In recent years, society has learned to embrace new ways of building a sustainable income through digital education or social media influencing, so I am often asked about the value of higher education. More specifically, I’m asked about the value of Christian higher education. After all, since we’ve found new ways to learn, isn’t the model of “going away to college” and the requirement for a bachelor’s degree to endure the job market just antiquated thinking?
While I appreciate the question, if I learned anything as a result of pandemic education, it’s how genuine connection enriches the classroom experience. God created humans to be relational people and we weren’t designed to live and learn in isolation!
Christian higher education equips the next generation of leaders to serve through real world application of biblical principles. Usually termed “community” on our campus, we experience an intangible pull to live and learn together as we explore what the Bible has to say about intellectual and cultural subjects. A Bible-based approach to education uniquely applies to all subject matter because students learn about ethics and work-as-a-calling in ways that bring deep meaning to their learning. Proverbs 27:17 references “iron sharpening iron;” for us, that means creating a learning environment that balances grace and accountability. It should be no surprise that students trained this way are in high demand.
However, what makes a university truly Christian goes far beyond course content. We want students to be prepared to stand firm with a Christian worldview in a post-modern culture. That takes time, courage, and space to have complex conversations so that we can truly reflect Him as we serve others.
I’m inspired by the Gen Z students on our campus. They’re ambitious, savvy, and they crave truth. These characteristics will shape innovative and world-changing leaders in time. They also had experiences as teenagers that were unlike previous generations, and our faculty often talk about the best ways to build trust with them. We are called to equip students to know Ultimate Truth –the truth found in the Bible -- rather than encouraging students to find truth in themselves as culture pushes them to do. In so doing, we educate the whole person: academically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially. Christian education is not just an intellectual exercise.
In 2021, then-president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), Shirley Hoogstra, J.D., had a conversation with New York Times columnist David Brooks about the value of Christian higher education, and his words strengthened my personal resolve in how I lead as president of Malone University:
“When I talk to CCCU schools, many times my message is the same: First, be not afraid. Second, you have what the rest of the world wants. The whole country is filled with spiritual hunger, with no vocabulary to articulate it, and Christian colleges have the vocabulary.”
I believe that Christian educators have been given a high calling to fulfill the Great Commission found in the Gospel of Matthew. We are to be different from the world, responding to the needs of our community with a sense of God-given peace and assurance. From its founding in 1892, Malone has instilled in its students a blend of warm-hearted love of Jesus and a commitment to social engagement. In those early days, our students learned practical ministry by studying the Bible in the morning and applying their studies in the afternoon through service in soup kitchens and brothels on the streets. We continue to prepare students for lives of service to others, and our colleagues who work in Christian higher education around the country do the same.
In a society which seems to increasingly embrace behaviors and perspectives which don’t align with traditional Christian faith, we need young adults who have been shaped by an authentically Christ-centered and Bible-based education. It’s our joy to walk alongside them toward even greater maturity.
What a high calling it is to help shape young people during a critical time in their lives in ways which extend beyond their future vocations. Our society needs them to bravely stand as the God-glorifying men and women they were created to be.
Christian higher education still matters—in fact, I am convinced that it matters now more than ever.
