Christ@Center@Huntington

“FOR ME [US] TO LIVE IS CHRIST”  (Philippians 1:21)

To me, Christ-centered refers not only to the core of the institution but also to the atmosphere in which all participants live.  “In Christ” is their residence.  Wherever they are found, the core of their being is “in Christ” and the atmosphere of their doing is “in Christ” (In Christ we live and move and have our being, Acts 17:28a).

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Christ declares in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth” and in John 18:37 “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me”. With these statements, He is rightly exalting Himself as the fountainhead of truth. He is not just a source of truth or part of the truth, but the truth. As He is the truth, we should seek to examine, know and understand all the truth He is.

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In Community of the King, Howard Snyder writes, “The church is the only divinely appointed means for spreading the gospel.” Christ created the church, and its mission is to go into the world and make disciples. Snyder contends that anything that isn’t the church, per se, is parachurch, a ministry working alongside the church to support its ministry of fulfilling the Great Commission.

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As a professor in the Education Department, I understand the significance of the word “centered.” It is a common component of educational hyphenates. As an example, “learner-centered” education focuses on what the child needs to be successful in the learning experience. Similar concepts such as “child-centered” and “student-centered” have been around for more than a century, purporting the value of enticing learners to embrace and discover knowledge. This is not to be confused with “learning-centered” education, a position that is tenaciously focused on the outcome of instruction. “What did the child learn?” and “what should the child learn?” are the questions that are asked when the product becomes more important than the process. Each of these “centered” stances explains a component or perspective of the educational process at the exclusion of other points of view. No one has identified a “center” of education on which experts, practitioners and legislators can all agree. So policies and practices swing back and forth in an attempt to define the mission and find direction.

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For me, Huntington being a Christ centered campus has meant a number of different things.   As a junior and senior in high school trying to choose a college, I knew I wanted to only look at Christian colleges.  That of course narrowed down my search immediately.  To my surprise though, many colleges labeled “Christian” or affiliated with a denomination did not live up to what I had hoped to find at a Christian university.  I soon learned there is a noticeable difference between an affiliated university and one that truly seeks to be Christ-centered.  I was looking for a place in which it was made evident and intentional that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the institution.  I was hoping to find a place where my academics and athletics were not compartmentalized away from my faith.

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For me, to be Christ-centered means that everything you do, say, and are about is focused on Jesus’ life and His Word. One without the others is not genuine. To be Christ- centered you must be solid in your beliefs, grounded in the truth of the Bible. It must permeate the person, and in this case, it must be the bedrock of the institution. Huntington University (sorry, I’m old school, it will always be College to me) has made a stand as this kind of Christ-centered campus, where the lives of it’s students can’t help but be impacted by the amazing calling that is to follow Jesus.

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As an alum, a trustee for the past decade, and now denominational staff person, I have spent considerable time and energy reflecting on what it means to be a “Christ-centered” institution at Huntington University.  The connectional nature of the relationship between the University and the denomination yokes us with a common concern:  maintaining the primacy of being centered in Christ while having the academic freedom to explore the depths of the intrinsic revelations of Himself God has placed in every facet of creation and culture.  The pursuits must never be seen as mutually exclusive or in competition.  They are complementary in nature, the ends of one fulfilling the ends of the other.

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Forty years ago this coming May I received my Bachelor of Arts degree from Huntington College.  Although I had a great experience at Huntington, I couldn’t fully appreciate how deeply influenced I was by my education at this Christ-centered institution.  40 years later I am still being impacted.  So…what does it mean to me that Huntington is a Christ- centered university? 

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