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It All Matters: Complicity, Choice, Repentance and Politics

By Micheal Jordan

Because of print turnaround time, I’m writing this before Tuesday’s presidential election. You are reading this after the election, and so you know more than I do about how it went. Some of you are probably pretty excited for the future of America; others of you are hurting and confused, maybe even angry. No doubt almost all of you feel misunderstood and concerned. Because of the way elections happen now in America, we are all encouraged to think the worst of each other, and any attempt to truly understand what another person thinks is understood as weakness. And you can’t get elected if you’re weak.

Sometimes we try to solve this by talking about how people are more important than issues. Since there are good people on both sides of an issue, we reason that we shouldn’t really treat the issues as very important in the end. Let’s not let issues divide us. 

That doesn’t really work for me. Sometimes, following Jesus means taking a side. The issues that divide America—and divide towns, and churches, and families, and even Houghton—are substantial. The life of the unborn matters. Poverty matters; it grinds away at communities, and when we ignore poverty so that we can feel more connected with each other, the poor suffer. Our inability to speak honestly about race, and to make amends for racism, matters. The gross inequality and at times abject failure of our public school system matters, as does Christians’ response to this tragedy. War around the world matters, and American response to wars matters. All of it matters, and when we say it doesn’t matter so that we can enjoy a peaceful life together, we lose the ability to shine Jesus’ light into these issues and many more.

So how do we do life together if we don’t agree? It’s not like the only two choices are “ignore it” or “think the worst of each other.” I think the way forward is to start with each of us, individually. 

Think about your choices in this election. Who did you favor? Why? Somewhere along the way, you learned to fear what would happen if the other person won. Usually, the way we try to solve our lack of unity is to remind each other that this fear is baseless, because there are good people on both sides, or because God is still on the throne no matter who wins. 

But a better way to solve our lack of unity is not to minimize the other side’s error; instead, we should be more honest about the fact that our own side also has errors. You probably know this in your head, because all of us would say that we don’t have a perfect candidate. But in order to justify our choices, we minimize our candidate’s weaknesses to feel better about voting for them. We tell ourselves that the situation is so dire, so bad, that we have to vote for someone who’s not perfect. 

Yes, of course. We have to vote for someone who’s not perfect. That’s life. But in what way are you working against the imperfections that you perceived in your candidate? If you really think your candidate isn’t perfect, then do more than just tell me you had to vote for them. Tell me how you are planning to build a world that mitigates their errors and weaknesses.

Are you pro-life, but had to hold your nose and vote for Kamala? I get it. But let’s dig deeper than just justifying your choice. What are you doing to dig in and help the pro-life cause? Put your money where your mouth is and show me.

On the other hand, are you bothered by some of Trump’s attitudes and statements, but felt you had to hold your nose and vote for him? I get it. But don’t just justify your choice. Show me what you will do to work against misogyny, or how you will welcome and care for immigrants and strangers in your communities. 

Life gives all of us imperfect choices almost all the time. Christians don’t live only in the city of God, but the city of man, and life here is tricky. But following Jesus in a deep, radical way means more than just recognizing other people’s errors. It means looking at our own hearts and recognizing the ways that our own choices have consequences for other people. 

We understand this interpersonally. If I have an anger problem, it’s not enough for me to snap in anger sometimes and say, “well, that’s just the way I am, and other people ought not to make me angry.” Instead, I need to think about the way that my anger problem impacts my wife, my kids, my students, and work to be sure that my anger hurts them as little as possible.

This goes for us politically as well. Hard choices, hard times. The cross is hard too—hard wood, hard nails. As we observe and experience the cross, we learn to grieve our own complicity. Then we find God’s healing; and then we can stop building others’ kingdoms, and start building His. ★

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Tips From an International Student: Culture Shock

BY: Sara Martinez ('28)

Hello my fellow international students and any other American students that may be reading! I am writing about culture shock in order to give everyone tips on how to embrace a new culture while still holding onto your own. As well as tips for how to help your international friends adapt to your country and culture. 

We know that Houghton University is a quite diverse place that teaches students to celebrate our differences. This means that on campus, there are many students from all over the world, including me. I decided to write about the biggest dread of any international student, CULTURE SHOCK! 

When moving to America, I didn’t think I would be affected by culture shock. Despite growing up in Latin America, I believed I had a connection with American culture since my dad is American. I attended a missionary school that revolved around it. Then I came to America, and everything was a lot different than I expected. The way people dress, the way they interact with others, the way people say “hi”, the way people eat, and even the popular music and movies were all a shock to me. Honestly, the first few weeks I was sad. I really missed my culture, my friends, and even speaking Spanish with other native speakers. However, I have also learned how amazing America is and the ways I can appreciate the beauty of this country despite the differences.

I interviewed a few other students experiencing culture shock and below are methods they and I used to cope with this change. 

