“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

I am afraid these words from James’ epistle could all too easily be addressed to Erskine College these days.  How so?  Well, let’s begin by talking about what friendship with the world means.  As my pastor explained in a recent sermon, in the ancient world, true friendship involved a sharing of interests, values, and goals.  True friends got along because they were thus aligned with each other.  It is not difficult for Christians and Christian institutions, whether intentionally or otherwise, to become so aligned with the world’s ways of thinking and of doing things that they begin to look more like their secular counterparts than like the redeemed children of God.  I believe Erskine is showing signs of this very problem.

Take, for instance, the new marketing tagline, “Forever Connected.” This is the phrase that recently adorned an Erskine welcome banner that, a year ago, could have been expected to display the words, “Christian Commitment and Excellence in Learning.” At a recent forum organized by the Student Government Association, Erskine’s Vice-President for Enrollment Management assured concerned students that Erskine is not “getting rid of” the old slogan.  The fact remains, however, that Erskine is now choosing to describe herself with this new tagline, the meaning of which is anyone’s guess, because according to the Director of Marketing and Public Relations, it sells better.  However, this new slogan tells the world nothing whatsoever about Erskine’s commitment to Christ; or, for that matter, Erskine’s academic standards

Now let’s look behind the banners and slogans to the actual day-to-day teaching at Erskine.  When, in my very first class at Erskine, the professor opened class with prayer, I thought I was in heaven.  After thirteen years in public school, I marveled to see the Christian faith unapologetically engaged in the classroom.  Unfortunately, I came to find that that professor was not the norm.  In my two years at Erskine, I have studied under twelve professors outside my major of Bible and Religion.  It would be generous to say that half of those have even mentioned Christ in the classroom, and only three or four can be said to have integrated Christianity with the content of their teaching in any meaningful way.  Most of my classes outside of the Bible Department have been taught no differently than they would have been in a secular public school.  For people who have been created and redeemed by God, who owe their lives and their very beings to Him, and who are called to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), this will not do!

Now, we can all imagine the potential differences between Christian and secular perspectives on subjects like biology or religion, but some may wonder what practical differences there could be in more seemingly neutral realms like history or math.  I believe the differences are fundamental.  The knowledge that the world we live in was fashioned and is sustained by an all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign God should drastically change the way we look at any fact or concept.  Because we believe in a sovereign God, we know that the events of history are not random but, rather, are part of a larger, coherent story of the creation, fall, redemption, and (eventually) consummation of this world.  Only in light of this larger framework can we really understand the significance of historical facts.  We can know that one plus one is two only because we serve a God of order who has created an orderly universe and who has created human beings with the capacity to perceive and understand their surroundings in a meaningful way.  If we truly believe in a sovereign, creator God, we must understand that God is relevant to every fact (even the seemingly neutral ones) because every fact is ultimately irrelevant apart from Him!  “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).

We ought to acknowledge God and give Him praise in every class that is taught at Erskine College.  Unfortunately, it seems that many (dare I say “most”?) of the teachers at Erskine are unwilling to do so. Many Erskine professors imply, by the totally secular character of their teaching, that they do not believe that the Bible is the perfect, inerrant, inspired word of God or that the Creator of the world is Lord over the facts.  At least one professor has been openly attacking the authority of Scripture and its relevance in the classroom for years.  Erskine claims to acknowledge the lordship of Christ and to provide students with a “Christ-centered environment where learning and biblical truth are integrated,” but in actuality, we consign faith to one sphere of life and facts to another, holding them in tension rather than in unity.  We cozy up to the world in academics but try to hold onto Christ at arm’s length.

I say “we,” because I, as an Erskine student, have by no means done all I could to acknowledge God in my classes and daily life or to hold Erskine accountable for doing so.  That is why I am writing this.  I do not want to be, as Rev. Douglas Petersen put it in his baccalaureate sermon at Erskine, one of the “boo birds” who sit on the bleachers complaining rather than doing something to help—but there is only so much I can do.  I am not complaining.  I am pleading.  I am begging for the prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ and for action on the part of the ARP General Synod.  Brothers and sisters, please pray that God will work in the hearts of the students, faculty, administration, and board of Erskine College.  Delegates to the Synod, please reach out to reclaim and restore this weakened arm of the Church.  And Erskine students and faculty, please prayerfully consider whether repentance is in order and how we all may more faithfully give glory to God in all that we do at Erskine.

The Erskine administration will probably say, as it has in the past, that the above concerns are only the concerns of a few and, therefore, not legitimate.  Even if it is true (as I do not believe it is) that only a few students are concerned about the unfaithfulness of Erskine College, does that make those concerns illegitimate?  Did not only two of the twelve men sent to spy out the Promised Land believe that God could give it to them (Numbers 13)?  Did not Micaiah alone prophesy truly to King Ahab, when four hundred prophets told him what he wanted to hear (1 Kings 22)?  If we serve a God who cares for the outcast and the oppressed, who chooses the weak to shame the strong, and who guides His children through the narrow gate when many pass through the broad, would we not do well to listen to the few?