Professor of the Year Speaks Wisdom

Lendol Calder is a professor of history at Augustana College, Rock Island, IL., and the "professor of the year" in the state of Illinois.

His observation about students:

“Students today are like adventure tourists walking through a jungle,” says Lendol.

“‘Nothing here but trees and grass,’ says the student while their guide shouts ‘Look! There’s a tiger in the grass!’

Except that young people today don’t have guides. They have iPods, they have cable TV, they have each other. But no real guides.

We may be the first society in human history to create a cultural environment in which the young are turned loose in the world without benefit of the wisdom of elders telling them how to find a vocation, how to find a mate, how to make love last.

Cut off from adults and entombed in their peer culture, they are expected to make maps of their own. No wonder they don’t have time to read and prepare for class. They’re too busy trying to figure out how life works.”

from InterVarsity alumni news: Lendol Calder

My response: Students are hungry for wisdom and guidance.

HOWEVER: You have to earn their trust, first. That takes some doing.

Up in the Air

Jen said in a roundabout way that maybe she'd join me for lunch in one of O'Hare's many eateries.

Chicago's O'Hare airport: my new friend. We've spent a lot of quality time together this past year.

Now it appeared a third party was inserting herself into our relationship.

Jen had plopped her luggage and computer bag across the aisle from me at the terminal gate, and started talking. Talking rough. Expletives laced her sarcastic tone, especially when referencing a former husband.

Eventually she learned what I do for work. That always changes things.

Tough girl went sincere, cuss words evaporated.

I was beginning to enjoy this. She was, say, five years younger than me. The conversation picked up.

After a few minutes a stunning realization gradually came to my dull consciousness. I fought it off. It couldn't be true.

Call me slow afoot. Asleep at the wheel, surprised. I simply do not think of myself as a prospect for --

OK, three lessons learned for a married person such as myself:

1. Keep the ring finger exposed and glistening. But don't count on it as a sure-fire deterrent (it isn't).

2. Don't underestimate the human drive for intimacy and security, either in yourself or that person sitting across the aisle.

3. Eat alone. I did.

A Simple Suggestion

My current job takes me around the country to many ministry venues on college campuses and churches.

An observation from my travels:

Keep it simple.

Comparing the ministries that are moving ahead with those that aren't, the growers keep it simple while the dwindlers keep it not-really-very-simple.

The growers develop leaders around a compelling, incisive vision.

Dwindlers muddle along organically with whatever people "God provides."

Growers NEVER reward dysfunctional people and systems by propping them up or dancing around them.

Dwindlers tap dance in fear of the 800lb gorillas who have seized (or fallen into) power in their ministry.

The G's wait until they're doing a couple things really well before adding a third. Their stuff is thoughtful, compelling.

The D's, by contrast, "empower" people to do whatever ministry activity they feel led to do. Their stuff is spread out, disconnected.

G's pay the price to develop a culture of evaluation and accountability.

D's don't dare.

So let's say I visit two ministries. The first is crisp, simple, thoughtful, prayed up. 65 minutes fly by. I hang out afterward for a cup of coffee.

The second is kinda sloppy. Wrong people up front. Music is a C-. 88 minutes aggravate my squirm threshold. Afterward, I bolt for the door.

To which ministry will I return next week?

Last in the series: The Modern, Postmodern University, part 7: reaching the modern student with a postmodern veneer

I've talked the past few weeks about reaching

• Postmodern students: with trust
• Modern students: with logic
• Modern students with a postmodern veneer: with trust and logic

Now this week, the postmodern student with a modern veneer.

This is the student who's firm on the outside, soft inside. Like an egg.

First,  connect with that firm, logical exterior by appealing to reason. I say something like this: 

"I'm a fellow truth seeker. I want to know the truth just like you do. Let's talk together and learn from each other."

Secondly, when you discover the squishy postmodern stuff underneath, you have two choices:

a. Back off on the logic and work to establish trust through shared experiences.  OR

b. Address the philosophical quicksand on which the postmodern view rests.

It depends on the person. I'd suggest going with "a" above -- shared experiences. 

If you get philosophical too quickly,  s/he will just say, "Whatever. That's your deal, not mine."

Thirdly, Start moving in two directions. The first direction is into that person's community, where you incarnate yourself in the manner of Jesus. 

The other direction is that you invite the person into your community. 

But here's the thing: What you invite them to needs to be a hospitable environment for a postmodern person. 

To my thinking, when the kingdom of God is functioning fully, it is HH: 

Highly Hospitable.

Unfortunately, often it is CC:

Closed Community.

Friends, let's open our communities to the stranger and alien among us -- in this case the postmodern person who appears modern on the outside.