When adapting to a new culture:

  1. Embrace curiosity: Have an open mind when exploring new experiences. Be curious about the local culture, traditions, and people around you. Ask questions and be willing to learn about the differences rather than shy away from them. 
  2. Stay connected to your roots: It’s important to maintain connections with your home country. Bring some aspects of your culture with you, like cooking familiar foods or connecting with fellow students from your country/culture, to keep a sense of comfort and identity. Music and movies are also a great way to keep close to your culture.
  3. Build a support network: Form friendships with both locals and other international students. Join clubs, groups, or communities on campus that align with your interests or background (ISA, MuKappa, BHC). This helps create a social safety net and eases feelings of isolation.
  4. Practice self-care: Culture shock can be mentally and emotionally draining. Take time to de-stress and recharge. Whether it’s through exercise, meditation, skin care, or pursuing hobbies, be mindful of your emotional well-being.
  5. Be patient with yourself: Adapting to a new culture takes time. It’s normal to experience confusion or frustration. Give yourself permission to make mistakes and recognize that adapting is a gradual process. Celebrate small wins along the way. If you do get overwhelmed, it’s always okay to take a break and say no. 
  6. Respect yourself: Some cultures see respect differently than others, so if you feel someone is disrespecting you don’t be afraid to tell them how you feel. If they don’t respect that then maybe you should look for more understanding friends who will. That said, it doesn’t mean you need to break that friendship, but I would suggest keeping a little more distance.

    I do have to say I am grateful for the friends I made here. They really helped me adapt and enjoy my new life on campus. Here are a few things they have done that I have really appreciated: 
  7. Being patient and listening actively: International students may face language barriers or struggle to express themselves fully. Speaking in your 3rd or 4th language is really hard sometimes. Be patient, listen carefully, and give them time to articulate their thoughts. Active listening will make them feel understood and supported.
  8. Asking about their culture: Show genuine interest in their background. Ask about their home country, traditions, food, and experiences. This can make them feel valued and appreciated, while also helping you understand their perspective better. We love sharing about our culture.
  9. Being mindful of cultural differences: Recognize that what might be considered normal or polite in one culture may not be the same in another. Be aware of differences in communication styles, gestures, or social norms, and avoid making assumptions about behavior.
  10. Invite them to participate in local activities: Help your international friends by introducing them to local traditions, events, and social activities. Whether it’s a campus event or a casual outing. This helps them feel more integrated into the community.
  11. Offering practical help: International students may need assistance navigating daily life, like understanding local transportation, finding the right place to shop, or dealing with administrative tasks. Offer practical advice or accompany them when needed to make things easier.

    Adapting to a new culture as an international student can be challenging, but with understanding, patience, and support, both you and your friend(s) can survive college together. Never forget to embrace your differences and learn from one another. By respecting each other’s differences you’ll not only make the experience smoother but also build a stronger, more meaningful connection. ★
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The Privilege of a Horse

By: Lydia Scharlau

When people think of horses, they immediately go to major jumps, fancy dressage moves, or as Snoop says, “That horse is crip walking”. But depending on the person you ask, you may also get the people who immediately say that it’s not a sport or that it’s straight abuse. If you know horses, ride horses, or were simply raised around them, you know that these statements aren’t entirely true, but they aren’t entirely false. 

For those who have been keeping up on the media coverage on Charlotte Dujardin, then you know how large of a blow that was to the Equestrian community. She was a top rider and a main funder of some welfare programs who seemed to be a genuine person when it came to the care and training of her horses, or so we thought. If you haven’t heard this news, then let me give you a brief description. Just before the Olympics started, an anonymous video was posted of Charlotte hitting a horse with a whip harshly over 20 times. What shocked the Equestrian community the most, I believe, was the fact it seemed so natural to her, as if she had done so  many times before. Now, the biggest piece of information was the fact that this video was not 20 years ago at the beginning of her career, but 2-4 years ago, specifically when she was at the top of her career and getting gold in grand prix competitions. To say this sent shock waves through the Equestrian community and media was an understatement. 

In all sports, no matter how hard you may try to stop or prevent it, there will always be a form of cheating or abuse. But the thing is that a majority of these communities are not in that percentage of abuse or neglect, but it seems so large since that is what gets posted to social media and goes viral, while the good performances of riding do not. I have heard and seen people call the horse underfed and overworked, when in reality the horse is likely eating a little more than normal and doing its daily work. The thing that stuns me is the fact that so many people claim horse-riding as a whole is abusive. “Horse riding is not only physically and emotionally harmful to horses but—more importantly—it is a form of exploitation” (Emily Moran Barwick). What shocks me about this particular article is the fact that the author herself says that horse-riding is unethical as a whole, and yet she has a video of her riding attached to said article. 

No matter how you define it, there will be abuse in all disciplines of riding, but there is also ethical riding. And by discipline for those who don’t know what I mean, I’m talking about showjumping, dressage, ranch, western, as well as many others. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you will find riders who are in it for money, do it for power, or just do it because they could.  These riders are what the media feasts on. It creates what we call internet vets and trainers. They think they know what will work on a horse from seeing these bad videos, and then proceed to comment how an actual trainer should be acting on a good video. It makes me sad that that’s what the internet has come to. 

Is restraint and some force needed at times? Yes, depending on the situation. If it’s a purposeful move of aggression from the horse, then yes, you react accordingly, but you only apply said force for a very short amount of time. It all depends on the situation, the horse’s behavior mentally and physically, and if you’re willing to put time and effort into these animals. It’s the same as any other sport. You must put work in to improve your skills, your horse’s skills, and the bond you have with your horse. Without a bond, your skills are useless. And I say this as a rider, a horse will listen if you force them, but it creates a memory in the horse’s mind that you will always force them to work instead of working together. 

