Reflections on Biola
I’ve been writing this post in my head for a while, but before I get there I realized that I never finished the story of my engagement…and I won’t. You’ll have to read it on our Engagement Blog when it’s posted (in a little bit).
Now, back to the post.
Mix: Biola might be the strangest place in the world. Their theology is definately right of center, as I think it should be, but a bit Baptist in it’s bent. Yet there is a strong undercurrent of leftward movement. It’s the whole conflict between the liberal arts program and the biblical studies program. Believers of such differing worldviews are thrown into the mix and the strangest brew you can imagine is the result. I have friends who are virtually indistinguishable from students who would attend a Cal State or UC. I also have friends who, when I speak with them, remind me that there is a level of faith that is attainable that I have yet to reach.
On such a campus, student films like Kyle Ferris and Matt Kitchen’s “The Boss” can be both lauded and soundly condemned by members of the same student body. People here are as different as night and day. Which provides us with a bizarelly typical profile of the modern evangelical movement. You have everything from billiard-condemning Pentacostal’s to super left-leaning, non-denominational’s. Ethnically, the student body is primarily caucasian. Socially, primarily upper-middle class. Cliques naturally evolve. Prejudices solidify. It’s unfortunate. There needs to be dialogue about this.
School Discipline: A long time ago I wrote a post on here about the troubling methods of leadership on Biola’s campus. The crux of which lies in the student contract of conduct. As long as you are at Biola, you are pretty much required to follow the Baptist churches guidelines for behavior - no drinking, smoking, sex or dancing. The problem with this is, you have a school who has given themselves the job of enforcing this. Therefore, those who do not hold to the Baptists’ view of these issues are obliged to obey them irrespectively, lest they be subject to disciplinary action by the school - ie expulsion. No matter what you believe about the above four items, I think the issue with this is fairly apparent.
Professors: This one is hard to pin down. As a business major, one of my major gripes was professors. Biola has a habit of hiring ex-businessmen who worked for Christian organizations. Hiring them and keeping them…a long, long time it seems. There were business professors I loved - Bourgeois, Harman, Tribble, Woodward. If there’s someone reading this from Biola who has influence, spend every dime you have to keep prof’s like these at your school, or you’re toast. There were very few mediocre professors. They were either fantastic and inspiring with lots to say and teach, or they were a waste of time and money when I could have just read the textbook myself. Reward the Bourgeois’s, reward the Harman’s and Woodward’s. They think outside the box. They keep you alive. As to my Bible professors - well done. One thing to be said for Biola, you have cultivated a community of theologians, philosophers, spiritual leaders - each of them different with valuable insight, experience and information. There was not a single Bible class I took that was not a pleasure. Highlights: Anything with Dr. Berging, Foundations of Christian Thought with Horner awoke my mind to the truth of God, Romans with Dr. Lee did more for my understanding of Paul, grace, and freedom than any sermon I’ve heard or book I’ve read. This is a strong area, Biola. I applaud you.
Application: I have no doubt that my Biola experience saved my soul. It wasn’t the school itself - it was the experience that made me value it enough to let God still have my life. I firmly believe that if I had gone off to a Cal State in the condition I was in at the age of 18, I would be a cynical, athiest, lefty at this point - because that’s so much more popular now-a-days. Biola showed my how to think, how to believe, how to answer the tough questions, how to ask when I don’t know, how to admit I don’t know, how to have cross-cultural friendships, how to live with an insane person for 2 years in a 12×14 dorm room, how to eat a sandwhich everyday for 3 years, how to have a girlfriend that couldn’t be in the same room alone with me, how to respect sage professors, how to argue, how to respect the arts, how to critically examine data, how to be a better businessman, how to be a better believer. The list goes on and on.
Conclusion: For all it’s faults - Biola is, and by the grace of God, will always be A Global Center for Christian Thought and Spiritual Renewal. An institution that claims, “The mission of Biola University is biblically-centered education, scholarship, and service—equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.”
