Glory--Goal or Garnish?

Pride is a tricky thing. It is one of the “seven deadly sins,” yet we are to take a certain amount of pride in our work, be pleased with a job well done, be proud of our family, friends, church and even country. Obviously, there are shades of meaning, differences of degree, and so on.

Similarly, in Luke 6:26, Christ warns “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Yet, in describing the qualification for elders, Paul says in I Timothy 3:7, “He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”

Situations like these remind me of my dependence on God’s grace. It seems that rarely do our behaviour and situations we face fall cleanly into black and white. Furthermore, what is crossing the line for one person often is quite acceptable for another—not in terms of their opinion on the topic, but in terms of what is truly acceptable or sinful. For some, drinking really is a sin because they have a weakness in that area and it masters them immediately. For others, it is merely a pastime or one among many beverages from which to choose. What might be sinful pride in one person may be a much needed change in perspective in one who has been downtrodden. Christ’s redemption brought us into indwelling communion with Him through the Holy Spirit, and we have a relationship guiding our lives, not a rulebook.

I think that in both cases (pride and others’ opinions of us), God looks primarily to our heart and before whom our heart is bowing. Is it to ourselves, our work, talents, family, etc, or is it to Him, as we joyfully lift up the object of our pride to Him as an offering of the best of ourselves? Do others lift us up because we justify and enable worldly values or because the excellence of Christ is visible through us, our work, etc?

When we say we ‘want to do great things for God,’ for whom do we really want to do them, Him or us? Often, usually, it is a mixture of both. Again, thank God for the grace He lavishes upon us and that at the end, when we stand before Him, He will take all we have offered and burn away the baser motives to reveal what is pure. It is a cause both for thanksgiving and holy fear, that our good deeds would be found to be primarily for our glory not His, and we will have small rewards in heaven.

What’s the point? As academicians, we face this struggle intently. Going for tenure, or even our annual reviews, we must list our accomplishments—how many papers have we written, how much in grant money have we attained, how many conference/seminar invites have we been extended, how good are our student evals, how many and how important are the committees on which we’ve served, how unique is our work, and so on. Do we count them as rubbish, as Paul counted his accolades?

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”        --Philippians 3:7-9

Our accolades are not rubbish—they are temporal rewards for our efforts and/or gifts in this life by the Many-Gifted Giver of all blessings. However, they are but a wet match compared to the searchlight of riches and reward of devoting our life to Christ and seeking His glory above all else. Are academic accolades the goal or the garnish of our lives?

Do we take pride in, and people speak well of in us the right things for the right reasons to the right degree, so that at the end of all that we know, God Himself speaks well of us as a proud Father?

SDG

Christian Faculty: Members of a Dual Priesthood—Challenges & Opportunities, Part 2

{This is the second of a two-part post, adapted from a topical Bible Study I led at the UT faculty group.}

Yesterday’s post suggested that as Christian faculty we are priests of two orders—the priesthood of believers and an academic order, and these can come into conflict.

So, how do we handle it when the academic order makes demands inconsistent with our faith? Let’s first see how Daniel handled it (Daniel 1:11-20, Daniel 3, 6). He sought ways to negotiate with the secular authority to make allowances for his faith, because he understood the critical pinch points between his roles and creatively looked for ways to resolve them. There are several principles we can apply in our situations.

The first is to take advantage of the principles of academic freedom. This is a bit tricky, because the academy has fallen into a bit of hypocrisy in this area, but if you can carefully navigate the politics of things, you can win a certain amount of freedom with a minimum of stubbed toes.

Secondly, don’t be a firebrand simply for the sake of being bold. In short, do not seek controversy or conflict. (“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” I Thess 4:11-12) If controversy/conflict finds you anyway, fine.

Third, be wise. (“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Eph 5:15-16) It’s fine to stand up for your faith and pursue your passion, but make sure your colleagues know you first for excellent scholarship, and it helps to get tenure before making too many waves. It’s only six years, and you then have 20-40 to blaze.

