THE FUTURE OF
LENOIR-RHYNE AS A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
David J. Ludwig
Lenoir-Rhyne exists within a culture and will always reflect aspects of the current age. As the culture changes, our college must change to stay related to the culture; yet bring the changeless message of the gospel to this new age. This is always a creative tension and both concerns must constantly be expressed. But in this process, there are three dangers:
1. The first danger is to become enmeshed with the culture, adapting its values and fighting the political battles of the era in the attempt to stay relevant;
2. The second danger is to detach from the culture, resist necessary changes in philosophy and style in an attempt to keep the changeless message from getting contaminated;
3. The third danger is to see those who are either struggling to become relevant or to guard the purity of the faith as the enemy, thus fighting the wrong battles.
The correct approach is to hold the concerns for relevance and faithfulness in creative tension, allowing appropriate changes to occur under the prayerful guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The changes that our college has faced within the past 50 years are staggering. The sociological realities are apparent. Loyalty to the college has broken down and a “supermarket” mentality has emerged: Students looking for a college that meets their needs. Christian colleges attempting to be relevant are in danger of losing their identity and those attempting to stay closely identified with the Christian faith are in danger of losing the student market.
The philosophic changes of our culture are even more staggering. We have gone from a general acceptance of creation and absolute moral standards to a general acceptance of evolutionary theory and relative moral standards. Sin has been re-defined from going against God’s will to damaging someone’s self-esteem. Diversity is the preferred concept, with the added twist that acceptance of others means that their beliefs and life-styles are just as valid as your own. The logic driving the ideology of our culture is “individual rights” - that each person has the right to adapt to the environment as he or she chooses. Christian colleges attempting to adapt to this way of thinking are in danger of becoming too “inclusive” and inoffensive; but those rejecting this ideology by focusing on the absolutes of faith are in danger of becoming too rigid and exclusive.
So what are the proper battles for the college to fight? At every level of the college, there should be a passion for knowing and appreciating current thinking…and a passion for holding this in creative tension with the basic tenants of the Christian faith, so that “wholeness of personality… are best discerned from the perspective of Christian faith.” [from L-R Mission Statement].
The following is an example of this process at work in the field of psychology. One of the major, current approaches to family therapy is Bowen’s Family System Theory. How should this theory be approached in the classroom here at Lenoir-Rhyne???
Family System Theory (Bowen)-An Extended
Analysis
Relationships Between Family
Members
Insights:
When two people marry, they develop
emotional patterns between them based on levels of differentiation from their
families of origin. The two selves often merge into a common self, an emotional
system driven (as are all emotional systems) by
two forces: separateness and closeness. If
either force is
feared, the reaction will be an anxiety
that causes relational
dysfunction such as triangulation, marital
conflict, sickness,
and projection of the anxiety on the
children.
Help for such dysfunctional family systems
comes from the process of self-differentiation, allowing the person to become a
responsive self rather than a reactive self. In this way,
one of more family members can gradually
change the family
system over time.
Potential Problems:
Bowen's solutions grow out of evolutionary
theory .It states
that evolution has given humans an
enhanced cortex that can
establish objective control over the more
reactive, emotional
areas of the brain. When a person
differentiates him- or herself
from the other family member, greater
objectivity is developed, and the person can function more intentionally - thus
becoming more responsive rather than
reactive. But what
happens when you really do not want to
change your attitude
toward a family member?
The Christian Corrective to the Theory:
The Christian has a deeper source of power
for the self-
differentiating process. Cortical
objectivity can override the emotions to some extent, but it has difficulty
changing a person's
basic attitudes. This is a spiritual
matter, requiring a change in
heart that occurs when Christ's love
renews a loving spirit
within. This affects the spirit, the
atmosphere, of the family.
Relationship with Self
Insights:
People can be categorized on a continuum
according to how
their thinking and their feelings
interact. At the one end, emotions dominate intellectual functions; the
emotona1 reactions
contaminate the intellect. (For example,
in "emotionalized right
and wrong," a person's capacity for
good judgment is contaminated and is left with little self for healthy
responsive behavior.) At the other end of the continuum, the intellect operates
relatively autonomously, even in periods of crisis. A solid self, using logical
reasoning, emerges and can take over in emotional situations - thereby
lessening anxiety by extricating the self if necessary. Over a period of time, calm use of reasoning
forms a healthy, solid self.
Potential Problems:
Again Bowen relies on the power of the
evolved higher cortical functions to do the self -differentiating work. Fueled
by
limbic-derived feelings, the person has
less access to the neo-cortex. It is at this time that the neo-cortex must
exercise its veto power over instinctive forces. But because of sin, knowing
what is right just cannot accomplish this task (see Rom.
7:25-8:3). This veto power, even though it
is the right thing
to do, will only incur rebellion.
The Christian Corrective to the Theory:
A deeper power within the Christian can
override both emotional reactivity and cortical over-control to produce a
strong
self. That power is the human spirit, when
it has been strengthened and made right by the Holy Spirit. With his Spirit,
this spirit can take charge of the internal processes of the person, producing
appropriate self-differentiation.
In Summary:
One's relationship with God is the missing
ingredient in
Bowen's theory .As a result, his brilliant
insights into human
nature miss their deepest opportunity for
overcoming dysfunction. Since there exists in his theory no external source of
power for the override process, a person's
only hope is his or
her own ability .But this is doing
something in order to be
something (i.e., self-differentiated).
The basic cause of reactive anxiety is
sin-living without
a relationship with God. Therefore, in
contrast to Bowen, the
true gift of the Christian family life
professional is the mysterious power of the Gospel: That the ability to do flows
from
being-in Christ. The connection with God's
love comes first
and provides the awesome power for the
person to "define self
and stay in touch." Identity as a
child of God and the worth
that this reality gives reduces reactive
anxiety. This is a gift of God, not of human effort. So, if Bowen will say
"define self
and stay in touch," the Christian
professional can say, "Stay in
touch with God, and self will be defined
for you."