Mar 11 2008
Rebecca Coffman
What does it mean that Huntington is a Christ-centered University? To me, it means that Huntington University is an institution that strives for integrity – a state of entireness, of wholeness in the education it offers its students. I believe for Christians this state of wholeness “can only be reached when every aspect of our human existence is submitted to the lordship of Christ.”[i] “Our Christian obedience extends beyond our personal spirituality and into the nitty-gritty of every choice we make each day of the week.”[ii]
I am concerned that at times in the academic world we tend to overanalyze and assess rather than practice our faith. One of the reasons I have chosen to teach at Huntington is because of its mission in the wholeness of the education of its students.
With that said, I find that I struggle with the many ways in which we tend to want to define or at times categorize ourselves. I am not sure what is the difference in being a Christian and being Christ-centered. I also struggle with using the term integration when discussing our faith and the various disciplines of study at Huntington. I understand the intention, but I feel these terms contradict my beliefs. One of the challenges I have found in teaching in a Christian environment has been dealing with the dualistic view of the world as either sacred or secular.
I find it is a continuous challenge to find my way in contemporary culture as an artist, who is a Christian. In the Christian community I find I need to provide validity to art as a Christian activity. In the secular realm I find that I need to provide validity to my work as an artist. This dualism of the sacred and the secular can be very safe and uncomplicated, however this tendency to compartmentalize aspects of our culture is not a realistic view of the world that God created. I do not believe that Christ promised us an easy path.
Someone has said that our lives are a gift from God. What we do with them is our gift in return. My goal as an artist and teacher is to exhibit Christ-like qualities of love, patience, and kindness as I guide students in developing their artistic abilities and as we all explore our creative endeavors.
Faith in Christ is my inspiration as an artist. He gives me courage to create, leading to my deepest expression. Christian tenets form the foundation for my journey of self-expression. My goal is to help students realize the lasting value of visual art; that it goes beyond mere decorative representation and that it can enlighten us emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. Art provides a visualization of man’s spiritual expression.
I believe as students grow in their faith in Christ, He will lead them in their journey, guiding, challenging and giving them courage to express themselves.
“Jesus does not tell his followers to do salt and light, simply to be them in the right place. If genuine believers, committed to integrity, are living their faith ‘out there’ in contemporary culture, they will by definition be salt and light. Their life-enhancing properties will flow inevitably ‘to the art, through the art, and from the art’. That means that, as they go into the world of the arts, they will quite naturally share their Christian story with those they meet and apply the radical standards of Jesus to the situations they encounter. Their faith will be so much a part of them that it cannot but come out through the medium of their art, whether or not overtly stated. And should their art make them famous or respected, the wider world too will be curious about the ‘different drummer’ that orders their steps, and they will have earned the right to tell them.”[iii]
[i] Brand, Hilary and Chaplin, Adrienne, “Art and Soul – Signposts for Christians in the Arts”, IVP Academic, 2001, p. 71
[ii] Ibid, p.71
[iii] Ibid, p.78
