiences along that path were frowned upon or not welcome at some Christian schools at the time.
Thanks qb.
I apprecaite you answering my question.
Jim Shelton is correct, the recruiting emphasis runs both ways.
The truth of the matter is that when recruiting, every Christian university/college is trying to sell their product (education at their institution) and, without denying or intentionally falsifying the truth, they are going to let the recruitees hear what they want to hear. Right or wrong, that is the way it is. I happen to think it is wrong and that is why I could not be a recruiter or salesman.
If people go off to a Christian college (or any college) without doing their homework first, they only have themselves to blame. If you are going to send your children off to a Christian college, you might want to inquire from some other informed people as to what sort of graduates they are producing. For example, we can talk all day long about which university is better — HU or ACU. At the end of the day, we all will still have most of the same opinions. But both schools have a rich history of developing and sending out mission teams who simply want to be witnesses for Jesus in the world. That tells me that there is something good about each Bible department (and this is not too say that this is the only criterion).
What I wish I heard at the well:
“You C of C folks say we should sing w/o instruments, but others say we should sing with instruments.”
And Jesus answered, “There will come a day when it won’t matter if you sing with or without instruments, but rather that you sang in spirit & in truth.”
Mike,
During one session of Green Valley Bible Camp (the good week…*wink*) this past summer the upper level high school group used the curriculum “International Justice Mission” as their foundation for a class on justice and oppression. Completely blew the teens away! In addition, your awesome sister-in-law came to Mt. Hope and recorded an interview with Karl Wendt in which she recounted her story and gave a challenge to our GVBC class (we also showed her Oprah segment). Those teens (11th grade through graduates) collected enough money to just nearly rescue two children in Africa. It was incredible!
And now we are teaching this same material to an intergenerational class at Mt. Hope on Wednesday nights this quarter. Not only are the teens eating it up, but it’s been a fascinating study in watching parents/adults as their perception of injustice and oppression (both worldview and local) is molded and changed by what they see in their teens. God is blessing that class.
I attended an Independent Christian Church undergrad (Lincoln Christian College – East Coast), and from there was encouraged to attend Abilene Christian University. I am grateful that my experience with both of these schools, their faculty, and staff never drew lines in the sand, or pointed their fingers at others they believed had stepped across lines drawn by others.
I dare say that if every person who claimed any particular congregation as their home church was polled to definitive answers about what they believed – a lot of the casting of stones would all but disappear.
Both the schools I attended were considered by many who hold very strong and rigid opinions, to be “liberal.” But as one of my esteemed professors so eloquently stated, “Unless we going to start adding all our little nuances and beliefs to one’s statement of faith, before they are immersed, then we have no right to deny or withhold the name of Christian/brother/sister, as we so often do when describing others.”
Anyway….