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Howard Keim, Tabor College
September 9, 2002
President Nikkel, members of the cabinet, faculty emeriti, faculty colleagues
and staff, students, and friends of the college gathered here, it is an
honor to address you today. As we begin this academic year, it is appropriate
that we consider the words of Peter, “Prepare your minds for action.”
When we gathered for our opening convocation a year ago, none of us would
have predicted the terrible events of the next week. Four planes were
hijacked. Two of them plowed into the two towers of the World Trade Center,
one crashed in Pennsylvania, and the fourth hit the Pentagon in Washington,
D.C. Thousands of people were killed by this act of violence. In the hours
and days that followed, it became clear that these acts were coordinated,
and committed by people with deep hatred for our country. We gathered
that night to talk and to pray. We had different responses at that time,
and we continue to have different ideas about the meaning of that experience.
The repercussions of that event are still with us. In addition to war
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, our nation is considering an attack on Iraq
– an action that is opposed by all countries in the Middle East
and most of the European countries. On Wednesday evening, we will meet
again in the chapel auditorium. Again we will talk, and again we will
pray.
And this is not the only crisis facing humanity. The gap between rich
and poor countries has never been wider. At a time when we are growing
more food than ever before, thousands of people are starving. Millions
are dying of AIDS. Our environment is endangered by the consumption habits
of humans. Even in the United States, we are beginning to argue over water
– perhaps the most precious of our natural resources.
But these problems and opportunities are precisely why a Christian liberal
arts education is so important. It is our challenge to learn together
not how to win a war, but to remove the causes of conflict; not just to
raise more food, but to develop political and economic solutions that
will ensure that no one goes hungry; not only to develop a cure for AIDS,
but to stop the spread of this disease and eliminate its causes; not only
to develop more efficient uses of energy, but to help all of us become
better stewards of God’s creation.
The letter read to us this morning was addressed to both Jewish and Gentile
Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor. It has been called a letter
of hope, of courage, and a description of the true grace of God. The first
chapter, up through verse 12, is a hymn of praise. The rest of the book,
beginning with verse 13 of chapter one, is a series of exhortations, or
imperatives. The first exhortation, coming right after the “therefore”
of verse 13, is “prepare your minds for action.”
Peter was one of the twelve disciples, one of the first to be called,
taught personally by Jesus, witness to the crucifixion and resurrection.
He was changed by his encounter with the living, dying, and risen Christ.
But he was writing around thirty years later, during the time of the Roman
Empire and the reign of Nero, when the early church was fragile at best.
The world as Peter knew it was violent and full of sin. It is likely that
he was writing from Rome itself – far from the small village close
to the Sea of Galilee where he had grown up and started his fishing business.
Peter was well aware of the dangers of being a follower of Christ, and
he wrote to encourage people whom he knew might die because of their faith.
Some years after writing this letter, Peter himself was killed, and tradition
has it that his crucifixion took place with his head down and his feet
up, making the pain even more intense.
The first generation of Christians – those who had personally known
Christ or knew others who had – was about to pass from the scene.
It would now be left to those who followed to keep and spread this faith
in Christ. Whether Christianity would survive would depend on the strength
of its ideas. Would it be remembered as a cult-like group that died out
when its charismatic leaders were killed? Or would these followers of
Jesus be able to articulate their faith so that more would believe and
the world would be changed? This was part of the concern of Peter and
other New Testament writers.
Events change lives, and how those events are interpreted change the
world for those who follow. The resurrection changed the disciples and
changes us today. But how we interpret those events and how we explain
our faith will change the world. So Peter said, “Prepare your minds
for action.” All of us gathered here today share a commitment to
Christ-centered liberal arts education. We have a personal faith in Jesus
Christ and enjoy the fellowship of other believers. But we are called
to much more than personal faith and good fellowship. We are called to
be Christ’s representatives in this world, and we must prepare our
minds for action.
One of the most influential books for me in the past 10 years has been
Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
In it, Kuhn explains how paradigms, or ways of viewing the world, are
changed over time. New scientific discoveries are usually the result of
scientists expanding or changing their paradigm, or basic assumptions.
The same is true of social revolutions. For example, we celebrate Martin
Luther King Day, which is a symbol of changes in America regarding relations
between races. Part of our project at a Christian college must be to explain
a Christian approach to the world. So we view natural science through
the lens of God’s creative power. We view economics through the
lens of stewardship rather than only accumulation. We view social science
through the lens of mercy and reconciliation rather than hegemony and
exploitation. We view physical education not as dominance but as honoring
what God has given us. A Christian worldview is not just value-added knowledge.
