The Purpose and Benefits of Christian Higher Education

Paper Presented at the West African Regional Consultation on Christian Higher Education

Held at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN), Bukuru – Plateau State

From 15^th – 17^th October 2007

By Rev. Prof. Musa A. Mambula

As we think of our consultation on Christian Higher Education for the first time in the West African Region today, you’ll note that we are beginning with the purpose and benefits of Christian higher education and perhaps the issue of academic excellence.

The choice of a college by students for their education or training is usually done carefully and sometimes prayerfully. The often-cited criteria for choosing a College are location, cost, and reputation. These are important of course, and will be considered by any thoughtful student, parent or caring adult.

However, there are numerous other important factors one should consider: faculty, course offerings, campus atmosphere, relationships, available housing, safety, and other intangibles that could contribute to positive learning and growing experience. To benefit from this experience, you need to become part of this group of scholars from around the world seeking to claim “every square inch and every split second” for Jesus Christ; read about activities of Christian Higher Education worldwide in the contact news letter; attend conferences, regional and international; promote further discussion of the history, general scope, and foundational issues surrounding Christian scholarship; connect with other Christian scholars, via IAPCHE’s web directory and work to find ways in which Christian Higher Education can assist in the work of Christian Education in general, especially in training of Christian school teachers.

The International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE), an organisation of individuals and institutions that believe and serve Jesus as Lord has the main purpose of fostering, worldwide, the development of integral Christian higher education through networking and other related academic activities. Relationships are an extremely important part of any educational experience.

Most Christian colleges which normally are smaller have uniquely been equipped with facilities that provide positive relationships for their students. In addition to the benefits of relationships is the atmosphere familiar to Christian students that give them myriads of opportunities without distractions and stress. The quality of Christian higher education experience is no doubt higher and better than any other. Christ’s call to students and Christian educators is for excellence, maturity, and a balanced biblical teaching deemed by God to be the first priority for any educational endeavours (Ledbetter, 2006). For those of us from this part of the world, Christian higher education promotes and facilitates educational endeavours in the African context that are grounded in a commitment to the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ witnessed to in the Holy scriptures as the directing principle for all academic life (Hulst, 2004).

As rightly expressed by Schreiner (2003), in his paper titled “Making the Case for Academic Excellence in Christian Colleges”; he explains that there are four primary “promises” the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) makes to their students: that the students will receive an excellent academic education and grow intellectually, that they will grow spiritually and be able to develop a Christian worldview, that they will develop leadership abilities, and that they will have the opportunity to serve.

As we explore the purposes and benefits of Christian higher education in our colleges and universities whether they be private or secular, it is the responsibility of all Christian educators to look at the abilities of the students when they enter our Institutions and see whether the experiences they gain while they are with us actually demonstrate their ability to have gained academic excellence, significant knowledge, skills, and academic dispositions as a result of our teaching and the difference in our handling issues as Christian educators.

The relationship between students and Christian educators in Christian higher education institutions is the wonderful virtue of openness. This is one of the uniqueness of Christ we find in our cultural diversities on our campuses. Openness to cultural differences will lead us into acceptance. Acceptance is one of the benefits of Christian Higher Education that communicates respect for others.

If we do not accept as good, Gods shaping of our person and life in our own culture, we will never be able to accept his work in the lives of others who are culturally different from us. (Sherwood Lingen Feller and Marvin Mayers)

When we accept one another as one of the benefits of Christian higher education, here is what it will look like as Elmer (2006) explains:

1          We are to take the initiative in showing acceptance toward others, making them feel valued and respected.

2          We unconditionally accept others without considering their external features, lifestyles, decisions, habits, and so forth (Note acceptance is not approval).

3          We do not have the option of rejecting any person, though we may, in a culturally appropriate way, address behaviours that the Bible clearly declares as sinful.

4          We are to eliminate our non-dehumanising behaviours such as threats, intimidations, power-plays and other ungodly forms of manipulations.

5          We accept people – period; like Jesus, we must reject labels such as race, generation, and gender as defective guides for how to treat another human being.

6          We expect that accepting others in these ways may cost us dearly.

One other benefit that connects acceptance of others is the glory of God. When the people of God learn to accept people, something amazing happens. In fact, as simply put by Elmer (2006) accepting one another may be among the most powerful acts of love we can offer to each other because it promotes oneness. Oneness in Christ he further points out is so wonderful that the natural expression is sing praises of God. The world notices the revealing love and wholeness of the body and sees a great and mighty God. They see His glory (Elmer, 2006)

Another benefit in accepting each other is that it promotes the mission of God. When we accept one another across our differences, it promotes unity in the body of Christ which in turn reveals the glory of God and His power of love.

Another benefit of Christian higher education is the good practices and cooperation among students. When this happens, active learning takes place with the following behaviours of students: asking questions in class, contributing to class discussions, making class presentations, working with classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments, working with other students, on projects during class, tutoring or teaching other students, participating in community-based projects as part of regular courses (i.e. service learning), and discussing ideas from readings or class with others (Schreiner, 2003).

Other benefits include, high expectation, academic challenge, respect for diverse talents and different ways of learning, student - faculty interactions, support encouragement, innovation and creativity are nurtured, and a variety of learning styles are addressed (Shulman, 2003).

Light, (2001), in his excellent book Making the Most of College, reports the results of interviews with thousands of successful college seniors who were asked to describe their “best professor ever”. Their answers, as Schreiner (2003) puts it, provide illumination for them as faculty as they strive to create an excellent academic environment for their students:

(a)        They did not teach me what to think, but taught me how to think;

(b)        They helped me make connections between a serious academic curriculum and my own personal life, values, and experiences.

(c)        They engaged students in the learning process,

(d)        They asked questions, posed problems, and encouraged debate as part of the process of teaching us how to think like professionals in our discipline,

(e)        They taught me the importance of evidence-how to collect it, and how to use it to make decisions, and

(f)         They incorporated other disciplines into their classes.

It seems to me from this paper that the purpose and benefits of Christian higher education cannot be overemphasised in this generation and the generations to come.

Let me therefore, conclude my presentation with a quotation from Schreiner’s article that:

Christian higher education has a strong academic foundation, with enormous potential to impact the world. Yet too often we abandon the hard intellectual work to the secular universities; we don’t even try to go head-to-head with the leading philosophers, researchers, scientists, or educators of the world. Christian colleges are too often viewed as nice places to send your daughters, places where they will be safe and grow spiritually and personally (and perhaps find a husband), but not necessarily places where they will be challenged and equipped to take on the world on its playing field. But if we really want to make an impact on the world for the sake of Christ and his Kingdom – we simply must be excellent at what we do, which is educating the whole student: Body, Soul, Heart and Mind!

References

Elmer, D. (2006), Cross-Cultural Servant hood. Serving the World in Christlike Humility, Intervarsity Press, Downers’s Grove.

Hulst, J.B. (2004), Christian World View and Scholarship: International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education: Melbourne Australia. Kitale Kenya.

Ledbetter, G. (2006), Benefits of a Christian Higher Education, In Partnership with NACCAP/CCCU.

Light, R. (2001), Making the Most of Colleges.

Schreineir, L. (2003, Making the Case for Academic Excellence in Christian Colleges, A Paper Presented at Seattle Pacific University from June 19-21, 2003.