In conclusion, horse riding is largely misinterpreted by the media to the public. It’s not always the riders’ fault entirely, but it’s never the horse’s fault. The media is a plague and thrives off violence. I can only pray that with time and effort, the media can heal and become the happy, good place it used to be when it was first made. ★

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On American Christianity and Its Failures

By Paul Claydon

Everything in life carries a scent. My mother’s town, home to a sugar factory, was burdened by a pervasive odor. But over time, its residents grew accustomed to it. This is a phenomenon known as nose blindness. Our senses, whether they detect smell or sound, often tune out habitual stimuli. Just as city dwellers become immune to traffic noise, American Christians have developed a form of theological nose blindness. Enveloped in a belief system centered on individuality—my will, my heart, my experiences—this faith tradition can overlook the profound, comforting work of Christ.

American Christianity has become a realm where the focus subtly shifts from Christ to the Christian. This shift is grounded in theological assumptions that many believers accept without question. However, there exists an alternative perspective: one that regards the Bible as both true and divinely inspired, offering clarity and comfort through its teachings.

When discussing American Christianity, I’m not singling out any specific denomination. This term is much broader than Southern Baptist, Wesleyan, or even American evangelicalism as a whole. Across American Christianity, four significant errors have emerged: Revivalism, Pietism, Mysticism, and Enthusiasm. Each in its own way diverting attention from Christ and his words of comfort and life.

Revivalism champions the idea that the Christian journey starts with a personal choice to follow Christ. It elevates the role of emotions, often seeking to stir a decision through orchestrated experiences. However, this approach contradicts the biblical teaching that humans are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1). Salvation is portrayed as a gift from God, not a reward for human choice (Ephesians 2:8-9). In American Christianity the Christian receives Christ as an act of their own will. In Biblical Christianity, Christ receives the Christian as an act of God’s will. Life and faith should not be built on the foundation of your decision but on the foundation of grace given to you by God as a free gift.

Pietism identifies the Christian life with the progression of good works. It emphasizes personal piety as the hallmark of true faith. Yet, such emphasis can overshadow the gospel’s core message: that Christ’s work, not our own, assures salvation. The purpose of the law is to show us our sinfulness and highlight our need for a savior. The gospel is the good news that our savior has come and paid the penalty for our sins. Pietism focuses on the law and neglects the gospel. 

Mysticism claims believers can experience God directly, without mediation. While personal spiritual experiences are valuable, elevating them above Christ’s mediated work on the cross can lead to an inward-focused faith. I’m sure you’ve heard phrases like “I’m going through a drought, I’m just not feeling it in the spirit”, “I’ve lost my passion”, “I feel far from God” and many others. Mysticism causes Christians to base their faith on feelings. As a young person, I would go to church camp every summer and feel deep sorrow and conviction about the way I was living my life. I would go up to the altar during service and cry, having people praying over me and I would commit myself to living a better life for Jesus. But every year after camp ended, I would slowly go back to the way I was before. I felt terrible, especially when my mom would say things like “was camp really for nothing”. This is what happens when you base your faith on your feelings. The Bible never guarantees we will be able to feel the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Mysticism only offers comfort through experience and if that experience isn’t there then the comfort is gone. It teaches that God is there and he loves me through my feelings but when those feelings aren’t there I’m left to conclude that either he’s not there or he doesn’t love me. 

Enthusiasm teaches that spirituality is chiefly an inward journey. It prioritizes personal spiritual experiences over the communal and doctrinal aspects of Christianity. The problem with this is, enthusiasts look for God for his certainty, for his truth, for his comfort and for his spirit only on the inside. Enthusiasm fails to see that the Lord’s work is chiefly on the outside. Enthusiasm is bad because it takes our focus off of Christ and puts it on to our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says “‘The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” Our salvation isn’t found in our hearts, in our feelings or anything inside of us. Our salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, his promises and the grace gifted to us through the word and the Holy sacraments.

The teachings prevalent in American Christianity can be heavy and burdensome, contrasting sharply with Jesus’ invitation to find rest in Him: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The true yoke of Christ is light; it is centered on forgiveness, mercy, and loving-kindness. The core of Christian faith should pivot on these aspects rather than personal determination or emotional experiences. There is a profound comfort and assurance found in trusting God’s promises over our own efforts.

In conclusion, American Christianity, in its various expressions, has drifted towards a self-centric theology. To address its shortcomings, believers might embrace an approach that prioritizes the grace and promises of Christ over individualistic interpretations. By doing so, they can rediscover the rest and assurance that the gospel promises, and center their faith back on Christ, where it rightfully belongs. ★

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In Defense of Ring by Spring

By Caleb Choate

Tonight, I cut my son’s hair for the first time. At twenty-five, I have never cut anyone’s hair save my own. As I fumble with a pair of dull sheers, slowly hacking away at thin whisps of sun-bleached toddler-mullet, Juliana scrapes bacon fat from a pan into a jar. Lawson watches an old re-run of Little Bear, practicing simple sentences like, “Father Bear is fishing” and “Duck is really loud.” Next month, Juliana and I will celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Last month, we celebrated Lawson’s second birthday. 

Our small, young family grows out of a phenomenon found in Christian Liberal Arts institutions known as “ring by spring.” It’s a tradition true to its name: before graduating, many students will get engaged and will marry shortly after commencement. It is a phenomenon familiar to Houghton: many of you will experience this first hand. 

A quick Google search of the term “ring by spring” reveals that the tradition is polarizing. Articles (published by college presses at other Christian universities) with titles such as “Rejecting Ring by Spring,” and “Beyond the ‘Ring by Spring’ Culture” rise to the top. 

I don’t get the hate. 

Heading into our third anniversary, we can happily say that getting married young and starting a family right away is the best thing we have ever done. We feel this way because we recognize marriage isn’t merely a social choice, a “next step” in a relationship, or a contract. Marriage is a vocation.

