Dr. Rick Ostrander
By Ashley Andrews-700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –There comes a time in every high school student's life when they are asked three questions. One, "What college are you going to?" Two, "What is your major?" And three, "What do you want to do with that?" Now, with any luck, the student knows ideally what he wants to do. But if that same student were asked, "Why do you want to go to college?" or "Why does college matter?", then chances are that they might not have a solid answer. At least that's what the author of Why College Matters to God Rick Ostrander believes.
Rick, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Cornerstone University, knows a thing or two about college and the way students think. And he has learned that to anyone who is not born and raised in the States, higher education might seem like a strange phenomenon. Why does college matter? It's something that most every high school graduate moves onto, and studies show that it is becoming more essential with every year. But, as Rick points out, "In society we often do things automatically without ever asking the question 'Why?'" College, he thinks, isn't much different. But the truth is college does matter. But it is what we do with that time and that education that matters most.
WORLDVIEW
According to Rick, nothing beats a Christian education. "The difference between a Christian university and other institutions of higher education is this: A Christian college weaves a Christian worldview into the entire fabric of the institution, including academic life. It is designed to help you see and live every part of your life purposefully as a follower of Christ." And it all starts with our worldview.
Every student, every parent, every teacher and every institution maintains their own opinion. "We cannot help but have a worldview," Rick asserts, "like the pair of spectacles perched on my nose, my worldview exists and is constantly interpreting reality for me, whether I notice it or not...and one of the main purposes of college is to challenge students to examine their worldviews." We are all shaped by our outlooks and perceptions. It makes up who we are. What's more, "Worldviews shape not just our individual lives but universities as well." There was a time," Rick continues, "when scholars claimed that education was completely objective...Now we know better. All education, whether religious or secular, comes with a built-in point of view."
So what makes a Christian university so important to believers? Well, as Rick sees it, "A Christian university seeks to provide an over-arching framework that gives a sense of purpose and unity for everything from English Literature to chapel to intramural soccer...The purpose of a Christian college isn't simply to hand you a complete Christian worldview on a platter; rather it's to start you on the process of developing a comprehensive, coherent, yet dynamic Christian worldview...Each course that you take at a Christian college - and everything else you do, for that matter - has a purpose and value within a Christian worldview framework. Figuring out what that purpose is, however, isn't simple, since worldviews don't stay the same." As Rick describes, "Worldviews are constantly subject to correction and revision as we encounter new people, ideas and experiences." This means that, "...we hold many of our beliefs loosely and are open to adjusting our Christian worldview as we encounter new ideas and experiences in college." And the advantage of having a Christian education will serve as the foundation for our worldview.
COLLEGE HISTORY
According to Rick, students should know the history of the college they plan to spend their next four-five years. After all, Harvard's original motto was Christo et Ecclesiae, which means "For Christ and the Church." Now, well, let's just say that is not the case anymore. "Virtually without exception, American colleges begun in the colonial era were created by Protestants with the explicit purpose of training Christian leaders for the church and society." But because Protestant educators' values fit so neatly with that of the surrounding society, they neglected to develop a clear Christian foundation for or critique of their cultural situation. Then, "Amid the specialized departments of modern university, the attempt to understand a unified world of knowledge largely disappeared." But fortunately, by the 1980s, "The 'integration' model of faith and learning had become standard fare among Christian colleges, inspiring them to pursue broad academic excellence and a distinctively Christian approach to learning." Also, Rick points out, that it is important that students know, "A Christian college does not limit itself to studying only Christian writers, even non-Christians - not just to refute their ideas but to learn from them." As it happens, "All truth is God's truth, wherever it may be found...God has liberally sprinkled His grace over all of His creation...and the effects of God's grace persist even after the fall. In other words, even non-Christian scholars can have insights into truths about the universe."
IMAGING GOD
For Rick, there are obvious reasons why someone should go to college. "Career development," he writes, "by itself is an inadequate purpose for higher education. Rather, for Christians learning is an intrinsic good rooted in the doctrine of creation." In short, we can know God better by studying His work. Just like "The personality of the sculptor comes through in the sculpture...God expresses Himself in all that He has made, and what He made reveals and declares important things about Him." What's more, God gave Adam that task of naming the animals. And He gave us dominion over the earth. Why else would God do that if He did not want us to appreciate His creation and take note to His power? For example, "Naming a tiger would help Adam understand and appreciate the beauty and power of God's creation"...while "an otter, by contrast would teach him something about the Creator's own playfulness and sense of humor."
