Carl E. Zylstra, Dordt College
August 26, 2004
They said it couldn’t be done. Rumplestilskin notwithstanding,
in real life you can’t spin straw into gold, you can’t make
a silk purse out of a sow’s ear – and in less than half a
century you can’t turn a 7 acre mink farm with five faculty, 35
students, and virtually no staff into a respected college of 90 scholars,
almost 1300 students, more than 13,000 alumni, an extraordinarily dedicated
staff -- and a global reputation for commitment to biblical principles
and Christ-centered learning.
They said it couldn’t be done. In the mid twentieth century in
a part of the country that was already filled with colleges that had begun
in the 19th century, to many it seemed utterly foolish to start another
college in a small town then of about 2500 people. Likely no one there
ever dreamed that just 50 years later, many of those more swaggering colleges
would have closed their doors and the little upstart with the kind of
funny name of Dordt College would be placed by the leading magazine rankings
of our land, US News and World Report, as established firmly in the top
ten of the 108 peer institutions still in existence.
Yet we stand here today at the opening of the fiftieth academic year
at Dordt College to announce, declare, and celebrate that maybe we couldn’t
do it – and really we didn’t. But God could do it –
and he did. So today as always all the glory goes to His name.
But today begins our Jubilee Year and in this year we intend to remember,
celebrate, and share the vision that led to the founding of Dordt College
in the mid-20th century and that allows it now to look forward to the
beginning of the 21st century with confidence for that next half century
that lies ahead – and yet as far beyond as our Lord tarries and
our God gives us strength.
Today I don’t intend to give a chapel talk; I’ll have that
opportunity later this semester. I don’t intend to give an academic
address—we will have several academic convocations (8 in all) throughout
this year. But I want to say today is what my reflections are. What I
want to share with you is a President’s eye view of what it will
take for us to have a year in which we truly do celebrate together for
the Glory of God.
Right from the start Dordt College has been a distinctive college. And
we probably we need to start by recalling that. Dordt College was always
distinctive in its appeal. Perhaps it is a little hard to appreciate now
50 years later, but when Dordt College began, the thought, the very thought
of Christian education was often viewed as somewhat Unamerican. The United
States had developed a tradition of what was called the “common
school.” While our country had rejected, way back at the beginning,
the notion of an nationally established religion, there was a strong tradition
that had arisen that claimed that in place of the unifying role that in
established religion would play in our nation, we needed a common school
system that would unite our country in what was at that time considered
to be a vaguely protestant ethos of capitalism and patriotism. Now it’s
true that in the mid 1900’s, most institutions of higher education
in existence had a religious heritage of some sort. Yet by and large they
had bought into the concept that they should join in building a wall that
barred K-12 education against the inroads of faith-based schooling that
had been so popular elsewhere in the world. They wanted a common school
with a common faith and they didn’t want Christians destroying that.
Well that idea took hold some places in our land and under the impact
of a particularly pernicious political innovation commonly known as the
Blaine Amendment. States west of the Missouri, in specific and in particular,
were blocking any sort of particular confessional religious impact in
the common school. In fact they thought such schools ought to not even
exist. But out here on the plains of Iowa and Minnesota a rebellion was
brewing, “No way.” No way are you going to drive God out of
the classrooms where our children are educated. We as parents, it was
said, have the right to educate our children as the dictates of our own
faith requires, and not according to the whims of any legislative or bureaucratic
edict even though maybe for the time we might find it somewhat congenial
to our own ideas. And so Christ centered schools popped up across the
prairies – but they needed help. These K-12 schools needed a college
that would educate teachers and educate prospective parents alike in the
concept that all education that meets its fullest potential will take
place in the light of God’s word. And so they started Dordt College
to help meet that need.
Now that’s a very distinctive college. It’s a college that
grows, not first of all out of denominational loyalty or ethnic tradition,
although both of those were there. But it grows first of all out of a
community of people who are joined in a common conviction that their faith
in a sovereign Lord demands all their educational tasks be carried out
in the Light of his word and for the purpose of preparing citizens, not
first of all citizens for building our nation, but citizens for building
the Kingdom of God.