By “vocation,” I don’t mean marriage is simply a job (though it requires work). I mean it in the religious sense: vocations are lifelong paths to holiness that God calls us to, and these vocations are most perfectly lived out in humble service to others. Vocations, in this sense, have the power to shape our entire perspective: they define who we are, and they inform how we engage with the world around us. Vocations become among the truest ontological realities known to us. They become central to our concept of what it is “to be.”

This is why I think marriage is good for young people: it sets our priorities straight.

Our culture tells young people to live for themselves. The buzzword of our generation is “self-care.” Society would make you believe that you’re failing to live up to your potential if you aren’t chasing a lucrative career, enrolling in graduate school, or traveling abroad.  These three things are all good things. But they aren’t everything. They don’t define us. They aren’t “vocational” in the truest sense.

When you get married young and start a family (and yes, I do assume that the call to marriage and the call to raise children according to God’s timeline are divinely inseparable), you quickly realize just how insubstantial other pursuits are. When you become a spouse and a parent, the concern you once had for your well-being shifts, and you find yourself driven to provide for the other. There is sanctifying grace in saying no to myself and yes to my spouse. There is sanctifying grace in the 2:00 A.M. shift of trying (and often failing) to console a wailing newborn.

Thomas Merton has a beautiful quote that captures this reality. He says, “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”

If I am a husband and a father, and if what I say about vocation is true, then imagine how I might live my life if at the center of my self-concept is the conviction that I ought to live as a gift for my wife and my son. Imagine how small the sideline desires in one’s life might become when striving to love your family well becomes both the hard-fought struggle and daily reward.

Imagine learning selflessness in your early twenties.

I believe raising Christ-centered families is the antidote to our generation’s self-infatuation. That is why I am a proponent of “ring by spring.” Now, here’s what I am not saying. I’m not saying that everyone ought to get married and marry young. For some, God truly is calling them to singleness. And that, too, is a vocation. As a single person, you are more free and available to be the hands and feet of Christ than I am as a married man. That is a beautiful and powerful thing. For others, the desire to marry young is there, but things just don’t play out that way. Others yet do get married young with the intent to raise children but suffer infertility. God is present and working in the midst of all of these scenarios.

Not everyone is called to marriage. But to those who are, ignore what the world would say about starting a family young. Living your life for your spouse and children is the best thing you could do for yourself. And remember the ending of the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” ★

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God Calls Us to Testify

By: Dr. Natasha Davis

Testimony. Have you ever heard someone’s testimony? Of course, throughout the Bible we read many accounts of people sharing their testimony of how God transformed their lives, but I’m speaking of a testimony by someone you know. Maybe you heard someone’s testimony in church or in class, recounting how God has worked and moved in their lives. Or maybe you have shared your own testimony. God reminds us as believers that we are called to testify. 1 Peter 3:15-16 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” So, with that, I am going to share my testimony and I pray that it will bless you in some way.

I’m going to take you back to a time when I was in high school, a senior in fact, and I was ready for the next chapter of my life…college! During my high school years, like most teenagers at that time, I was an active student, always involved in a variety of things both in and out of school. I was also very involved in my home church serving on the Young Adult Usher board, singing in the Young Adult choir for a short time (where I quickly learned God did not intend for me to be a singer), attended Sunday school and church every Sunday, never missed church revivals or homecomings, and participated in church trips. God was a significant part of my life, and at an early age I gave my life to Christ and was baptized. 

So, as an excited and ambitious teenager in my Senior year, I was ready to take on the world and to see where God was going to lead me next. Imagine my surprise when someone I trusted told me one day, “You will never amount to anything.” Unfortunately, there were more negative words to follow that I won’t divulge here, but I’d like for you to let those words sink in for a moment. Say those words out loud and see how it feels. Heavy statement, right? Here I am, a teenager thinking I’ve accomplished so much in preparation for college, academically and personally. This person saw how hard I worked, so where did that statement come from? But yet for some reason, when this person looked at me, instead of seeing my God-given potential, they only saw unworthiness. 

In that moment, time stood still for me as those words sunk right down to my soul, crushing my spirit. Was this person right? Did they see something in me that God didn’t see? Maybe this was God’s way of telling me not to pursue college because I was not smart enough or there was something I lacked. So many emotions were felt at that time that I walked away from this person feeling defeated, angry and broken. In that brief moment in time, I went from a joyous teenager to feeling that I somehow failed God by not being good enough, that someone felt compelled to tell me I would never amount to anything. 

So, after walking away, you’re probably wondering what I did next after that encounter. I went home and told my momma, that’s what! Through tears streaming down my face, I recounted for my mother what this person said to me, and in all her infinite Christian southern momma wisdom, my mother gently replied, “So are you going to believe that one person’s opinion about you or what you know to be true of what God says about you? Are you going to let them define your life for you or are you going to define it for yourself according to God’s will for your life?” And that was that. The tears dried up, and with a renewed spirit, I understood that I could not and would not let that person make me think less about myself. That not only was I smart enough to attend college, but after earning a bachelor’s degree, two terminal degrees and several certificates, I thrived in college! 

In all honesty, after telling my mother what happened, I almost halfway expected her to find this person and bless them with a good ol’ piece of her mind, but that was not the case. Instead I was taught a very valuable lesson that changed my life: never allow someone’s opinion of you to overshadow what God knows and says about you, and that’s my testimony. 

As crushing as it was to hear that statement, it was also my God-given fuel to always lean into one of my favorite Bible verses. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Reminder. HIS plans for you, not others; what HE thinks of you, not others.

