WHAT MATTERS MOST...
CHRIST, THE CORE, PART 2 Editor’s note: This is the second of two columns addressing what it means to be a Christ-centered college.
“WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be a Christ-centered college?” In the last Bulletin, I suggested two answers: An open invitation to a conversation about Jesus Christ, and, Lowering walls that divide us into thresholds of reconciliation until we are “one in the Spirit of Christ.” In this column, I will suggest two additional responses: Journeying toward the living person, Jesus Christ and Becoming Christ-centered thought-leaders who help shape culture for the common good. Let’s consider the hard-core hypothesis that Jesus Christ stands at the center of reality. Whether we address complex scientific theories or define certain belief systems, we almost always first identify a hard-core hypothesis or truth claim. Then we build a paradigm of understanding from the center out, using auxiliary hypotheses, each with its own data points, which are meant to help substantiate the core hypothesis. The strongest validating claims lie close to the center, the lesser claims toward the periphery, creating a “web of belief.” Claiming to be a Christ-centered college, or a Christian, requires a “web of belief ” in which the core hypothesis or truth claim contends that Jesus Christ is somehow at the center of reality. Auxiliary claims (such as the various interpretations of Christ’s teachings, specific doctrines, practices, creedal statements and so forth) may lie closer or further from that center, depending on our viewpoint. In the Bible, however, what matters most has less to do with all the negotiated auxiliary claims, as important as many of those were and are. Rather, what matters most is how one responds to Jesus when he says, “Come follow me.” Does one turn and follow Jesus or not? When Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” he was using an old Scriptural definition of salvation in which repentance (Hebrew shuv) simply meant, “to turn around” and head toward him, Jesus. The direction matters most, more than whether one has every jot and tittle of one’s web of belief in order or not. At the very least, a Christ-centered college offers every student opportunities to journey
toward Christ at multiple levels of understanding and commitment, even if she or he never chooses to become a follower of Christ. A life-orienting story, based on the person of Christ, offers direction for life. A Christ-centered college also calls us to form Christ-centered thought-leaders who help shape culture for the common good. In the 21st century, we can no longer simply live out our motto of “Culture for Service,” as wonderful as that vocation still is after more than 116 years. Yes, we need to continue to help our students to be culturally aware in order to serve the church and the world and to become ever better cultural critics – things we do quite well. However, even more importantly, we must train our students to be “culture makers” and “culture shapers.” In short, we must encourage “Culture for Service leadership.” A Christ-centered college will invite all who attend to “love the world” as God loves it. Such love ought to make a difference in how we understand our role in life regardless of our field of study or profession. Apostle Paul says, God’s love was shown most wonderfully when Christ, who was in very nature God, gave up his divine prerogatives, his power, prestige and glory, his heavenly identity markers, to nearly fully assimilate into our world as one of us. In so doing, he offered the world a new way of living and shaped culture for the better. Goshen College will always encourage deeply held core convictions, not simply to better articulate our identity or to tell others how different we are from them, but as an expression of our common humanity and a challenge to live and work and serve in the world and for the world as Christ did. That matters most.
Dr. James E. Brenneman President of Goshen College
Spring 2011
. BULLETIN | 3