2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue...
God is calling us to walk in life - eternal and abundant, bringing glory to Him. He wants us to demonstrate godliness - internally and externally. He wants to bring forth virtue from us as we seek to exemplify Him in the way we walk and the way we approach life. He wants to bring us into wholeness and to be complete in Him. All in all, Jesus wants to express Himself through us, as His ambassadors; we represent Him, and we have to make sure that we do that well.
In Romans chapter 5, Paul lays out a progression that indicates how life experiences can contribute to the development of our character - in Christ:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
We are aware of political differences on our nation's college campuses, and attempts to create "zones" in which areas of speech deemed unacceptable to the prevailing winds can be expressed. As I reported earlier this week, Colorado has put into place a law that would guarantee free speech to students on public college and university campuses.
But, the trend continues among students who want to shout down or silence a point of view with which they disagree. One of the more recent occurrences transpired at Bethune-Cookman College, which invited Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to speak. Todd Starnes of Fox News reports that graduating seniors "turned their backs to the education secretary and continually interrupted her remarks with a chorus of boos and curses." He writes, "The verbal assault became so severe that the university’s president interrupted DeVos’ speech and warned students that if 'this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you.'" That apparently didn't quell the crowd, but the president didn't follow through on this threat.
According to Starnes, DeVos was gracious afterwards, issuing a statement that said: "One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree,” adding, "I have respect for all those who attended, including those who demonstrated their disagreement with me.”
But, by and large, this year seems to be shaping up to be a kindler, gentler year on the graduation speech circuit. USA Today reports that, "Most college and university graduation speakers contacted by USA TODAY said they would not address the elephant in the stadium. And mention of the president and party politics has been conspicuously absent from the speeches that already have been given."
Former NASA astronaut Kathryn Thornton, who "may speak about space exploration at Sweet Briar College in Virginia," said, "If they invited a politician to speak, they’d get what they expected. Since they didn’t, I’ll take that as a direction;" she said she would avoid politics.
Anthony Esolen, an English literature scholar who will speak at Hillsdale College in Michigan, is quoted as saying, “Anybody whose commencement speech could be put on the editorial page of a newspaper doesn't understand the job,’’adding, “Leave the shifting sand dunes of the day far behind.’’
The founder of the website, GraduationWisdom.com, is quoted. That site actually lists speakers for a number of college. One thing I noticed, of the people there I had actually heard of, most of them are not who I would consider conservative, much less Christian. And, The College Fix reported last year on the Young America's Foundation survey of graduation speakers, finding that liberal speakers outnumbered conservatives by just under 4-to-1. That contrasts, though, with "six-to-one in 2015, five-to-one in 2014, four-to-one in 2013, and seven-to-one in 2012."
So, empirical evidence would suggest that, outside the realm of Christian schools, a dose of godly wisdom might not make its way to graduation ceremonies, at a time at which students really need to be reminded of it. And, at high schools, we have seen the periodic censorship of a student's message because it contained a faith component.
First Liberty Institute released a report last year called Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America. Several graduation prayer cases were mentioned including this one:
We are in a time in which we have to keep our focus on God; and that goes for those who are making that transition - from college to the workforce or whatever the next step will be; from high school to college; from job to job, church to church, community to community. Members of our military are preparing to transition to their next assignment. Words like "calling" or "assignment" can be very important as we consider God's plan for our lives.
And, even though there are attempts to remove God and Biblical principles from our public discourse, we still have to admit that those principles are effective for life. One might speak of "character development," as the speaker at my daughter's college graduation did. Well, when you think of character, you don't generally encourage people to be rude, condescending, lazy, to lie or steal, or want to commit acts that are prison-worthy. No, in an ordered society, character usually involves positive qualities, such as honesty, responsibility, treating others well, working hard - does the Bible perhaps speak to these? Absolutely! When it come right down to it, to exemplify the character of Christ should be the highest goal or priority of our lives.