Well, we’ve always been a distinctive college. And we still are
and we ought to remember that. It shows up in the 47% of our alums who
contribute towards supporting our efforts in any given year. It shows
up in the 42% of this freshman class that is made up of children from
those same alumni families. We are still a distinctive college, a college
maintained by that same community of faith filled people who believe that
education dedicated to the singular principal that Christ is Lord of all
is just as valid and just as critical for the 21st century as it was half
a century before.
This college has also been distinctive in its claims. Have you ever thought
about how audacious was not only the beginning of Dordt College but even,
what to this point, are its middle years as well. The college was only
a couple of decades old, barely getting started when someone said, “Hmm,
why don’t we start an agriculture program – and maybe buy
some farms to go along with it.” “Hmm, why don’t we
start an engineering program – and make sure it’s fully accredited
right from the start.” “Hmm, why don’t we start a radio
station and let people know that this college is here 24/7 proclaiming
a God centered culture.” “Hmm, why don’t we start a
public policy initiative, the center for public justice, and spin it off
so it can let the whole nation know that God has a position as a stake
in each of the great policy debates of our times?”
How audacious were those claims? How expensive were those claims? But
it was exactly those bold and audacious steps that vaulted the college
forward in the level of excellence and recognition that it enjoys today.
But that’s not because those claims were bold and audacious. It
was because they were rooted in the bold and audacious belief that all
of life in every respect—agriculture, engineering, broad casting,
public policy and all the rest is lived before the face of God –
and we are responsible to him for all we do, all we study, all activities
in which we engage, within our colleges while we are here and in our acts
of service when we leave.
This college was built then on what were called Reformed principles.
And by Reformed principles were meant not just a few neat doctrinal formulations
that can maybe be forgotten after leaving a church education class but
there were biblical principles, principles that permeate every part of
time and govern each and every human activity either in obedience to God’s
word or in rebellion against it. And lest we ever be tempted to forget
that, our founders permanently emblazoned on this college a name so distinctive
you could not forget it--Dordt College. As far as I know, this is the
only college in the world named after the Synod of Dordrecht. The Synod
held in the 17th century to declare that, even when it makes us a little
uncomfortable and goes against our nature, we will never say or claim
anything for ourselves that would give credit to ourselves and so take
away any glory from our God. Our God is sovereign over all our salvation
– because he is sovereign over all he has made – and all our
education needs to recognize that same fundamental principle. What we
study is God’s world and for whatever tasks we prepare ourselves
while here, all glory does goes to him alone.
Now that’s distinctive. That’s worth remembering. It’s
worth celebrating. And in this Jubilee year, it’s worth sharing.
We also need to remember, however, that there is kind of a downside to
some of what we’ve done in being a distinctive college. Just as
the Puritan Calvinist preachers always used their election day sermons
to remind people that they really didn’t deserve God’s favor
in their new land, I think it is only appropriate that I spend a few moments
in caution right at the beginning of this Jubilee year on this anniversary
day warning us against the pitfalls that might be there. Sometimes I fear
that as a college we have become so proud of being distinctive that we
have sometimes let that excuse us from less than holy faithful service
of our God. It may be that sometimes we have been content to be distinctive
when what we needed to be, was really good.
Frankly there have been times when as the president of the college I
have been encouraging an improvement in one area of our college life or
another. Sometimes they were ideas I myself had promoted but often and
more often their ideas and directions and others had convinced me that
as leader of this college, I needed to promote. And unfortunately I believe,
I believe it is unfortunate, that on more than one occasion I received
the rejoinder, “Well that might be fine and dandy for some schools
– but at Dordt College we don’t need anything quite that good.”
We’re different and that’s good enough.
Garrison Keilor once made the comment on his Prairie Home Companion program
that there was one of the religious groups in his mythical Lake Woebegone
that was the kind of people who, in Keilor’s words, if they won
a gold medal, they would immediately have it bronzed for fear someone
might think they’re boasting. He may be right. The danger with being
a distinctive college is that we could start to act as if God would be
more pleased if others think we’re a little odd than if they think
we’re really good.
