by Teri Ong
Because of some pending legislation that would affect private colleges in Colorado, we have spent a fair amount of time this spring analyzing the validity of our existence at Chambers College. Our soul-searching usually boils down to two key issues: 1) Are we doing what we believe God has called us to do? and, of a much lower rank in importance, 2) What do we believe God is desiring to accomplish through our obedience to His calling?
1) Are we doing what we believe God has called us to do?
We believe God’s calling for all Christians is to teach other people all the things that Christ has commanded so they can become faithful followers of Him (Matt. 28:20). How this non-optional teaching ministry is carried out varies in specifics for each Christian. For some, it might mean being a great homeschool parent; for others, it might mean being involved in teaching ministries of a local church; for some, it might mean involvement in community-based activities as a means of evangelism. For us, it means teaching discipleship-minded young people through a structured Bible-based college degree program.
Because of the high cost of higher education ($7000 per year for public universities and $27,000 per year for private universities), many economically-realistic people in America have begun questioning the validity and necessity of Bachelor of Arts programs. In the last six months, a spate of articles in the Wall Street Journal has included the following: “Is an Ivy League Diploma Worth It?” (11-8-11) “What’s Your Kid Getting From College?” (11-1-11) and “Should Colleges Be Factories for the 1%?” (2-21-12)
Last year, the book Academically Adrift, released the results of statistical research which tracked 2,300 undergraduates from 24 American universities. The researchers found that more than 1/3 of seniors leave school with no improvement in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, or written communications over four years. Many students are coming out of school with no skills that will help them pay off the $30-40,000 school debt they have accumulated.
Charles Murray from the American Enterprise Institute wrote in his article “Do We Need the Department of Education?”,
“The bachelor of arts degree as it has evolved over the last half-century has become the work of the devil. It is now a substantively meaningless piece of paper– genuinely meaningless… And yet the B.A. has become the minimum requirement for getting a job interview for millions of jobs, a cost-free way for employers to screen for a certain amount of IQ and perseverance… So what happens when a paper credential can be obtained by taking the easiest courses and doing the minimum amount of work? The result is hundreds of thousands of college students who go to college not to get an education, but to get a piece of paper.” (Imprimis, Jan. 2012, Vol. 41, No. 1, p. 4)
Education has always been poised philosophically on the knife edge between “being” and “doing.” The Greek philosophers came down heavily on the side of “being.” Historically, for 18 or 19 centuries at least, the goal of a liberal arts education was to give a person the intellectual tools fitting for a free human being. A knowledge of literature and history, theology and philosophy, languages and mathematics was considered its own reward. A person with those tools could ponder and communicate with others about the deep questions of life.
Twenty-first century Americans, always the pragmatists, come in heavily on the side of “doing.” After all, what good are tools if they can’t help you make a million dollars? That is why American universities have such educational monstrosities as bachelors degrees in “golf course management.” Many modern Americans would agree with the opinion of Mrs. Thornton in Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic, North and South,
“I have no doubt the classics are very desirable for people who have leisure. But I confess, it was against my judgment that my son renewed his study of them. The time and place in which he lives, seem to me to require all his energy and attention. Classics may do very well for men who loiter away their lives in the country or in colleges; but Milton men [men of business] ought to have their thoughts and powers absorbed in the work of today.” (North and South, Wordsworth Classics, p. 112)
But all of life is not business. Robbie Shell, an editor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in pondering life after business in an article entitled, “A Lesson in the Joys of Learning,” wrote, “… the joy of learning can exist for its own sake instead of to prepare for an interview or meet a deadline.” (Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2012, R10)
Where does Chambers College fit into this discussion? The Biblical ideal for education has neither the life of the mind nor the life of the wallet in view. Jesus told his audience that the path of wisdom was to pay attention to His words and then to act on them. Jesus, more fully than any of the Greeks, understood the relationship between knowing the truth and being truly free. He also knew that the man who is truly free in Christ will do Christ’s commands; there’s that old relationship between “being” and “doing” again. But in this case, the tools of freedom will not necessarily (or even probably) get the bearer a million dollars. They will, however, teach the bearer to understand experientially that the sufferings of the present world are not to be compared with the weight of glory in the age to come. This is the ideal we seek to uphold through the teaching and training programs at Chambers College.
2)What do we believe God is desiring to accomplish through our obedience to His calling?
Our namesake, Oswald Chambers once said, and we agree:
“All of you have intelligence and you must use it for God… The reason why the average Christian worker is only the average Christian worker is that he or she will remain grossly ignorant about what he or she does not see any need for. The majority of us have been rbought up on ‘spooned meat.’ …We will only take the truths we see immediate practical use for, consequently the average Christian worker knows nothing about Bible theology or Bible psychology, and cannot therefore push the battle for God on any of those domains.”
At Chambers College we believe our desire is the same as God’s desire. We want young Christians to live in the freedom of God’s truth and to live it out in ways that glorify God with super-abounding fruit for His kingdom.
Of his own Bible Training College, Chambers said– a place where God can help Himself to lives. One student per year is enough to justify its existence.
Conclusion: Is Chambers College worth the cost?
All of the teachers and staff members at Chambers College have demonstrated by their life-choices that obeying Christ’s calling is a pearl of great price that we are willing to sell all to attain. We pray, as Oswald Chambers did, that God will send us His students, students who likewise are willing to make sacrifices of their own money (no Pell grants here), time (our courses require more study than in many other programs), and prestige (our degree will often be scorned by the world). We know there are some, probably only a handful of students with the same desire for intensive and effective discipleship that God has given us. God willing, we will be here to help you when you are ready.