Moreover, Rick believes that college courses will help prepare students for their God-given role in life. "We have been uniquely created to think about, to delight in, and to enjoy the creation the way God does. When we admire the Grand Canyon, kayak a mountain stream, or cook a savory meal, we express the reality of the image dei...Regardless of the particular major that one studies, at its most basic level, college prepares us to image God throughout all of life. God creates; as his image-bearer, I sub-create. Studying art and music enables me to be a better creator. Studying history enables me to better understand how humans have cultivated the 'garden' of civilization over time. Every book I read, mathematical equation I wrestle with, or painting I experience expands me, and by extension my ability to 'image' God. Reading English literature may or may not make me love God more, but it gives me more to love God with."
THE FALL AND COLLEGE
As far as Rick sees it, the Fall of man caused problems everywhere, even in education. "Because of the Fall, the world is messy and complex; so too is Christian education...Throughout history, Christians have demonstrated an unfortunate tendency to identify evil with certain parts of creation itself (rather than as a corruption of creation) and thus to avoid them altogether. For some, it was sex; or certain foods and drinks; or 'worldly amusements' such as movies and cards; or politics. Yet many of the evils that Christians perceive in the world are corruptions or distortions of some of creation's basic goods. God's good gift of sex becomes twisted into adultery or prostitution. Wine is distorted into drunkenness. Even a corrupt dictator depends on the existence on the prior good of political institutions that God established." But Rick urges believers to realize that, "All parts of creation, from art to science to law and politics, merit our attention and our engagement. Nothing is irredeemably corrupt. As Christians, our task is not to avoid certain subjects for fear of contamination, but to engage them as part of God's blessing on His creation."
"Higher education has many purposes, but for Christians one of its purposes is to help us understand the subtle, complex and at times, systematic effects of the Fall on our world...Condemning genocide is easy; understanding deep, subtle, and complex systemic evils is not...Sin has a way of working its way into the very systems and structures of our lives and indeed entire societies." And we as believers need to be able to recognize it. Rick then goes onto describe that we need to be able to differentiate the goodness of God's creation and the effects of the Fall. And education can be the beginning of that. For instance, "Shakespeare requires critique and analysis, but we would also do well to copy him - that is to have Shakespeare's marvelous feel for words leaven our own writing. Physic students should seek to understand and analyze Einstein's theories, but they should also emulate Einstein's ability to grasp the simple concept amide the complexities. Finally, in a world darkened by the Fall, Christians must retain condemnation as an option as well. For example, Hitler's Mein Kampf can be studied as a window into the culture of early-twentieth-century Germany, but ultimately its pernicious racial doctrines deserve our condemnation. As Christian scholars our approach to a subject must remain flexible depending on the nature of that subject and its connection to the Fall. It comes down to knowing when to condemn, when to copy, when to critique, and when to consume; and the answers are rarely straightforward."
Another reason, Rick suggests, that justifies a Christian education is that it "will help you to become the kind of empathetic, insightful, and interesting person with whom a modern unbeliever with sincere questions about Christianity would feel comfortable talking...Part of our task as cultural beings is to redeem the cultural products that have been corrupted by the Fall, and college is a great place to begin doing that...We can think of our work as 'broadcasting Mozart' into a fallen world. Our college education prepares us to inject, truth, love, beauty and order into a world that is marred by injustice, ugliness, and drudgery...Integrating faith and learning means relating one's Christian worldview to an academic discipline." Through it, we can learn to apply a positive attitude to not only our study but our life. And by doing this, we form a discipline and an outlook that "furthers God's redemptive work."
In the end, Rick encourages readers to mimic Jesus Christ. "The intrinsically-good insights and skills that we acquire as God's image bearers also prepare us to function effectively in a global economy where creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, and effective communication are vital qualities. A robust, globally-focused Christian education centered on the liberal arts is truly good and good for you."