In his insightful book Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue Andreas Köstenberger begins with God — “God is excellent in everything he is and does” — and makes the case that academics, who belong to God, should necessarily reflect the God they serve by pursuing excellence in all that they do—particularly in their academic pursuits.
This pursuit of excellence is rooted not in the applause of people, nor chiefly for the sake of a C.V., but in a desire to reflect the excellencies of God in our studies, relationships, and in all of life.
If God is excellent, and we abide in him (Jn 15:5), and he bears fruit through us, then it makes sense that we would pursue excellence in our academics. This doesn’t, however, mean that we pursue excellence in the same way, or for the same ends, as others in the academy who don’t belong to Christ.
A Faculty Commons colleague told me of visiting an adjunct at a nearby university. This professor pointed to a mat, on the floor of his office, right next to his desk. He commented that he often slept here, on the floor of his office, so that he could push ahead of others in his pursuit of chemistry.
Christ-following professors should strive to excel, but not chiefly for the accolades of those around them or to “push ahead of others,” but to follow and serve Christ. He is our leader; he is worthy to be followed. We share much in common in our journey with peers who do not know Christ, yet our motivations to excel in this journey are vastly different.
Yet, we clearly need excellent, first-rate Christian scholars.
As Nathan Hatch comments,
“The battle for the mind cannot be waged by mobilizing in the streets or on Capitol Hill, nor by denouncing more furiously the secular humanists. If we are to help preserve even the possibility of Christian thinking for our children and grandchildren, we must begin to nurture first-order Christian scholarship.”
While it is exceptionally rare that you or I will make paradigm changing contributions to our discipline, all of us should strive to excel—not chiefly for the accolades of those around them, or for the hope of being the star in an academic field—but out of a simple desire to follow Christ and to reflect him in our work.
In the following weeks, we’ll unpack more of this call to nurture first-order Christian scholarship.
Rick Hove and Heather Holleman