Coarse Objectives

Phillip A Bishop,
Exercise Kinesiology,
University of Alabama,

[Jan. 8,2012]–

I am teaching a new graduate class this year. I have set coarse (course) objectives so I’ll know our target.

They have to be a bit coarse, because I’m not sure how the class will go. If I can see the target I want to hit, I may still miss, but if I can’t even see the target, any success is pure luck. I need objectives.

It is the start of another academic term. I need a target here too. For newer faculty, the objectives are pretty clear: do those things that will earn a permanent spot on the faculty of this fine institution. For those of us who have been around a while, the objectives may be more flexible, or at least simpler.

Nor long remember…

I contemplate my own long career in the University, the papers written and the talks given. And as I reflect, Abraham Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg come to mind. “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.” Lincoln was wrong about his own words, but I suspect that my words won’t be remembered very long. So setting goals of papers published and grant proposals submitted, though important, usually does not have value for long.

Here are some more important goals from which we can choose:

• Show the love of Christ in our classes.
• Encourage Christian students.
• Identify ourselves as Christians on campus at appropriate times and places.
• Invite students to our homes for pizza and discussion of the Big Questions in life.
• Contact the leader of a Christian student group and offer to be of service.
• Start a prayer meeting.

Volunteer to…

• Meet with Christian colleagues.
• Mentor a younger faculty member academically and spiritually.
• Give a service talk with a minor or major Christian apologetic to fraternities, sororities, etc.
• Go on a Christmas break, spring break or other retreat that a Christian student group has planned.
• Help an international group.
• Go on an international mission trip with a Christian student group.
• Speak to students or in the community when you take an international trip. (Contact Faculty Commons for more info).

I have tried all of these but one, and they have all proved enjoyable and productive, at times. Don’t be intimidated by the list, just pick out a few objectives for the year, and go with those.

As professors we have numerous opportunities on one of the best mission fields in the world. Let’s set some objectives and ask the Holy Spirit to bless our efforts.

© 2012 Phillip A. Bishop
© istockphoto

Leaving 99 for 1

Mark Pritchard,
College of Business,
Central Washington University

[Dec. 4, 2011] –
An experience several years ago from our staff & faculty Christian fellowship group at Arizona State gives me cause to reflect on God’s heart as He works in and around us on campus.

Our leadership team met to select our speaker for the monthly luncheon. After praying, the team asked a well-known philosophy and religious studies professor from campus to speak. He had just published a book on the topic of forgiveness.

What prompted us to extend the invitation was not that the speaker or his book proclaimed a Christian message; instead his subject matter was something we believed needed emphasis. Forgiveness is at the heart of our faith; keeping it central helps make sure that the salt never loses its saltiness (Matt 5:13).

Some regular attendees of our campus group criticized the decision, arguing the invitation had unwisely given up “the place of honor at the banquet.” Negative emails, and an encounter on campus had me a little shaken by this resistance. Our team met again and reaffirmed that this was something our fellowship group, which goes by the name Aslan, should sponsor.

The luncheon ultimately proved to be quite successful, with many commenting on the vigorous discussion that ensued and the engaging nature of the event. While this was encouraging feedback, I must admit that it was the word of thanks from our guest speaker that has stayed most clearly with me. He remarked “I never thought that Aslan would invite me to speak,” and then added that the discussion had really given him some things to think about.

When I recall the many well-known Christians we had previously invited to speak at our luncheons, I view this single guest as one of our more important. Although we never thought of it in the context of “one,” I believe our Lord does when he asks our willingness to “leave the 99 in the open pasture, and go after the one” (Luke 15:4).

Jackie Pullinger spent nearly half a century in mission work on the streets of Hong Kong, in some of the worst parts of that city. She concluded from her experiences that His disciples need soft hearts and hard feet, yet all too often go with soft feet and hard hearts.

Hard hearts and cynicism come easily to us pilgrims in the academy. If you are around campus long enough you will encounter prickly responses to matters of faith. These should bring us to our knees, asking if this is where we are to stand, and for His equipping to do so. After two decades as a professor I regret not asking this question more often.

Being spiritually unprepared in the past left me with soft feet, where I all too quickly took offense at things, hardened my heart, and removed myself from the uncomfortable. Instead, I needed to ask for the same spirit a reluctant prophet from long ago noted of the Lord who told him to go. Jonah remembered that God is “…gracious and compassionate… slow to anger and abounding in love”(4:2)

My students and colleagues need to see the compassion God showed for Nineveh, the compassion God showed each of us when He sent His Son. Merry Christmas!

© 2011 Mark Pritchard
photo © flickr Adam Foster

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