Fourth, work with excellence. (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.” Col 3:22-25)

The final one I will mention is trust God to know and guide your heart, and do not spend your energy wondering too much about if you are worshipping knowledge more than God. You have His Spirit in you, and keeping your devotional life active will help. In 2 King 5, we read of the Aramean general with leprosy, Naaman. After he is healed, he says, “’But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.’ ‘Go in peace,’ Elisha said.”

Just like Naaman, God has placed us in positions of influence, and He is not ignorant of the conflicts that creates and His grace washes over us, “lubricating” the points of friction.

Given these challenges, what opportunities do we have as dual priests? I have come up with six:

To put it bluntly, we are in positions of influence in our culture, so let’s influence! (“Do you see a man skilled in his work?  He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.” Proverbs 22:29)

We have the opportunity to demonstrate excellence without the idolatry that many of our colleagues unwittingly pursue.

This contrast gives us the chance to show that knowledge and scholarship are means to an end and not an end unto themselves—our studies point to higher knowledge, wisdom and understanding—to the source of all knowledge and wisdom, God Himself.

In doing this, we should then be able to demonstrate a joy in our lives and scholarship that will reveal the fruitlessness of “academism,” my name for the false religion in the ivory tower that includes the various incarnations of naturalism, humanism or whatever ‘ism’ is prevalent in your department.  (“…We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. I Cor 8:1-2 (admittedly out of context))

Fifth, Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28 instructs us in the Greek that as we go, we are to make disciples. It is our spheres of influence that are our mission field and source of disciples. Therefore, we have the opportunity and responsibility to mentor those in the lower ranks (undergrads, grads, junior faculty).

 Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, we are being paid to explore God’s creation as a vocation! What more could you ask for?

SDG

Christian Faculty: Members of a Dual Priesthood—Challenges & Opportunities, Part 1

{This will be a two-part post, adapted from a topical Bible Study I led at the UT faculty group.}

Granted, the title is sufficiently provocative that I need to make the argument we do hold a dual priesthood before we can move on to the challenges and opportunities. I’ll start with the simpler one—that all Christians are priests, but first, what is a priest? Webster (who else?) says a priest is “one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God.” Incidentally, the origin comes from the Latin “presbyter”.

St. Peter said in his first epistle, “but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Then the Revelator, John, records the new song of the elders in heaven, saying, “you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." Other relevant passages include Exodus 19:5-6, I Peter 2:4-8, Revelation 1:4-6, 5:6-10, and many passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews. I realize that different denominations have slightly different theological views on this topic, so I’m not trying to be sectarian here, just illustrate several passages in Scripture that seem to point to a general theme that Christ removed the barriers between humans and God, and made all believers intermediaries between a fallen world and God.

The second priesthood is that of the academic priesthood. I don’t have any Scriptures, just my observations. Throughout history, most scholars in most cultures have been members of some religious (and usually priestly) order. Their studies were viewed as a means of understanding their faith better and passing it on to new generations. Therefore many academic traditions mirror closely monastic/seminary traditions:  stages of progression in knowledge; beautiful and/or reclusive centers of study; and robes/accoutrements. As academic pursuits became divorced from their monastic routes (beginning mainly during the Renaissance and accelerating through the Enlightenment), knowledge became an end unto itself, progressing to a level of devotion equal in passion to that of serving a deity. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to attribute priesthood status to academic faculty. This is made most striking when looking at pretty much any news show, where whenever an issue is discussed, the two basic classes from which ‘experts’ are drawn are the political and academic classes. In short, when our culture is in need of guidance, we look to politics and academics, much as other cultures would consult the politicians and priests. Our culture has made a de facto declaration of priesthood, though its secular nature forbids that phraseology.

If you accept my premises, the question that arises:  are these orders necessarily in conflict? What does Scripture say? Jesus remarked, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13) Daniel (Daniel 1:1-10), Joseph (Genesis 37, 39-47), and even Moses (Exodus 2:10-15) can be ancient analogues of modern academics who struggled between loyalty to God and the secular/pagan authoritarian roles they had. Peter doesn’t make it any easier when he instructs us to submit to earthly authorities. (I Peter 2:13-25) So far, it seems like a bleak picture.

So, how do we handle it when the academic order makes demands inconsistent with our faith? Log in tomorrow, true believers…

SDG