While we’re not naive about the challenges facing Christ-following faculty in the academy, we are firmly rooted in the dream and enduring hope that God can change each and every life.
There is certainly no professor, grad student or student, whom God cannot touch. No one is beyond hope.
Many of the people who come to Christ in the Bible are some of the most unlikely candidates. For example: before he came to faith Paul himself was an elite scholar, who persecuted and killed Christians.
Yet, if we’re honest, it’s easy to look at most of the people around us in the academy and occasionally demur “this is hopeless.” Nevertheless, these are exactly the people to whom God has sent us! No type of prodigal is beyond the touch of the kindness of God. Not us, not anyone.
I have journeyed alongside a professor who once lived deeply entrenched in New Age practices. In her home, she had altars set up to Hindu gods, yoga gurus, and other objects for seeking divine help. At the ripe age of 43, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Before that, she describes the soundtrack of her life from the U2 song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
Suffering from chronic illness, a sense of despair from the death of a friend, and having lived in an abusive relationship, she was looking for a savior. But for 20 years, she sought yoga and New Age paths to find healing and comfort. Her family paid thousands of dollars for various healing practices and yoga retreats.
When introduced to Jesus Christ and the Scriptures about Him, she noted two things immediately:
First, here was a man who claimed to forgive sin, and no other religious system she investigated offered forgiveness of her sins that weighed her down.
Second, she couldn’t believe the gospel was free. She didn’t have to pay for this life transformation. When she eventually received Christ into her life, she cleared that altar in her home and replaced it with a Bible and a sign that says “Free”.
This professor was someone that at first I couldn’t imagine the grand story of what God could do in her life. She recently told me, “Look Heather. He is still working! He is still changing lives like mine! Even in my forties!
Heather Holleman
Penn State