Now I’m all in favor of humility. Although in a speech at an anniversary
celebration it’s hard to mention how humble you are without boasting
about your humility and that kind of blows the whole thing. Yet it is
probably important that I at least ask us now, as we begin this year,
to consider whether we might not have sometimes fallen victim to the false
humility of low self-expectations.
Well, that’s enough self-flagellation. That ought to keep us from
probably too much inordinate self congratulation over the past. What we
really have to do now to make this a marvelous and God honoring Jubilee
year is to focus our attention also on renewed obedience and service for
the future years ahead. What I hope I really leave as our challenge today
is that we have learned well the lessons of our distinctive heritage and
that we use that heritage to recommit ourselves to a truly distinguished
future ahead. In other words, we must never be content simply to be different.
We need to be distinguished by a difference that really matters.
We have said we want to be a distinctively Reformed college. And while
we may not have always succeeded, no one doubts for minute that we have
tried. Our challenge now for the future is that we not be content merely
with being distinctive in that heritage but that we truly in the future
be distinguished by and distinguished for our pervasive Reformed character
that is expressed in all that we are and all that we do.
After all, just being distinctive is not necessarily something that is
positive.
Sometimes being distinctive can be downright embarrassing. You were distinctive
that time your mother made you wear a homemade knit sweater to school
when everyone else was going to be wearing a branded sweatshirt. But you
were distinguished the time you set the school scoring record in front
of 600 cheering fans. Distinctive just means we’re different. Distinguished
means we’ve done it well! In the case of Dordt College, we do have
to work hard at being so good at embodying the biblical perspective that
guides us that our excellence in living the vision, the words with which
I began my Presidency over 8 years ago, our being so good, that living
the vision is what makes us stand out from the pack.
I know that sometimes people are embarrassed about distinctives –
and it would be easy for us to become apologetic also about our Reformed
distinctives. It was just two weeks ago that I was talking with a President
of another college. He related a conversation he recently had with a mutual
friend who is president of yet a third institution. Apparently these two
friends of mine had engaged in a somewhat extended exchange over the problem
they both faced with their two institutions. “Each of our institutions,”
my friend told me, “really probably wants to be, at least, generally
Reformed in its outlook. Our problem is how do we do that without telling
anyone that we’re Reformed.” You will be proud of me. I bit
my tongue but my general reaction was, “Good grief, if you want
to walk like a duck and talk like a duck, why not just tell everbody you
are a duck.” If we want to be Reformed, we shouldn’t be embarrassed
about saying it!
Now, it’s true we could become arrogant in touting our distinctives.
We could say, “Well if we are a distinctly Reformed College then
we better run everyone else down as if they aren’t as distinctive
as we are.” But if we are a distinguished college, a college that
is distinguished by our core biblical convictions which we make every
effort to express in every aspect of who we are. Actually, the more colleges
there are like us, the better it will be. Wouldn’t it be great if
all the colleges and universities in America were distinctly Reformed?
If that were the case, then we might no longer be quite as distinctive
as we once were, but we would surely be even more distinguished than ever
as a pioneer among those who were sometimes one of the few to hoist that
flag aloft.
And we can apply that right down the line. Not just our Reformed character
but our academic soundness as well. We’ll need to be ever more strongly
marked by our distinguished character and not just our distinctive nature.
We cannot be content to say, “Well, this one or that one of our
academic programs maybe isn’t quite what it should be, but there
are other parts of our college that make up for it. We’re so distinctive;
we have 90% of our students living on campus. Our community life makes
up for not maybe doing as well in some other areas or vice versa. We can
not let contentment with being distinctive keep us from ever becoming
more distinguished.
So in the end, we probably need to be both, distinctive and distinguished.
