Thoughts Negligible

God gave them an unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of the time -- (Daniel 1:17).

Dear friends,

Since I’ve noticed Artie has linked me from the CCC blog, and also that he posted on college recently, I felt the need to address you concerning something I feel passionate about and to encourage those who are planning to attend college. I want to offer advice, and some warnings.

God has given us an amazing gift in our mind; it is that which brings together our heart and spirit; as in the physical body, it is one part of the body of Christ, but as science (and decapitation!) has taught us, without it, the rest of the body will not function. The mind is the gateway to the world, with it we perceive everything around us and apprehend the deeper things of God.

All Christians are called to cultivate this amazing gift. As Jesus said: “The most important commandment is this . . . you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:29-30). I put all these forces in italics because not one is more important than the other. And in my opinion, all are completely tied together in a way that one can’t be taken out and nothing could be added in. Jesus put it succinctly and powerfully: your love for God not only demands your complete self, it also promises to make you complete!

I have attended two universities and my college experience has been enlightening and humbling. At the moment I am at the University of Oklahoma as a junior in anthropology with a minor in religious studies. I am now making plans for graduate school. My faith has been greatly challenged at university, but after every battle with doubt, my faith has solidified into something stronger—not weakened. I say this not in pride, for I have done nothing while Christ is everything, but as encouragement. It’s not a necessity that secular university destroy your faith, but it also doesn’t necessitate that you compartmentalize it from the rest of your learning. In fact, later in this letter I will encourage you to meld your faith completely with your “secular” learning. I will encourage you to take away the distinction between secular learning and sacred learning.

College has confronted me with questions I never asked before and a world I had never seen before. At many times my faith has been labeled as an antique and a crutch. The problem with this criticism is I agree! I’m finding I can no longer walk without a crutch, and this modern- post-modern society offers me little to hope in. Christ is all we have—of this I’m more convinced every day! But let me say this to you: If your faith cannot be questioned and challenged, and if it cannot hold up to scrutiny, it is not a faith worth having. Faith—especially faith in Christ—is not for the faint of heart, especially not today, when it is despised and criticized from every corner. “Don’t let anyone mislead you” (Matt 24:4).

This leads me to another important point. As I have moved through the college scene I’ve seen more and more the need for educated Christians working faithfully IN the world, FOR the Kingdom. Christians have an amazing responsibility to engage our culture on our culture’s terms; if we shy away from this freedom, we shy away from addressing the needs of Jesus Christ in those who surround us (see Matt 25:31-46). We Christians do not live in a bubble. When we do, not only does the world around us suffer, but we suffer as well. We must bring the Love of Christ to those around us, to those who don’t believe, to those who do believe, and to those who despise believers. Ours is a holistic faith, not a compartmentalized one.

This is my Trojan Horse Strategy. We must place ourselves in the halls of leadership, academia, business, humanitarian work, etc., not so we can wrest power from a “Godless” government or force our moral convictions on those who do not agree, but to share the Love of Christ, that Glorious Promise, and to spread the Gospel through kindness, utilizing the resources that our different career paths offer us for the Kingdom. We also must seek to show the world the face of God, not the hateful or authoritarian face that so many Christians we see in the media show to the world which makes the world hate Him, but the face of compassion, social justice, conviction, humility, and infinite Love. While college isn’t necessary to love others, it is part of the cultural arena with which we must deal in, just as Daniel did when the Jews were captive in Babylon.

Artie is right when he says that money and a secure future should not be your motivation for college! I have seen a number of students fail miserably because this was their motivation (among other things). Put simply, money is not motivation enough for you. It won’t help you endure the seemingly pointless YEARS of studying Spanish, writing crappy Comp essays, studying American history, and living without adequate sleep and nourishment. We need a new motivation for college, and here is my suggestion. Don’t look at college as that necessary evil that you must endure to live the American Dream. Let me tell you, you’ll be miserable seeking the American Dream. It is hollow and shallow, with no substance for your soul, encouraging you to become mindless consumers lacking heart. In your pursuit for higher education seek to become a student of God and the world, for the world is his masterpiece and grand letter to us, convincing us of His Love and Dedication. In all of your classes seek the tidbits of God, or as Annie Dillard calls them, the pennies that are strewn all around us, to find and to be amazed at (See this passage quoted in the post below). Find God in your studies and be astounded by His Creation. You are not studying Jewish history; you’re studying God’s exemplary love for all humanity. You are not studying the root systems of trees; you’re studying a metaphor for our precious faith, which need roots deep and strong to weather the storms of doubt. You are not studying English literature; you’re finding hidden treasures as writers who had no intention of relating God’s purpose feed your soul with truth . . . the list goes on and on. Hallow the truth from everything. Don’t be a passive learner. Be passionate in your studies because you are studying God’s Workmanship itself!

I feel like I could say more but this letter is getting ridiculously long and you probably have school work to do, like me. Let me leave you with the admonition to love God and others. Artie has taught you this and he is right. You may find in college or after high school that the way you love God is different than the way you’ve been taught. This is good. God touches us in various ways depending on our personalities and pasts. What you find meaningful, someone else may not. But seek him earnestly, with gusto, in all you do! God will not be loved passively. Study Scripture as you study in school. Become students of God’s heart and creation and I assure you, you will be truly astounded! God bless you all. My prayers are with you.

In Christ,
tyler