It is a fundamentally different way of interpreting that knowledge.
This is hard work, but good work. I invite you to adopt at least four
disciplines that will be to your advantage in preparing your minds for
action. Now, I realize that four things may be a lot to remember this
early in the term, but I know that you are up to it.
First, give thanks for this opportunity. These can be four wonderful
years of learning. In these four years, you cannot exhaust the intellectual
resources of this college. We have a great faculty. Consider this: Some
of you will begin the day with Dr. Aleen Ratzlaff in communication, one
of the outstanding scholars and teachers on our faculty. Last year, she
traveled to San Diego to receive a national award for her doctoral dissertation.
You then might have a class with Dr. Lynn Jost, whose doctoral work includes
both homiletics and Old Testament. Besides that, he just completed a book
on the history of the Mennonite Brethren. You then might have a natural
science class from one of our biologists or chemists. Over the last 20
years, Tabor College has as good a record as any school in the state for
having graduates accepted to medical school. In the afternoon, you might
have a history class from Dr. Kyle, who has published six books, over
20 articles in scholarly journals, and too many book reviews to count.
I’m just giving a few examples here. And beside all this, some of
you will be directed by Judy Harder in a drama production, rehearse in
a band or choir with some of the best conductors in the state, or participate
in sports under the coaching of one of the finest staffs we have ever
had at Tabor. You can do all this because you have plenty of time to study
and practice. You have only a small room to take care of, all your meals
are prepared for you, and there are very few distractions in Hillsboro.
Second, remember that thinking takes time. You can get information down
on paper in a relatively short time. But it takes more time to reflect
on that information and actually learn something significant. To master
information takes repetition, and to think critically takes concentration
and enough time to work it through. When you throw your paper together
a couple of hours before it is due, you are cheating yourself. You might
get the grade, but preparing your minds for action demands better. These
are important days. The information you gather and the conclusions you
draw in these four years will shape your family, your career, your place
of work, and collectively, the contribution of this generation. If we
are going to make this world a better place, we must invest our effort
and our time.
Third, be honest in your work. Plagiarism is in the news. It is relatively
easy to get papers from the internet and hand them in. It is also easy
to lift sections of papers and paste them in. Don’t do it. Academic
honesty is at the heart of this institution. Why someone would choose
to come to a Christian college and then cheat on a paper is beyond me.
The policy that I will enforce is probation for the first offense and
much more serious consequences that could include suspension or dismissal
after that. But beyond the consequences, you are cheating yourself if
you plagiarize. By lifting (or stealing) someone else’s work, you
are giving up the opportunity to learn by thinking for yourself.
Fourth, remember that this is hard work. Beware of shortcuts and slogans.
Most problems cannot be reduced to one-liners. Just do it. War on terrorism.
War on prices. War on fat. Just say no. No new taxes. Push em back, push
em back, way back. We will, we will rock you. Slogans are great at games,
but the future of humankind is not a game. The nice thing about answers
reduced to simple terms is that they become manageable. We can handle
them. But they fool us into thinking that we understand the issue when
we have only covered it over. When the answer seems too simple, it probably
is. Part of preparing our minds for action is to be energetic enough and
caring enough to deal with ambiguity and complexity. When your head starts
to hurt because the problem seems so big, you are on the edge of learning
something very important. Stay with it, think it through, and you will
get new insight. When we train with weights or run, we push our bodies
to increase strength and fitness. In the same way, we should not be satisfied
with light intellectual exercises that allow our minds to stay flabby
and inflexible.
I said there were four, and let’s review: Be thankful for the opportunity,
take time, be honest, and be ready for hard work. And here is one that
covers all four. Remember the why. Remember why you are here, why you
are studying, why this course is important. Ultimately, all actions should
be judged in light of whether they are in line with the teachings of Jesus.
It is this purpose that will give you the energy and commitment you need.
In the first century, the Christian church faced a crisis of survival.
Peter began his letter to these struggling Christians with a hymn, and
then an exhortation.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his
great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith
are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that
is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all
kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater
worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may
be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus
Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even
though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with
an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of you
faith, the salvation of your souls.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
May God grant us the grace and discipline we need in the coming year.
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