Swim with the Sharks

I have a student who works in my lab and likes to scuba dive with sharks. I’d never do that, but she loves it. I’ve heard that sometimes people even “chum” the water when they want to attract sharks: tossing in pieces of fish to pull sharks and fish into one place. That seems even worse to me.

A Rolling Mess of Free Speech

University campuses are a rolling mess of free speech right now. Today on the UW Eau Claire campus an itinerant preacher showed up and proceeded to tell most everyone that things are rather, um…, “suboptimal” for them in terms of their eternal destiny. It was such a chumming of the free-speech water that it drew in everyone.   

I love these things. Not that I think it is always prudent to get in the middle of it and swim with the “sharks.” They show up to give their opinions forcefully back to the preacher. Instead, I find that on the perimeter are always some people that are just curious.. and if you stand around long enough, someone will almost always ask you what you think about the activities.

Sitting on a Wall

After about 10 minutes today, three students approached me and started talking to me. Eventually two of them drifted away but one hung around. She identified as a witch, but quickly assured me “not in the demonic way.”   

We continued chatting before eventually sitting on a wall a bit away from the ongoing campus events. We talked about the Bible, what it means to debate opinions, and, after a while, I asked her who she thought Jesus was.

“Definitely a good man,” she replied right away.

My New Friend 

I love C. S. Lewis; he said the most complex things in the clearest of ways. So, my new friend and I talked awhile about Lewis’s “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” thought experiment. She admitted that a good man isn’t a liar, and that if someone is psychotic their teachings are probably not good to follow. So that left us with the option of Lord. We chatted about that for a bit.

Unfortunately, I had to leave for a meeting, but my friend the witch thanked me for giving her some things to think about, and I invited her to stop by my office sometime.

On the Periphery

Our campuses, more often than not, can resemble a feeding frenzy of sharks attacking each other. But on the periphery are some who are questioning and wise enough not to become swept up in the frenzy.  

I encourage you to hang out on the edges with them, and when they ask you what you think, say a quick prayer to the Lord for wisdom and begin sharing the hope that is in you.