{"id":1448,"date":"2016-09-27T14:50:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T18:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/campus.cru.org\/faculty\/?p=1448"},"modified":"2023-07-18T21:09:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T01:09:40","slug":"our-critical-role-in-the-grander-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/campus.cru.org\/faculty\/2016\/our-critical-role-in-the-grander-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Critical Role in the Grander Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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For a multitude of compelling reasons, the university is a strategic institution for the cause of the gospel, as well as for the flourishing of our country and the world. Correspondingly, the Christian faculty member is positioned to play a critical role in God\u2019s plan to redeem and bless the world through having a privileged seat in one of the most strategic mission fields in the world. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our Particular Critical Role<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Every believer makes a specific contribution to the mission and work of God, but he uses Christian professors in a truly strategic mission field: the university.  <\/p>

One of the professors who has shared his professional journey in this series of Missional Moments frequently comments that he is absolutely certain that the university where he serves as a full professor is the most spiritually dark locale in his entire state: \u201cIf you could make a infographic to chart spiritual darkness, I\u2019m certain our university would be in the center of the biggest black dot in the state.\u201d  <\/span>
<\/p>

Yet, for decades this professor has counter-intuitively made the great people and the fine institution he serves, his family and his home.   The university is often both a spiritually dark place and a place for significant Kingdom change.  It has always been so.<\/p>

So much of what we love and cherish is downstream of the American university: <\/p>

  • Every child and grandchild, for generations to come, will be shaped in our universities. <\/li>
  • The belief systems and values of our nation flow largely from our universities.<\/span><\/li>
  • Almost all of our civic, judicial, and business leaders are shaped in our universities.<\/li>
  • The greatest challenges and crises facing our nation and the world are addressed through research in our universities. <\/li>
  • Scholars in our universities serve as primary arbiters of what is good and true for the rest of our society.<\/li><\/ul><\/p>

    Other reasons could be offered as well. It is difficult to conceive of an institution with greater potential to shape (and bless!) the world than the American University. <\/p>

    In Luke 6:40 Jesus remarked, \u201ceveryone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher\u201d (emphasis ours). Personally, we wouldn\u2019t have concluded this; we would have suggested: \u201cEveryone when he is fully trained will be like his teaching.\u201d<\/p>

    But according to Jesus, teachers indelibly shape students.<\/p>

    There are two sides to this coin:<\/p>

    • If students become like their teachers, what are the ramifications of generation after generation of university students graduating without ever having met a single professor they knew to be a Christian?<\/li>
    • Conversely, what would be the impact if every university student in America had the opportunity, at least once, to study under a Christ-following professor?<\/li><\/ul><\/p>

      This reason alone, that our universities shape every future generation, is decisive evidence for the critical importance of the university as a mission field. <\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Rick Hove and Heather Holleman<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      For a multitude of compelling reasons, the university is a strategic institution for the cause of the gospel, as well as for the flourishing of our country and the world. Correspondingly, the Christian faculty member is positioned to play a critical role in God\u2019s plan to redeem and bless the world through having a privileged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50274,"featured_media":284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2439],"tags":[2699,2457,2456,2712,2713],"class_list":["post-1448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grander-stories","tag-culture","tag-heather-holleman","tag-rick-hove","tag-strategic","tag-universities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOur Critical Role in the Grander Story - Faculty Commons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/campus.cru.org\/faculty\/2016\/our-critical-role-in-the-grander-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Critical Role in the Grander Story - Faculty Commons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For a multitude of compelling reasons, the university is a strategic institution for the cause of the gospel, as well as for the flourishing of our country and the world. 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