+++++
In Romans chapter 5, Paul lays out a progression that indicates how life experiences can contribute to the development of our character - in Christ:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
We are aware of political differences on our nation's college campuses, and attempts to create "zones" in which areas of speech deemed unacceptable to the prevailing winds can be expressed. As I reported earlier this week, Colorado has put into place a law that would guarantee free speech to students on public college and university campuses.
But, the trend continues among students who want to shout down or silence a point of view with which they disagree. One of the more recent occurrences transpired at Bethune-Cookman College, which invited Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to speak. Todd Starnes of Fox News reports that graduating seniors "turned their backs to the education secretary and continually interrupted her remarks with a chorus of boos and curses." He writes, "The verbal assault became so severe that the university’s president interrupted DeVos’ speech and warned students that if 'this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you.'" That apparently didn't quell the crowd, but the president didn't follow through on this threat.
According to Starnes, DeVos was gracious afterwards, issuing a statement that said: "One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree,” adding, "I have respect for all those who attended, including those who demonstrated their disagreement with me.”
But, by and large, this year seems to be shaping up to be a kindler, gentler year on the graduation speech circuit. USA Today reports that, "Most college and university graduation speakers contacted by USA TODAY said they would not address the elephant in the stadium. And mention of the president and party politics has been conspicuously absent from the speeches that already have been given."
Former NASA astronaut Kathryn Thornton, who "may speak about space exploration at Sweet Briar College in Virginia," said, "If they invited a politician to speak, they’d get what they expected. Since they didn’t, I’ll take that as a direction;" she said she would avoid politics.
Anthony Esolen, an English literature scholar who will speak at Hillsdale College in Michigan, is quoted as saying, “Anybody whose commencement speech could be put on the editorial page of a newspaper doesn't understand the job,’’adding, “Leave the shifting sand dunes of the day far behind.’’
The founder of the website, GraduationWisdom.com, is quoted. That site actually lists speakers for a number of college. One thing I noticed, of the people there I had actually heard of, most of them are not who I would consider conservative, much less Christian. And, The College Fix reported last year on the Young America's Foundation survey of graduation speakers, finding that liberal speakers outnumbered conservatives by just under 4-to-1. That contrasts, though, with "six-to-one in 2015, five-to-one in 2014, four-to-one in 2013, and seven-to-one in 2012."
So, empirical evidence would suggest that, outside the realm of Christian schools, a dose of godly wisdom might not make its way to graduation ceremonies, at a time at which students really need to be reminded of it. And, at high schools, we have seen the periodic censorship of a student's message because it contained a faith component.
First Liberty Institute released a report last year called Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America. Several graduation prayer cases were mentioned including this one:
Angela Hildenbrand, the valedictorian of her class, wanted to say a prayer during her graduation ceremony from Medina Valley High. A fellow student from an agnostic family filed a suit to prevent Hildenbrand from praying. The federal district court judge issued an order prohibiting Hildenbrand from using words like “Lord,” “in Jesus’ name,” and “amen.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the ruling and allowed the prayer. On June 6, 2011, Hildenbrand gave her speech, which included a prayer.Like never before, students need to hear that God wants to be in their future, even if they may not think they want Him to be. And, that's what we can know and pray for - even though someone may not know what he or she faces in the future, we know Someone Who does. And, we need to know that He walks with us.
We are in a time in which we have to keep our focus on God; and that goes for those who are making that transition - from college to the workforce or whatever the next step will be; from high school to college; from job to job, church to church, community to community. Members of our military are preparing to transition to their next assignment. Words like "calling" or "assignment" can be very important as we consider God's plan for our lives.
And, even though there are attempts to remove God and Biblical principles from our public discourse, we still have to admit that those principles are effective for life. One might speak of "character development," as the speaker at my daughter's college graduation did. Well, when you think of character, you don't generally encourage people to be rude, condescending, lazy, to lie or steal, or want to commit acts that are prison-worthy. No, in an ordered society, character usually involves positive qualities, such as honesty, responsibility, treating others well, working hard - does the Bible perhaps speak to these? Absolutely! When it come right down to it, to exemplify the character of Christ should be the highest goal or priority of our lives.
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