FC Missional Moment: Voices from the Commons
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Our Academic Pursuits--The Seduction of Applause

The upcoming Missional Moments can do little more than serve as conversation starters---given the vast nature of issues involved with how we as Christian faculty lean into our academic pursuits. D.A. Carson, in the book referenced below and in other places, warns of one particular Siren call.  

The Seduction of Applause

The Scriptures admonish all Christ-followers to do their work wholeheartedly, as unto Christ: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23- 24).

We should pursue our academics “not for men,” but as for Christ.

D.A. Carson notes, however, the common temptation for Christian academics is to allow scholastic pursuits to be shaped by the “seduction of applause,” instead of by the motivation to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

He believes this seduction of applause comes from two main directions:

1. The Respect of Peers

The seduction of applause can come from an academic direction. "The respect of peers who write erudite journal articles becomes more immediately pressing than the Lord’s approval.”  Carson observes that if it becomes more important for a Christian scholar to be published by a certain press than to honor God with his academic work, then this scholar is in “grave danger.”

2. The Constituency of Our Friends

Carson also sees the “seduction of applause” coming from a completely different direction---the “constituency of our friends."  This narrower group of friends among the larger community of peers can for some people be equally ensnaring. Scholarship, Carson warns, can then be for sale: "you constantly work on things to bolster the self-identity of your group, to show it is right, to answer all who disagree with it.”

Carson reminds all Christian academics of their primary motivation and allegiance in their academic pursuits: “On the last day, we stand or fall on the approval of one person, one master, the Lord Jesus.”

--Rick Hove and Heather Holleman

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Weaving testimony and teaching, John Piper and D.A. Carson challenge those in academia and in the pastorate to think carefully and holistically about their calling in their book: The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor. Piper centers on the importance of careful thinking in his role as pastor, while Carson focuses on the importance of a pastoral heart in his career as scholar.

What will our scholarship and ministry as Christ-followers be if we are heads without hearts or hearts without heads?

While targeted at the need for pastors and scholars to embody both theological depth and practical focus, the authors have boldly advanced for the Christ-following faculty member what it means to be both men and women in the academy who bring both their heads and their hearts to their calling.

With insight and balance, Piper and Carson give critical guidance to help us span interdisciplinary gaps to the glory of God, and the good of the academy as well as the local church. 




 

Resources from the Archives:


A Special Place in God's Heart by David Loomis, Illinois State University

Philoxenia by Faculty Commons Staff--A Thanksgiving Application
 

This year, we are hosting more regional conferences for faculty at various locations.  We are currently scheduling these remaining conferences:

Athens, GA February 24, 25 
Greenville, SC February 10,11
Orlando. FL February 10,11 
Palo Alto, CA April 8 
Moscow, ID toward the end of May 

Hear from other Christian professors who have honored Christ in their teaching, research, and service.

Explore with other Christian faculty our common call to the university and the world.

Network with colleagues from other universities.

Share ideas of effective ministry.

Graduate students welcome.

Recent endorsement:  The Common Call Conferences have provided me with a unique opportunity to network with Christian faculty representing a variety of disciplines and institutions and to gain useful insights to integrating my faith with my academic life.--Dr. David M. Nelson, Professor of Economics, Western Washington University


A Common Call Conference


 
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Our FC Missional Moments continue their year-long invitation to A Grander Story. We're thankful to Rick Hove (Executive Director Faculty Commons) and Heather Holleman (PhD, English Professor at Penn State) for contributing to and editing our upcoming book: A Grander Story (to be published later this year). We also thankful for the many professors and Faculty Common's staff for their previous and current input to these Faculty Commons Missional Moments.

Copyright © 2016 Faculty Commons®, All rights reserved.


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