“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants….” Isaac Newton
JM and BB
Early in my career I met two men who had tremendous influence on me as a professor and as a Christian. Both of these men were senior, highly successful professors, in fields different from my own.
The first, JM, was on my campus. JM took me under his wing and mentored me in ways to effectively share Christ on campus. He took me to meetings, encouraged me to travel abroad as a Christian professor, and modeled everything he told me to do.
JM was good friends with BB. Both of these highly successful faculty were totally committed to serving Christ on campus. Both had devoted time and effort to figuring out what was effective and what wasn’t. Both were bold about being identified with Christ.
These men demonstrated:
- What and how to do campus ministry.
- How to be totally committed to Christ and be very effective in the academy.
- How to influence others as friends, colleagues, and mentors.
- How to integrate Christianity into academic expertise.
EA and WF
Two more guys had a great influence on me, though much later in my career. EA was a wayward potential graduate student, who came to his interview high on cocaine. He had been recruited to undergraduate school by one of my former Ph.D. students; so when EA turned out to be an excellent student, my former student suggested graduate study at my university.
During grad school, EA discovered Christ, and his life and habits were radically transformed. He had a steep learning curve as a disciple of Christ, and during those days he and I had the joy of spending hours together. EA didn’t want to leave, but finally took a nice Assistant Professor position. He flourished professionally, which was good, but he continued to flourish spiritually, which is better. He revived the struggling Christian Faculty ministry (Faculty Commons) on his campus. EA is still daily impacting faculty and students for Christ at his university.
WF, too, completed his Ph.D., though not in my field. He came to our Christian Faculty meetings once or twice in 4 years but didn’t seem overly impressed. Like EA, WF was hired as a new professor at a good school. He quickly discovered his total love for undergraduate instruction. As a mature believer, WF involved himself with CRU student ministry. More recently he volunteered for three weeks on a CRU Summer Project to Lebanon, where he had a tremendous impact on the students with whom he worked.
So what?
Timothy of the New Testament was mentored and was a mentor. You have the same opportunity, though potentially even more far-reaching than Timothy’s, because of your role in academe.
Wherever we serve, remembering our predecessors whose remarkable faithfulness in service to the next generation, reminds us that we “stand on the shoulders of giants” and have gained thereby an enlarged vision for ministry in and out of the classroom.
You stand on the shoulders of these giants. Can you not see further?
Phil Bishop
University of Alabama