Forgiven

Mark G. White
Director and Earnest W. Deavenport, Jr. Endowed Chair
Mississippi State University

[Nov. 16, 2009] –

Several years ago, I had a remarkable office visit.

A former student who had graduated more than a decade earlier from my prior university stopped by.  He wanted to tell me about his life since graduating, and I wanted to hear all about it.

His career path was like so many others.  He left us to begin an excellent job and with great opportunities for the future.  He was successfully promoted several times and was also married to a wonderful woman whom he had met at his new location.  In time they became the parents of several children who were healthy and smart.  He and his wife had joined a local church which they attended together.

His Face Was Almost Ashen

As he continued to talk, I noticed a change in his countenance as he talked about his efforts to train his children how to do the right things, how to tell the truth and always be honest.  By this time, his face was almost ashen.

He said:  “Dr. White, there is something I want to tell you.”

He paused, and with the greatest of difficulty told me how he had looked on another student’s paper on the third test of the quarter because he was stuck on a problem.  It was clear that the weight of his action was still pressing firmly on his mind.

He said that every time he told his children to be honest, all he could think about was this cheating incident.  He knew that his testimony was not a true one because he had not confessed to me his sin of cheating.  He wanted me to know about this action and he asked for forgiveness.  In addition, he was prepared to repeat the course so as to clear his record and his conscience.

Needless to say I was speechless for some time. He had made this trip to my university  just to tell me that he had cheated.

Then I realized : here was a perfect moment to show the fullness of God’s grace!

The Weight Of Guilt

I first praised him for having the courage to admit his guilt.  I told him that it was an unusual person to admit to such conduct after such a long time.  I explained that administratively, there was nothing that I could do about the cheating, and what was more important, there was nothing else I should do.

God had already forgiven him and there was nothing left for me to do.  But, I did ask him to forgive himself. When he heard my response, his face shone with excitement.

The weight of years of guilt had been lifted from his shoulders by the Lord.  He could now share with his children a true testimony of right and wrong, guilt and innocence, honest and dishonesty, confession and forgiveness.

We continued to talk for some time and then he left. Free.

© 2009   Mark G. White

I Caught Her Cheating

Wes Fondren,
Communication,
Coastal Carolina University

[Nov 9, 2009]–

Recently, I watched a student cheat on a mid-term. She pushed the jacket sleeve of her left arm up to her elbow, looked at her forearm, then wrote something down on the test. After glancing at me, she put her arm under the table and pulled the sleeve back down. All the marks were there, the question was exactly what to do next.

Teaching As Ministry

All my students know I’m a Christian. The first day of class I tell them about how I went to seminary, got ordained, and felt called to academics. This information is usually met with furrowed brows of confusion. Who ever heard of teaching college students as a ministry? What a crazy idea.

So now I have to decide what to do with this student. I walk over to her desk; ask to see her arm, which she shows me. It reveals “correlation ≠ causation.” Although I have colleagues that have considered getting the mantra tattooed on their arm, I seriously doubt the same is true for her.

I confess, it’s hard for me to decide what to do with the student. I feel the weight of representing Christ in the process. Do Christian professors handle cheating differently than our unbelieving faculty?

In the movie Magnolia, there is a scene where a police officer sees someone committing a crime. He stops the person and talks to him a while, then lets him go. This seems completely wrong when considering justice. The character, played by John C. Reilly, utters a line that I think of often: “Sometimes people need to be forgiven. And sometimes they need to go jail. And that’s a very tricky thing on my part…making that call. Tough part of the job. Tough part of walking down the street.”

What Do I Do?

Our university has a grade called “Fx.”It signifies failure of a course due to academic misconduct. The grade is a permanent part of a student’s transcript. What do I do? Do I do justice (Mic. 6:8) and allow her to permanently scar her transcript? How do I show this student the compassion of Christ (Jas. 5:11)? Compassion and consequence are not necessarily concepts in conflict. But, how do I represent my Lord well in this situation?

I prefer not to tell you how the situation turned out. Instead, I would rather hear any advice you have to offer. I am a young faculty member and appreciate advice—especially good advice. Seriously, I would love to hear your counsel (Pr. 1:5). You can post your own answer (or see how other Christian colleagues have answered) at the Ministry Minute website that lists my essay. View or Post Comment.

Needless to say, we are confronted with opportunities as professors to show compassion, teach justice, meet students at points of desperation, and represent our Lord as ambassadors (Eph. 6:20). What a wonderful calling we have been given. Sola Deo Gloria.

© 2009 Wes Fondren

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