Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2007

Grace Church of Burlington June 10, 2007 “If you have a college degree you can be absolutely sure of one thing... you have a college degree.”             Not that this will come as a big surprise, but a recent study on educators' religious opinions confirmed that the majority of professors at America's colleges and universities hold an unfavorable view of evangelical Christians that frequently leads to prejudice and intolerance in the classroom. In fact, evangelicals were the only major religious denomination to be viewed negatively by a majority of faculty, according to the study released May 7th by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. Among non-evangelical university faculty, 53% in a sampling of 1,200 said they held an unfavorable view of evangelical Christians while expressing positive feelings toward most other religious groups. One professor said he attributes the disdain for evangelicals to their Republican Party activism and their perceived opposition to science. Gary Tobin, the institute's director and chief pollster, said the results undoubtedly reveal "bias and prejudice" among the nation's educational leaders. "If a majority of faculty said they did not feel warmly about Muslims or Jews or Latinos or African Americans, there would be an outcry," Tobin told The Washington Post. "No one would attempt to justify or explain those feelings. No one would say, 'The reason they feel this way is because they don't like the politics of blacks or the politics of Jews.' That would be unthinkable." Tobin found that 71% of faculty members agreed with the statement: "This country would be better off if Christian fundamentalists kept their religious beliefs out of politics." On many campuses if you're an evangelical Christian, you're going to have to go through classes in which you're told that much of what you believe religiously is not just wrong, but worthy of mockery. This means that college professors, comfortably situated in their tenured positions, willingly take tax and tuition dollars from a population they look down upon. So what should Christian students and parents do?       1) Seriously consider a Christian college for their freshman year. While many young people do well in a public school, the powerful influence of a secular, anti-Christian world 24/7 might be more than they can handle. The number reason for not considering a Christian college is financial, yet I do not know a parent who would put a price tag on their child’s physical life. To me then it’s foolish to get “cheap” when their soul is in the balance. Some young people are not yet mature enough to handle the onslaught of paganism at a public college.             2) Insist that they become part of a Christian campus group and even attend church faithfully. If you’re paying all or part of their college education, then you can qualifyyour financial assistance.  Attending a weekly campus group is a small price for thousands of dollars of financial support. Most colleges have either an InterVarsity or Campus Crusade group on campus. Having Christian friends and older role models will help your son or daughter stay true to their spiritual foundation.             3) Before they go to college have them do research on Christian worldview. Send them to one of Summit Ministries worldview summer conferences. Have them work through the Truth Project produced by Focus on the Family. At the very least have them read some good books on a Biblical worldview such as: The Bible and Other Faiths: Christian Responsibility in a World of Religions by Ida Glaser; The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel; How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski and How Now Shall We Live by Charles Colson. If you need to, pay them to read the book and then have a discussion with you about it.             4) Hold them accountable. While our relationship with our adult children changes and we move from being their parent to being an older mature friend, we still need to help with guiding them to the right paths. If they are financially dependent upon you, then asking the tough questions is just faithful stewardship of what the Lord has entrusted to you. You wouldn’t invest in a mutual fund that wasn’t producing, so why would you financially underwrite your own child if their behavior and/or lifestyle repudiates your Biblical values? The Bible says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).             One of the great fallacies in American culture is that Spring Break represents a moving into adulthood for college students. It doesn’t. Mature, responsible behavior is an indication of moving into adulthood. And it is not enough to be good, we are also called to be godly. As Christian parents, we need to think through how we can best help our children move into a godly adulthood.