The first year I stood at an opening Convocation, what I spoke about “One
Last Chance to Tell the Truth” and I challenged this academic community
to join those who believe that there is such as thing as truth and who
commit themselves to standing for that truth even while postmodern relativism
sweeps away much of the relevance of Western Civilization’s greatest
academies of learning. In a case like that, our efforts at standing for
the truth in the light of God’s word may be what makes us distinguished.
It’s really kind of sad that it also makes us distinctive from so
many.
Well, I think we can avoid the trap of falling into either one or the
other if we remember that what we want to do is so distinguished that
we are distinctive where others have not yet reached that same level of
being distinguished. But we are distinctive also where the commitments
we share force us to take a different road from where others have gone.
Now we have to be careful as if we sound as if we are on top of the pack.
That is one of the dangers actually of focusing on being distinctive instead
of being distinguished. This year, to use an example I’ve already
mentioned, when we are distinguished as one of the top ten academic schools
among those in our peer group by the US News and World Report—if
all we’re thinking about is distinctives, the first thing we do
is to scurry to find out where other schools stand and how we compare
with them. That’s not really the point. That’s really beside
the point. We’re glad when we are truly distinguished by and for
our academic quality. So we praise the Lord when others have recognized
that. But we’re not content with where we are. We know there is
more to do. We know there’s further on this path that we still have
to travel and whether others are there beside us or not is not what we
first look at. We measure ourselves, first of all, by the standard of
God’s word and the standards of his expectations of whether what
we do in every respect measures up to the glory of the One who made the
world we are studying in and who rules the world in which we are called
to serve.
We do have to sidestep that fallacy of thinking distinctive is just enough
without being afraid that being distinguished might also make us distinctive.
You know when a college or any institution just begins. It’s not
surprising we focus on being distinctive. After all you have to prove
why it is that you should exist. Why is there need for another college
when there already are so many? But eventually you have to shift into
a higher gear for the long haul. Dordt College can no longer think of
5 or 10 year horizons. We have to plan with the next 250 years in mind.
Being distinctive is not going to guarantee our future. Indeed, some of
the most distinctive institutions around in the mid 20th century, when
Dordt College was established, were monasteries. And today they’re
virtually empty -- monuments to the past ideals and the enthusiasms of
a bygone era! May that not be our future! Instead may fifty years from
now it be said of this campus – how distinctive they were and how
distinguished they became in their mission of honoring their Lord through
the graduates prepared each year for world shaking service in the name
of the Lord of heaven and earth.
So today let the celebrations begin. Be glad for our distinctive heritage.
We aren’t going to leave that behind. But also be confident of the
distinguished future that still lies ahead. And don’t be afraid
to spend a year in celebration. Remember that excessive humility is no
virtue and celebrating God’s blessing is no vice. Give thanks for
a distinctive heritage so that in God’s name we can claim our distinguished
future.
There is a lot to celebrate. A year will hardly be enough. But this is
my dream, as I stand here today. You know, fifty years from now, Lord
willing, and if Jesus tarries, someone else will be standing on this stage
as this college begins its Centennial year. I’m not at all sure
I’ll be here. But I just might—I only have to live just ten
more years than my father did who passed away a few years ago at the age
of 96. And you know if at the age of 106, like my father, my mind might
be a little cloudy, and someone else will have to push my wheelchair through
that door. But if God gives me strength, I could be here. I might be a
little uncoordinated but I’ll be there applauding as best I can
and probably one of you students – or maybe even one of your daughters
or sons will be wearing this medallion that day, on that day when Dordt
College then looks back to this day and anew, remembers, celebrates, and
commits itself to sharing for the next century and even beyond that what
began as a really distinctive college has still maintained what made it
distinct and become a truly distinguished college in which God’s
word illumines each area of thought so that each graduate can walk in
the light of Christ for the service he calls in his name.
So let the Jubilee begin! Just be sure that through this year, all the
glory really goes to the one to whom it does belong. If so, then as it
has been for 49 years, so it will be in our fiftieth year -- and for the
decades to come – that the motto on our college seal will still
be our watchword and still be our guide – Soli Deo Gloria: to God
alone, will be all the glory.
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