"Scattered wits take a long time picking up; and often, before I had got them well together, they would be dispersed in all directions by one stray thought."
Friday, January 16, 2009
In chapel?
Today I was told in chapel that in hard times God raises up a deliverer like Moses. He raised up Martin Luther King Junior and now He has given us Barack Obama.
I am going to schedule a meeting with Chappy K. I really want to know what the vision and purpose is for mandatory chapels. I personally LOVE the idea of mandatory chapels---if they are actually instructing us in the way of Christ and exhorting us to be single-minded in our pursuit of that--as much as we can "pursue" Christ...via the Holy Spirit working in us...etc. I would love to see the day when chapels are split between Litfin and Chappy K...and student chaplains helping out here or there. Any chapel in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is not discussed--and the implications that this gospel has on us--sinners, the world, the culture, EVERYTHING---anyway, any chapel in which this is not mentioned is a chapel I don't understand the purpose in. Today's chapel talk could have been given to a meeting of any group of people who want to better society in America. I don't think that's what should be going on in Wheaton College chapels...but maybe it's just me.
Sermons were not intended to be given from bandwagons. Unfortunately, many on the political right also did this in the early days of President George W Bush.
That said, I do like this quotation, paraphrased, from Peter Kreeft: "God makes bad times just so that good men may live in them."
I fully agree. Wheaton College is not a church. However, if there is a role for the college in "spiritual formation," where would that take place? I participated in a focus group yesterday in which we discussed whether or not spiritual formation has a place in the classroom in some quantifiable, mandated from above format. Apparently graduates of Wheaton College (based on a post graduation survey) are not getting the spiritual formation that they expected that they would coming into the campus community. We all came to the consensus that there should not be regulated spiritual formation components in the classroom--because doesn't that miss the fact that spiritual formation occurs because of the work of the Holy Spirit, and not due to our attempted diligence? But chapel, although not a church service--because Wheaton is not a church, seems to be a good opportunity for the college to address spiritual formation--as it is already mandated that we attend. It seems to me that if chapel is simply a forum to discuss diverse opinions then I may as well have gone to a secular university...then I would have been exposed to way more diversity.
The Sovereign Lord is the one who raises up leaders, and brings them down. So he raised up Bill Clinton and George Bush and Barak Obama and Darius and Zerexes and Herod and Sadam Housein. He does it to advance His purposes, to display His glory, to extend His kingdom, for the good of His saints, to punish wickedness, to show mercy to the oppressed, etc.
This is the stated purpose of Wheaton's chapel program from the website:
Chapel Program
The Chapel program seeks to nurture the spiritual life of students in the context of an academic environment. Three times a week at 10:35 AM (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) the entire undergraduate student body gathers in community in Edman Chapel for the purpose of worship. Chapel programs reflect the interdenominational nature of the College and include guests known for their Christian leadership and prophetic word to the church and culture. Variety in worship forms, traditions, and music enriches the educational and experiential dimension of the chapel program. Student and faculty participation encourages the development of Christian faith through peer and mentor relationships. An educational component of chapel includes the consideration of theological, social, ethical, psychological, and political issues from a distinctively Christian and biblical perspective.
Chappy K starts the first chapel of every semester by stating that chapel is a time for the whole student body to come together to worship.
The primary purpose of chapel is worship. In chapel, we come together three-times a week as a community of Christians to affirm our faith, to be encouraged in the Christian life, to focus our attention on God's agenda, to pray for ourselves and the world, and to give praise and thanksgiving to our triune God. Since it is the only time that the entire student body gathers in one place, chapel becomes an opportunity to build community.
Chapel isn't a church service, but it is designed to facilitate corporate worship through prayer, song, and preaching. I don't think it's entirely inappropriate to address politics neutrally from the pulpit, nor do I think in light of the upcoming holiday/inauguration combination it was out of bounds to celebrate that we have our first black president. That is indeed something to rejoice about, regardless of party lines, and I think it's appropriate that we do so as a campus community, maybe even in chapel (though I'll have to think about that one a bit). I think the major issue was the explicit parallel drawn between Moses and Obama- that's just bad exegesis. I appreciated his passion, a few anecdotes (meekness is power under control), his joy in celebrating this milestone for our country. But Moses? Exodus 3? Really?
