Early Public University Profs Prayed

This is from the October 23-24, 2010, Wall Street Journal:

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which formally opened in January 1795 with a single professor, Rev. David Ker, was the country's first public university to admit students. One of the duties of the school's early professors was to perform morning and evening prayers and examine students on the 'principles of morality and religion.' By the end of June, 41 students had enrolled."

Now that's Higher education!

Regrettably, our public universities no longer petition God's assistance or rely on His wisdom in setting parameters for moral behavior, which leaves public universities sorely man-centered, falsely liberated and secularly narrow-minded. They've exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25).

"Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith." 1 Timothy 6:20-21

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:1-6

Consistent With God

One of the things that is making life easier is my recent decision to assign God to be the only one I answer to, as opposed to myself or the person I’m talking to. With tendencies toward amiableness (which I like to call being a chameleon), I can easily agree with the reasoning or opinions of those around me. So if I’m with A, their way of seeing things might make sense, and then if I’m with B, their reasoning might make sense. Now, this might not seem like such a bad thing. Oftentimes, the world likes to call this being “open minded” or a “peacemaker.” But there’s a saying that says if we’re too open minded, our brains will fall out. And that’s how it feels sometimes when I try to accommodate everybody’s thoughts and opinions, including my own. Trying to placate everyone is not a peaceful feeling, and, I’ve found, it creates anything but peace in relationships.

The Bible addresses this very issue when it says to not be double-minded (James 1:7). The way not to be double-minded is to look to God first for His take on every opinion, worldview, situation and decision. That means we replace wanting to please or appease others with obedience to God.

In my marriage, as I’ve been answering to God first, my husband and I have been growing spiritually because there is much more accountability to living Biblically, as opposed to selfishly. With my kids, I am allowing God to guide or admonish, as the case may be, and find that I am relating to them on a much steadier and confident level. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

With friends and extended family, I am practicing speaking honestly (as God directs) and am no longer hiding the fact that I’m a Christian. The result is that the resentment I used to feel after family visits disappears because I’m no longer beating myself up for once again denying my Lord.

When it’s God’s perspective, arrived at by being quick to listen but slower to answer so that we can give things over to God in prayer (even just a quick “God, speak your words right now”), through reading the Bible, and taking time to discern what He would have us say or do, everybody wins. Even if our answer or decision isn’t what the other person wants to hear, when we back it up with how we arrived there through God, it’s pretty hard to argue with. Then we must all trust that God will bless the decisions and situations in His way and timing.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:5-8