What is your testimony? Have you shared your testimony with someone who needed to hear it? If not, I encourage you to do so and write them down in a testimony journal. Whenever you can, share His goodness to encourage others that He can do the same for them. That moment in my life strengthened my relationship with God. Now at this time in my life, knowing how far God has brought me spiritually, personally and professionally, is why I always carry an attitude of gratitude for everything HE has done in my life. For the truth is, just because that person thought I would never amount to anything, is the reason God used me to show and prove, that according to His plan, I actually amounted to everything. 

May God bless you always and in ALL ways!

Witness to God’s goodness,
Dr. Natasha Davis

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God and Your 20’s

By Dr. Craig Whitmore

It’s my opinion that your 20’s are your most formative years. Now, I thought about writing a piece on politics, church leadership, or some other non-divisive concept, but I really think this topic is more worthy of your attention. Your 20’s are crucial to forming the person you will become. I am not discounting the importance of earlier stages of life. Childhood experiences often have an incredible influence on your future self. In my own life, I trace my decision to get serious about following Jesus to my time in middle school. You can probably look back to experiences in high school that helped shape your journey here, to Houghton.

But the 20’s, where you are now, in my opinion, are working at a whole other level. This is when many of us first get to live our lives how we want. We start choosing when we go to sleep (I’m sure none of you reading this ever stay up past 11pm on a school night), if we eat breakfast, brush our teeth, wash our clothes (please decide to do all of those, your future self will thank you), and what habits we want to continue into our future. 

Despite the exhilaration of all this freedom, I’ve often thought of the 20’s as an extended version of Lord of the Flies. Most of my poor decisions in life trace to these years. God graciously guided me through so many potential pitfalls that I’ve seen many 20-somethings fall into. I have a family friend who attends another college here in New York who has already seen three students in her dorm complex taken away by either ambulance or police since the beginning of the semester. Freedom is great, but without the choice to act responsibly, it seems to always lead to problems.

One choice that I would argue is of paramount importance is what you choose to do about “church” in your 20’s. I once heard the results of a study that found Christian university students used more water (to shower) during church service times on Sunday mornings than any other day of the week. I haven’t been able to verify the accuracy (nor even the existence of this study), but I would imagine that the concept wouldn’t surprise many of you. I can remember when I was a 20-something undergrad deciding that I would attend the “Church of the Fluffy Pillow” instead of making the trip to a local church.

My own journey through my 20’s was very … tumultuous. I struggled with understanding my place and purpose in life, even as a life-long Christian. Depression, losing my sense of self, and struggling to make friends were all part of this magical experience. I attended five different schools trying out several different degree programs along the way (including teaching, which it took five years to come back to). I stayed moderately involved with local churches, but it wasn’t until I really started serving in a youth ministry that God “grounded” me in a good way. I found that serving others at church helped me better understand myself, what I wanted to do, and gave me clarity on where God was leading me. I’m pretty sure I got much more from being a youth group volunteer than the youth did. Including a wife: finding my spouse at church, someone who was heading the same way that I was in life, has been the greatest blessing God has sent my way.

And here is where I would make my appeal to you as a once-was-20-something, current father of three 20-somethings and a part-time youth director (well, mini-director at best – we only have 30 5th-12th grade students): find a way to stay plugged in with a local church. Whether you just attend on Sundays (the pastor will probably memorize your name the first week), attend their college group (staffed by people who, oddly enough, want to minister to 20-somethings), volunteer in children’s programs (they will think you are OLD, but you will definitely be loved on), or serve in some other capacity, God will use it to help shape who you will be for the rest of your life.

The 20’s are perhaps the most difficult, fantastic, challenging, formative time of life. God used the experience of volunteering at a local youth group to pull me from the doldrums of 20-somethingness and into the person I am now. You also might find that plugging into a local church helps set you up for the rest of your wife … er, life. ★

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Theology Matters 

By Danielle Skinner

I hear them all the time: subtle, and not so subtle, arguments against theology. “Why don’t we just love Jesus?”, “It’s just so dense”, “It doesn’t really matter”, or my personal favorite: “I’m a pastor’s kid/missionary kid/Bible major/minor, I’m good”. 

Houghton is a beautiful place, with many people from different traditions and backgrounds and I think that is a wonderful thing. However, it seems that many times when we are all able to come together, it’s not because of unity in our desire to think through our own beliefs and be willing to hear others out on theirs, but out of a general attitude of apathy. I hear more criticisms of Chapel and required Spiritual Life classes than of any other requirement on campus (except, perhaps, the infinitely hated Transitions). And the complaints, more often than not, are not directed towards the theology expressed, but towards the very fact that we have to sit through theology at all. 

First off, let’s take a second to define theology. Theology isn’t dusty volumes of heavy books packed with endless, impossible to understand jargon. Theology is simply the study of God. Literally, it’s the word “Theos” (God), paired with the word “Logos” (logic or study). You literally cannot talk about God without expressing some form of theology. It’s just a question of whether your theology will be intentional, well thought out, scripture-based, and logical or half-baked, contrary to scripture, and undefendable. 

I hear, more and more, unsound arguments proclaiming theology as useless, unnecessary, and a low-on-the-list priority to any Christian concerned more with following Jesus instead of appearing Holy. With that, here are some of the most common arguments I hear against having a solid understanding of theology, and exactly why theology is necessary for walking with God.

