How Would Christ Run Lee?
Lee University is a campus where “Christ is King.” Dr. Conn made that clear in chapel, but what would Lee look like if Christ were President? Lee University students often complain of Lee being too strict or having ridiculous rules,[1] but at least Christ himself is not the one setting the rules here. After all, Paul Conn is just a servant of the King, and servants are usually the ones that let little nuisances or small broken rules slide, but once their bosses come in, the ship gets a lot tighter. So Lee students, next time you want to complain about how Lee is too strict or too ridiculous, remember that if the Son of Joseph were at the desk in the administration building, Lee University would be a lot holier. Not only would Jesus demonstrate how Lee University is justified in instigating morality rules, but He would also take it a step further for the benefit of all.
The King James Bible tells us to “Abstain from allappearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22).[2] This is incredibly important for Lee University to do, and something Jesus would take to the next level. Note that the KJV (the only version) of the Bible tells us to abstain from just the appearance of evil. This notion gives the administration a lot of power that they have not fully exploited. Things do not actually have to be bad for the President to have the ability to outlaw them; they just have to look bad.
Take, for instance, alcohol and bars. If someone drinks any alcohol, they look like they are getting drunk (technically, they are, they just might quit before they end up nude in the streets). Now, the Bible does not prohibit drinking, but notes that over-drinking is wrong, so any alcohol looks like sin. Therefore, it should be outlawed. Bars are the same thing. Now, someone may just go into a bar because they like darts or mixed nuts, but it looks like they are there to get a drunken one-night stand, so Lee University should treat it as such.
This idea can be taken to other areas as well. Sports will be the first to go when Jesus runs Lee University. Sure, the students may just enjoy watching people get their heads butted in, but going to any sports game looks like worship to something other than Jesus, something hot and sweaty and not altogether wholesome, and because it looks like sin, we need to outlaw it like it is sin. Movies would be right out, partly because Facing the Giants forgot to have an altar call at the end, and partly because sometimes people get naked in movies. That is sin, and because sometimes watching movies is sinful, watching any movies could be seen as sinful. So that would be outlawed.
Pictured: Sex (basically)
This can even go further. Already, the administration has picked up on this and forbade students going into rooms with members of the opposite sex simply because it looks bad (and therefore is bad), but what about kissing? Kissing looks like sex, so therefore it should be outlawed. Talking closely with a member of the opposite sex looks like kissing, so therefore that should be outlawed, but being near a member of the opposite sex looks like talking closely, so that should be outlawed, too. If Jesus were President, He would set some hard boundaries, and make sure that every couple had room for Him.
Think back to the Gospels. What would happen if sinners were allowed to enter Jesus’ presence? What would happen if Jesus sat down with money launderers and prostitutes? People would go crazy! They might call Jesus out on that, pointing out how He sometimes associates with sinners. His ministry would suffer, because people would think that Jesus was sinful by association, and if Jesus looks sinful then He would be sinful. That is why Jesus chose the saints to be His disciples. He needed to hang out with the moral elite. What happened when the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus? Did He just let the woman hang out with Him? Did He just forgive her sins like they were nothing? No![3] He told her to “Go” (John 8:3-11). That was a Biblical suspension, one that Lee has followed faithfully, but Jesus would up the ante even more.
Lee University does not need sinners in it, and it definitely does not need non-Christians thinking that sin exists in it. The point of ministry is to show how sinless and beautiful Christians are now that they have Jesus. Sure, they can have violent and sexual testimonies of what they were like before Jesus entered their lives (in these cases, the more sin forgiven the better), but once they have Jesus they are as neat and holy as newborn babes. If they sin again, then they have to come back to Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and then find a new school.
The point of the matter is that Jesus would tighten up the rules because that is how He does business. With all those secular schools allowing sins like drinking and intersexual relations, Christian schools need to show how the Christian religion is one of rules and morality. I mean, it is not like Jesus specifically set out to provide an environment of grace and forgiveness. Jesus probably never said that His disciples should turn the other cheek when wronged (Luke 6:29) or that they should just keep forgiving someone no matter how many times they have been wronged (Matthew 18:21-22).[4] I mean, if Jesus had told His disciples to just forgive people simply because He forgave us and there is no way that anyone can sin to us as much as we sinned to Him (Matthew 18:23-35), then that would undermine the entire concept of kicking people out of Lee for failing to achieve the moral standards set by the administration. That idea would make Lee University’s focus on having rules just because they look holy seem like it was missing the point, and furthermore any zero-tolerance policies would seem completely out of place. If that were the case, the handbook would seem pretty ridiculous, wouldn’t it?
[1] Crazy, I know
[2] Now, Paul technically wrote that verse, but if you know anything about Biblical texts then you know it was really Jesus who wrote the whole Bible.
[3] Maybe.
[4] Jesus had a limit, even if it was 490.
Tags: Christ, Lee, president, University
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December 17, 2010 at 12:30 am
hmmmm, stepping on toes, huh? I like it, although I dont agree with everything you say.
December 17, 2010 at 1:06 am
Well… it is supposed to be sarcastic.
December 21, 2010 at 12:57 am
You freaked me out at first, and then I noticed the sarcasm. Such a dangerous thing in text.
“I mean, if Jesus had told His disciples to just forgive people simply because He forgave us and there is no way that anyone can sin to us as much as we sinned to Him (Matthew 18:23-35), then that would undermine the entire concept of kicking people out of Lee for failing to achieve the moral standards set by the administration. That idea would make Lee University’s focus on having rules just because they look holy seem like it was missing the point, and furthermore any zero-tolerance policies would seem completely out of place. If that were the case, the handbook would seem pretty ridiculous, wouldn’t it?”
A similar situation happened at Samford. I feel your pain. Christian schools need a bit of grace infused in the way they do things, for sure.