7 comments:
I am going to schedule a meeting with Chappy K. I really want to know what the vision and purpose is for mandatory chapels. I personally LOVE the idea of mandatory chapels---if they are actually instructing us in the way of Christ and exhorting us to be single-minded in our pursuit of that--as much as we can "pursue" Christ...via the Holy Spirit working in us...etc. I would love to see the day when chapels are split between Litfin and Chappy K...and student chaplains helping out here or there. Any chapel in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is not discussed--and the implications that this gospel has on us--sinners, the world, the culture, EVERYTHING---anyway, any chapel in which this is not mentioned is a chapel I don't understand the purpose in. Today's chapel talk could have been given to a meeting of any group of people who want to better society in America. I don't think that's what should be going on in Wheaton College chapels...but maybe it's just me.
Sermons were not intended to be given from bandwagons. Unfortunately, many on the political right also did this in the early days of President George W Bush.
That said, I do like this quotation, paraphrased, from Peter Kreeft: "God makes bad times just so that good men may live in them."
I fully agree. Wheaton College is not a church. However, if there is a role for the college in "spiritual formation," where would that take place? I participated in a focus group yesterday in which we discussed whether or not spiritual formation has a place in the classroom in some quantifiable, mandated from above format. Apparently graduates of Wheaton College (based on a post graduation survey) are not getting the spiritual formation that they expected that they would coming into the campus community. We all came to the consensus that there should not be regulated spiritual formation components in the classroom--because doesn't that miss the fact that spiritual formation occurs because of the work of the Holy Spirit, and not due to our attempted diligence? But chapel, although not a church service--because Wheaton is not a church, seems to be a good opportunity for the college to address spiritual formation--as it is already mandated that we attend. It seems to me that if chapel is simply a forum to discuss diverse opinions then I may as well have gone to a secular university...then I would have been exposed to way more diversity.
The Sovereign Lord is the one who raises up leaders, and brings them down. So he raised up Bill Clinton and George Bush and Barak Obama and Darius and Zerexes and Herod and Sadam Housein. He does it to advance His purposes, to display His glory, to extend His kingdom, for the good of His saints, to punish wickedness, to show mercy to the oppressed, etc.
This is the stated purpose of Wheaton's chapel program from the website:
Chapel Program
The Chapel program seeks to nurture the spiritual life of students in the context of an academic environment. Three times a week at 10:35 AM (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) the entire undergraduate student body gathers in community in Edman Chapel for the purpose of worship. Chapel programs reflect the interdenominational nature of the College and include guests known for their Christian leadership and prophetic word to the church and culture. Variety in worship forms, traditions, and music enriches the educational and experiential dimension of the chapel program. Student and faculty participation encourages the development of Christian faith through peer and mentor relationships. An educational component of chapel includes the consideration of theological, social, ethical, psychological, and political issues from a distinctively Christian and biblical perspective.
Chappy K starts the first chapel of every semester by stating that chapel is a time for the whole student body to come together to worship.
There's this too:
Purpose
The primary purpose of chapel is worship. In chapel, we come together three-times a week as a community of Christians to affirm our faith, to be encouraged in the Christian life, to focus our attention on God's agenda, to pray for ourselves and the world, and to give praise and thanksgiving to our triune God. Since it is the only time that the entire student body gathers in one place, chapel becomes an opportunity to build community.
Chapel isn't a church service, but it is designed to facilitate corporate worship through prayer, song, and preaching. I don't think it's entirely inappropriate to address politics neutrally from the pulpit, nor do I think in light of the upcoming holiday/inauguration combination it was out of bounds to celebrate that we have our first black president. That is indeed something to rejoice about, regardless of party lines, and I think it's appropriate that we do so as a campus community, maybe even in chapel (though I'll have to think about that one a bit). I think the major issue was the explicit parallel drawn between Moses and Obama- that's just bad exegesis. I appreciated his passion, a few anecdotes (meekness is power under control), his joy in celebrating this milestone for our country. But Moses? Exodus 3? Really?
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