  1. Theology just doesn’t really matter that much

    As you can probably already tell, theology matters a great deal to me. Our view of God impacts our worldview, our values, who we strive to be, our political views, and our actions. It impacts the songs we sing in worship, the church we go to, and the preaching we listen to. It impacts every aspect of our life and our walk with God. Therefore, there is no other area of human knowledge that could be more important to us. The Bible upholds the importance of wisdom and understanding, throughout the Old and New testaments. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon are literally called The Wisdom Books, the entire book of Romans is Paul walking us through sound theology, and I could go on.  Without sound theology, heresy creeps into our personal beliefs, churches, and Christian communities. The songs we sing speak of a God inconsistent with the God of the Bible or turn into self-worship disguised as God worship. We can not defend our faith and, in fact, start questioning it with the slightest strawman argument against it. 

  2. Let’s just love Jesus

    First off, I love that you love Jesus. That’s great! But you know what you do when you love someone? You want to know them. You want to know what they like, what they don’t, and what they care about. You want to know all about them and their character. And that is exactly what theology is. It’s studying God, trying to know and understand Him and His Word better. So not wanting to study, talk about, or hear about theology so that we can just focus on “loving Jesus” doesn’t really work. We need to know God to be able to love Him.

  3. We need to leave room for the Spirit to move

    Yes and amen! However, how is knowing less about God going to make Him more able to move in your life? How is it going to give you more discernment in hearing His voice? God, by His very nature, cannot contradict Himself (Welcome to Theology 101). God speaks to us naturally, through creation, His Word, and apologetics, and He speaks to us supernaturally through miracles. There is no great cosmic battle between God the Father and God the Spirit on which way to talk to us. God is one, and in knowing Him more, studying Him makes us more aware of His presence and His voice.

  4. Theology makes people proud and hypocritical

    We all know that person. They are so proud of their knowledge of God, they fail to see that their own life is riddled with sin. The self-proclaimed “Super Christian” who can rattle on about divine simplicity or the absolute attributes of God, but then go cut someone off in traffic, berate the poor Starbucks worker for not getting them their coffee order right, and yell at their kids for not being ready for church on time. We know the person who loves big words and jargon but looks nothing like Jesus. The idolatry of doctrine over God is a subtle but very real phenomenon. It is absolutely true that loving God requires not just hearing the word, not just knowing the word, but doing what He says, following His teachings. However, faith needs to be based on a sound theology. Without knowledge of the truth of scripture, idolatry and heresy run rampant. Faith becomes useless because it is based on a God of our own creation. Faith requires both understanding and action, a sound knowledge of doctrine and a willingness to do what it says. Jesus argued against the Pharisees and Sagisties with a perfect knowledge of scripture and infallible logic. Theology doesn’t make people prideful, sinful nature makes people prideful. Theology combined with action is the solution, not trying to forfeit theology all together.

  5. Theology is too dense and difficult to understand

    True, some theology can be VERY dense. However, I am not arguing that every Christian needs a doctorate of theology. I certainly don’t plan to get one. However, you don’t need a doctorate to have a solid, defendable theology. You don’t need to know the term Divine Simplicity, but you do need to understand that God is self-sustaining and depends on no one, to understand that God can love us perfectly because He has no needs on which that love is contingent and He can not fail as He is not made up of parts or lesser beings, which are fallible.

  6. No one can ever fully understand God

    Yes, this is true. We all possess an imperfect theology. Our human reasoning is fallible and unable to fully comprehend an infinite, all knowing, and all present God. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We are all sinners in the process of being sanctified, who can never truly be free from the presence of sin on earth, but in growing closer to God by pursuing righteousness, we also grow closer to God through studying theology, though imperfectly. 

    The pursuit to know God is one of the most influential experiences we can go through. A solid understanding of theology should humble us, strengthen our faith, prepare us to “give a defense to anyone who asks”, and most importantly, align, not only our values, but also our actions more and more with Christ. How in the world could that possibly not matter? ★
Categories
Opinions

We Have no Mouth, But We Must Speak

By Christian Welker

As I looked back over my college experience, there was this nagging sensation following me that I struggled to put my finger on. However, through conversations with friends and memories of the Houghton I first applied to, one phrase came to mind:

We have been silenced.

Let me be clear. This is not about Houghton’s academics. The classroom can be a spot for discussion and questions, which I believe is one of Houghton’s most amazing features. But we, students, have been taught a different lesson when we step out of the classroom.

Through the Houghton Rock, we’ve been taught that expressions of our sexuality, if they don’t match with Wesleyan virtues, will be met with anger and American flags.

Through the relocation of the Rock, we’ve been taught that the methods of creative expression will be regulated to the Field of Dreams if they make for uncomfortable press.

Through the Rainbow Alliance Cooperative, we’ve been taught that clubs and people who don’t adhere to the status quo will lose their ability to speak and gather freely on campus.

Through the Mosaic Center and the Center for Sustainability, we’ve watched programs designed to begin these conversations fall to ruin and vanish, becoming mere shadows of what they were meant to be. 

My first serious opinion for The Houghton STAR was about debate in the modern world, which has become more about winning than discussing opposing views. In my four years at Houghton, I’ve seen that belief taken to the extreme. We are afraid to speak because others will do anything to win. It seems that if someone’s views do not perfectly align with the status quo presented to them, there is no support for them to present their ideas safely.

