Guest Blog: What have Linkin Park, Quantum Physics, Hillary Clinton, and Harvard University to do with the Christian Life?

Bruce Riley Ashford is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Intercultural Studies, Director of the Center for Great Commission Studies, and Fellow for the Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern  Baptist Theological Seminary.

JD and Bruce went to college together at Campbell University and have been friends since that time. In addition to allowing JD to be his friend, he also agreed to mentor JD for all four of those years, tutoring him not only in abstract mathematics class but also in general life issues, such as how to not be such a nerd. JD owes everything he has to Bruce.

What have Linkin Park, Quantum Physics, Hillary Clinton, and Harvard University to do with the Christian life? The answer is: a heck of a lot; they have everything to do with faithful Christian living. And I’m going to spend the next few paragraphs trying to flesh this out.

Another way to ask the same question that I just raised is, “What does it mean to glorify God in all that I do?” More to the point, what does it mean for a college student or a professional to glorify God in all that he does? For most of my life, I thought that the answer to this was limited to the private and church-centered: I needed to feel more love in my heart for God, stop doing earthly things, and be involved with more things inside of the church building.

But there’s a lot more to glorifying God than the private and churchly. God’s existence doesn’t matter merely for evangelism, preaching, and moralizing. His existence and His Word are equally significant for the public and world-centered, for the arts, the sciences, business and economics, education, and all of public life. It is He who created the universe out of which such public life flourishes, and He who gives us the abilities to participate in such things. In other words, His existence matters for every square inch of our lives, and in every fiber of the universe that He Himself created.

But what has Linkin Park to do with the Christian life? Of what significance is art, music, theater, and architecture? The answer begins like this: If God has gifted a person in the arts, that is a good thing. God Himself is the first artist, and it is He who created us in His image, giving us the ability to be creative like Him. Art can be a powerful instrument for God’s glory. Not only is it able to depict the beauty of this world, it is also able to transcend the fallenness of the world in which we live, pointing us to the new heavens and new earth that is to come.

What has quantum physics to do with the Christian life? Of what significance is biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology? The answer begins like this: If God has put a person in a position to be a scientist, that is a good thing. Indeed, it is God who gave us the universe that scientists now study, and He who gave us the ability to study it. Science can be a powerful instrument for God’s glory. Christians who are scientists should allow their love for God to form in them a love for His handiwork. A Christian should have more than sufficient motivation to do his work with excellence—it should be done to the glory of God.

What has Hillary Clinton to do with the Christian life? Of what significance are socio-political issues, law, philosophy, journalism, and other public matters? The answer begins like this: If God has put a person in public life, that is a good thing. It is He who created us in His image, as social and relational beings, and it is out of those qualities that our socio-political life arises. Christians should be salt and light in the socio-political, cultural, and moral arenas. We should flesh out the implications of Christian theology for these arenas.

What has Harvard University to do with the Christian life? Of what use are the four years of a college student’s life? The answer is that they are of great significance. Your four years of college are not merely a bridge to your “real life.” Your four years of college are a gift from God, possibly the four most fruitful years of your life.

On a college campus, you have the opportunity to learn to glorify God rationally (e.g. the sciences), creatively (e.g. the arts), relationally (e.g. the public square), morally, and spiritually. You have the opportunity to interact with some of the best minds, and some of the most interesting people, in the world. The fact is: your college years matter; your degree matters; your classes matter; the people with whom you interact matter. How you glorify God in your public and intellectual life is every bit as important as how you do so in your private and moral life.

If you’re an evangelical, especially from the Baptist or charismatic traditions, you might think I’m a fruitcake for saying this. And the reason you do is that many years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, many in the evangelical church quit caring about intellectual and public matters. They recognized that there were many antagonistic unbelievers in universities, especially in the arts and sciences, and they retreated. They retreated and formed little Christian colleges (there is nothing wrong with a Christian college. But there is something wrong with retreating), wore Christian t-shirts that said “I’m Cross-Eyed”, bolstered their Christian bumper sticker collection, and sucked on Test-a-Mints®.

In other words, the evangelical church abdicated its responsibility to the world and fled to a Christian ghetto. And the result is that when an 18-year old goes to college at most public or private universities, his New Testament professor is most likely a militant atheist who wrote a dissertation with some freakish title like, “Buddhism, Tantric Sex, and the Falsity of the Gospels”. And that’s not to mention the philosophy, psychology, or biology professor. Why can’t it be the case that we refuse to retreat any longer, that we refuse to abdicate our responsibility to glorify God by being salt and light in every square inch of his universe?

Why can’t it be the case that many of you college students excel in your studies, and rise to the top of your professions, allowing yourself to bring great glory to God along the way? Why can’t some of you make it your goal to enter a Ph.D. program, embrace your studies, and use your minds to glorify God in the academy? Why can’t you be the person who teaches an 18 year old when they enter a course in philosophy or psychology or education or physics?

I say all of that to say this. God doesn’t just care about your quiet times or your Sundays. He cares about every facet of your life, including your time as a college student and then as a professional. So don’t do what many of us have done. Don’t waste your college years. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that the life of the mind doesn’t matter, that public life doesn’t matter. They do.

So back to the title. What have Linkin Park, Quantum Physics, Hillary Clinton, and Harvard University to do with the Christian life? They themselves are not the point of this blog; rather the spheres of human culture that they represent are the point of this blog. These spheres are important to God, and are important arenas in which Christians need to interact. So that is what I mean when I say that Linkin Park (the arts), Quantum Physics (the sciences), Hillary Clinton (the public square), and Harvard University (the university) have everything to do with the Christian life. Public and intellectual matters can never be disconnected from the life of a Christian who is committed to glorifying the Lord in everything he does.