Conversation appears to have withered and died, with its only remains being the shallow roots of widely accepted facts, recycled endlessly from chapel pulpits and STAR articles: Jesus loves us. We should love others. Get off your phones during Chapel. Even Around the Table, which was supposed to be a place where deeper conversations occurred, has fallen into this pattern.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these messages. They can be timely and important in the right context, but the problem that has arisen is that these are the only conversations happening. This has cheapened those messages when deeper, more meaningful discussions could be paired with “Jesus loves us, we should love others” to take the message to the next level.

I’ve spoken to freshmen and sophomores who have told me that Houghton doesn’t seem like a place where open conversations can happen. Students find their bubbles and stay within them and rarely, if ever, bridge the gaps that form between them. I’m drawn to compare this to my freshman year (2020), when conversations about difficult topics happened frequently. Issues like race, sexuality, politics, and religious beliefs were commonplace, and there was little fear of expressing one’s own beliefs. Houghton was the place that broke the assumptions and stereotypes that I had started my college experience with. I had grown up in a conservative Christian environment and was simply never exposed to the LGBTQIA+ community, or the struggles that minorities go through on a daily basis. These conversations helped me round out my understanding and grow more accepting of ideas contrary to my own, shifting my perspective on social issues in ways that drastically changed who I was. These conversations made me the complete person I am today.

I’m afraid that the Houghton where those conversations happened is gone. 

In its place, a silent campus has arisen. When conversations do happen, they have become loud, angry, and fear-inducing. The old Houghton would have embraced Chapel talks on uncomfortable subjects. It would have stoked the flames of discussion instead of suffocating voices out of fear that the fire would escape the bubble that we are in.

I miss that Houghton.

The new Houghton that has risen in its place threatens to collapse the community we’ve spent so long building. This new Houghton of simple chapel messages and simple opinions. This new Houghton of silence and silencing. This new Houghton where the only discussions that happen must take place in the classroom or administration-approved events. While the old Houghton boasted student-led forums on difficult topics and personal experiences, this new Houghton has forums led by singular faculty members where questions can be submitted via an online form and fed to the speakers via middlemen.

What is there, then, to be done? This silenced Houghton has become the new normal. How can we return conversation and debate to a silent campus without an explosive result?

Beginning the conversation is key to returning to the old Houghton. We must embrace the difficult and scary conversations, stand out from the crowd, and show why we are unique. We must listen to the voices that we disagree with instead of shutting them down or shutting them out. We cannot expect that the opportunity for these conversations will be handed to us; we must make these opportunities for ourselves.

I wouldn’t have become the man I am today in this new silent Houghton. Those who were willing to speak, the LGBTQIA+ students, the liberals, the conservatives, and speakers who challenged our view of the Bible and the God that we worship, shook my beliefs to their core. Despite the potential backlash they faced, they began the conversations and fundamentally changed who I am, making me love God and others in ways that this new Houghton’s “Jesus loves you, this is all” message would never have managed. I will forever be grateful to those people and the Houghton who allowed them to do what they did.

My only hope is that those following me will have that experience. I pray that Houghton will allow them to burst their bubbles and make connections instead of silencing them to maintain a status quo.

We have to begin the conversation.

Even when it feels like we have been silenced, we can still use our voices to improve the world. ★

Categories
Letter to the Editor Opinions

Letter to the Editor: Discipleship, not Gender Roles

By Dr. Kristina LaCelle-Peterson

In a culture obsessed with gender differences and gender roles, it’s good to consider how absent these themes are in Scripture. When we look at the Bible, we find the authors virtually unconcerned with how to be a man of God or a woman of God; they consistently invite us simply to be faithful to God. In other words, Scripture pictures us as humans before God, in creation, fall, redemption, as well as in the invitation to participate in God’s work in this world. Biblical writers are apparently uninterested in how a woman develops faithfulness to God as a woman or how a man does it as a man. For followers of Christ, discipleship is discipleship.

But Christians have often read their gender assumptions into the Bible. For instance, some Christians claim that God placed humans in a hierarchy right from the start with men in charge. One reason they think this is their assumption that God is male and therefore men, being more like God, have the responsibility to lead and direct. However, God is not male since God is spirit; God is supremely personal without being limited by the markers that define animal life. In addition, men are not more like God, since Genesis 1 tells us that all humans are made in God’s own image and commissioned together to do God’s work. They are to be fruitful and multiply; they are to have dominion. No one is the boss, while the other follows. No one protects and provides while the other is passive. We see hierarchy introduced only after the Fall, where domination and subjugation are clearly expressions of the brokenness of humanity after sin has entered the system. Hierarchy interrupts the delightful mutuality of God’s design and also seems to suggest that God likes order more than the flourishing of the people involved.  This, of course, is a questionable assumption given God’s deep love for all of us and God’s consistent desire for the just treatment of all.  

Another unhelpful habit in considering God’s design is to suggest that men and women complement each other and need each other to reflect God. Scholars differ in how they interpret the phrase “image of God” (in terms of capacities,  relationality, or function) but generally affirm that all humans are formed in God’s image equally. What it does not say is that men and women together mirror God’s image. In other words, just because male and female are both made in God’s image, it does not follow that the statement can be turned around to mean that it is in our maleness and femaleness that we reflect God. That kind of thinking results in some deeply problematic theological positions.   

First, with regard to people, if the marriage of a man and a woman is thought to most fully represent God that would mean that huge swaths of the human race would be somehow less in God’s image, given that they are single or not in hetereosexual relationships. Being made in God’s image is fundamental to our being, and our marital or relational status cannot affect it in any way. Besides, as the biblical scholar NT Wright has observed, our maleness/femaleness is what we share with the created order, not with God. We are like many of the plant and animal kingdoms where male and female bodies are necessary for reproduction. Though some Christians want to spiritualize these categories, the Bible doesn’t. 