Comments

[yucko]

Bravo, Dr. Ashford! Please add the names of Moses, Paul, and Isaac Newton. All of these individuals took up "post-graduate" education for God's purpose and glory (the former, involuntarily). There is a great need for gifted Believers to continue in academia to the terminal degrees and even to the post-doc level. Unfortunately, it is only at that level does the "real purpose" of the university become evident.

It is not fraternity parties and football games; it is not yearbooks and yakking at 2am in the dorm. The real purpose of a university is research--"publish or perish" is the Darwinian Law of the Jungle known as academia.

Slavery did not go out with the Emancipation Proclamation: graduate students and postdocs have to kowtow to their advisor, and if the advisor has funding and tenure, then, well, they are pretty much [Deity]. If your advisor doesn't like your belief system, well, they are allowed to be unfair and cruel and see to it that you don't get that lambskin. If you are not adding to the prestige of your advisor, then you are either "toast" or the recipient of long-term torture--and the Geneva Conventions don't apply here!

Grad students and postdocs don't have a lot of free time, and time with God and God's people can get really squeezed. Unfortunately, many of the campus ministries and other sodalities are not able to help out these people. Plus, often times, these students and researchers are married (and some have kids--which boggles my mind), so the college group mixer isn't quite a fit.

But the rewards of being a secure Believer in post graduate world, backed up by a support system cannot be measured. I often wonder what has become of three graduate students I met with in southern California...all of whom were not US citizens. I pray, that for all my unfaithfulness and lack of vision, these men are now profoundly influencing their world for Him, wherever they may be. And blessed be Dr. Mike C. who shepherded me for a good two years, helping me understand how to be a public, Believing grad student!

Yes, many graduate students get to minister to the world...the world that has come to us. Graduate students get to be salt and light to an environment that is very ego-centric and reputation-driven (and I suspect, fear and insecurity is rife). And graduate students, if they continue in academia, can influence directly the next generation of students. If not, they certainly have some stature to influence leaders and become leaders themselves.

The term "university" comes from the idea of a "universal" education, which you've so aptly described. Most of our early universities were actually seminaries, or else students were expected to continue their educational pursuits in spiritual area, no matter what their major. Indeed, the original full motto and vision of Harvard University mention Christ specifically. "[The main end of a student's] life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3)."

I pray there are a few students at UNC, Duke, State, Central, and at other local institutions who will hear His call and will enthusiastically obey and pursue further education and ultimately influence the next crop of students.

Affectionately in Christ,
alan

[Julie D]

(From a current senior at UNC ...) That was encouraging, seeing as I was surfing JD's blog instead of studying for my exam tomorrow, here in the Undergrad Library!
It is so easy to retreat when this world gets wearisome ... but this reminded me that God left His comfort to labor, suffer, and die on earth for our freedom. I don't want to waste that freedom that He gained for me sitting around eating cookies on couches with my christian friends rocking out to David Crowder Band instead of building the foundations of a life that will impact the world.

Also - I would like to encourage church members to take college christians under their wing and disciple them. Really disciple them - not just "I'm going to invite you to my house and cook you dinner and let you play with my kids," but teach them the word of God, and encourage them to be steadfast. Yes, live life alongside them - but go the extra mile of getting into the deep things of God with them - don't wait for them to ask you to. Many Christians I know that are having problems engaging the culture here at UNC simply don't have the resources - they have not been equipped. The church is the answer to this. Those who are no longer in college can help foster exactly what Bruce is talking about. I would go so far as to say that you have just as large a role to play in this as the college kids themselves. Summit has HUNDREDS of college kids who want more than anything to be a part of a church family - you making the decision to meet one at church and come alongside them could help equip the next world-changer.

thanks!

[Josh Deng]

Bruce! Good to hear from you again. This post got me thinking...good stuff.

[Jenn H]

AMEN! I am posting for 2 reasons.
1) I wanted to encourage you and let you know that there are Christians in grad school out there and we are doing our part to influence our culture here in the Academy. I am currently a grad student and working towards getting my Ph.D. in physical chemistry. I am part of a vibrant community of Christian grad students on campus. We meet regularly to not only encourage one another but to pray for our campus and our individual departments. I can honestly say I would not be in grad school unless God hadn’t brought me to my knees and told me to go. It was the last thing I wanted to do 3 years ago. But … here I am today.

2) I was initially pulled in to your post by the fact that you have quantum physics in your title. Deep down inside I am a big physics geek. One of my most memorable teaching moments in college was when my Physics professor, crazy hair flying everywhere, got finished writing the 4 Maxwell’s equations on the board in a big climatic act and as the chalk dust was settling exclaimed “THAT’S how I know there’s a God!” - God reveals himself through different ways to different people. He created the universe and the laws that govern its behavior and some people speak that language more than others.

All this to say…. The academy, specifically the scientific one, is not the most welcoming of Christians. I encourage people to pray for both professors and students they know. Ask them if there is anything you can specifically pray for. Pray for the campus to be ready for revival to come. If you are in grad school or teaching, find other Christians to meet with and pray with. It really does make all the difference to know there are like minded people out there with similar goals of seeing your school/department come to Christ and getting research done to God’s glory. Christians need to be challenged beyond their comfort zone, and sometime they need to be reminded to get their heads of the sand and just go talk to people. Thanks for the great post!