Furthermore, to say men and women most fully display the image of God together, implies that God is a composite of male and female, with men and women each reflecting one ‘side’ of God. It makes God like the yin and yang, the complementary male and female “energies” of Eastern thought, pasted together. This dualism regarding God’s essence is not biblical. God is I AM—being itself, the source of being, the One who simply is. It would be better to say that God, having no body, transcends the categories of male and female, since these things are linked to earthly life and specifically to reproduction. Even talking about ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ traits in God is a projection of our ideas of masculinity and femininity onto God. God encompasses all human traits, regardless of whether we have labeled them masculine or feminine.

In the second creation narrative, the animals are paraded before the human and are disqualified on the basis of their inferiority. In contrast, the woman is not inferior but corresponds to him and therefore is someone who can offer an antidote to his aloneness. She is not his little helper, however, since the word ‘help’ here is most often used for God in Scripture, offering the help that the other needs to thrive. Significantly, Adam rejoices, not that God has made someone who is different from him to complement him (or follow his lead or do his dishes), but someone who is bone of my bone. She is my very body, he rhapsodizes, someone who shares my fundamental essence—being human.

When we come to the New Testament, we find Jesus calling women and men to be disciples on the same basis – there is not a different set of expectations for female and male disciples. In fact, when Jesus is asked to endorse gender roles or gender valuation, he refuses to do so.  For instance, he refuses to devalue women as he was expected to in his culture on the basis of their purported sexual danger. Consider the story in Luke 7 where he welcomes the touch of a woman who washes his feet, though the religious folks present can only see her sexual impropriety. And in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10) he refuses to press Mary into the expected gender tasks. Instead, he affirms her choice to sit at his feet, learning like only male disciples generally did in that culture. And when a woman cries out in the crowd, “blessed is the womb that bore you,” he says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Luke 11:27). It is discipleship by which people are valued in Jesus’ kingdom, not following gender expectations. When his family members show up, he asks, “Who are my mother and brothers?” Looking at those around him he continues, “Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35). He is not disrespecting his own mother, rather inviting all those around him and by extension all of us, to be part of his family on the basis of obedience. Whatever differences may exist between men and women (and that’s a huge topic that cannot be addressed here) the call for Christians is not to figure out how a woman is to act or how a man is to act, but how each of us lives into the call of Jesus to lay down our lives for the other and to wash each other’s feet. If there are differences presumably they would come out naturally; we don’t have to force the issue.

Paul, too, celebrates women’s (along with men’s) faithfulness to promote the good news, even calling many women his co-laborers in the Gospel—see especially Romans 16. Some, he notes, risked their lives for him and the sake of evangelism. When he lists gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 there is no segregation of gifts on the basis of sex.  

So, if Scripture is not terribly concerned with gender roles and norms, why is the church so caught up in promoting them?  People seem to fall back on them because cultural expectations are comfortable and feel ‘right’ in any given moment in history; it’s just easier to go with the grain.  If we have heard them justified with Bible verses (taken out of context) they even feel Christian, but we have to remember that our ideas of femininity and masculinity are not biblical.  They are products of our culture in this time and place.  For instance, the Bible does not require men to provide and protect the people in his family.  In Scripture, we have plenty of examples of women’s bodies being used to protect men, for better or worse, and the passage most often trotted out to describe the ideal wife (Proverbs 31) depicts a woman providing for her family.  In addition, the texts of Scripture were originally addressed to people primarily in agricultural societies where everyone’s work is necessary; men, women and even children work hard to keep the family economy going.  The man as ‘provider’ seems particularly linked to cash economies and to middle class status; in 19th century America, for instance, having a wife who “stayed home” became a symbol of male success, (that is, masculinity).  But that doesn’t make it Christian and arguably that cannot be a sign of Christian faithfulness, since it would mean that poor, working class families where everyone has to earn money, would be less pleasing to God.  

The Wesleyan tradition has stood for the equality of all people and for each person’s responsibility before God.  When it comes to the community of the redeemed, we stand shoulder to shoulder because we are all sinful humans who have been addressed by the grace and love of God. In Scripture, God is said to give gifts and then invite people to use them for God’s glory, without the question about gender roles entering into the equation.  Simply, don’t bury your talents in the ground!  With regard to marriage, we take seriously the call to “Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ” (Eph 5:21) and believe that it is what we are called to model in our families, in our churches and in the society, rather than cultural ideals of manhood and womanhood.  In fact, all the instructions about how Christians should interact—encouraging one another, putting each other’s needs above our own, bearing each other’s burdens, etc.—apply to both people in a marriage.  When it comes to parenting, then, both partners are to love their children unconditionally, as far as humanly possible, and both are to model for their children what it means to be a follower of Christ and what it means to lay down one’s life for the other.  

Part of the grand adventure of being Christian is living into the full personhood that God created us for. Scripture does not ask us to wedge ourselves into a box of cultural (or church or family) expectations about how a woman should act or how a man should act, but invites us to ask how do I live a life that most fully uses the gifts and passions that God has placed in me? How do I bring my whole self to my relationships and not hide or diminish myself in order to adhere to gender roles or rules? Let’s remember that God doesn’t ask us to tamp down our individuality in order to follow cultural patterns, but invites us to develop our full, unique selves.  Let’s live into the lovely diversity with which God has created us. ★