Just What Were You Thinking?

By D. Clay Perkins
President, Mid-Atlantic Christian University,
Elizabeth City, North Carolina

After a board meeting for one of our excellent parachurch ministries, two friends, both of whom are very sound and successful in businesses, asked me what they thought was an awkward question. Both knew I had owned and managed two successful businesses and directed the business of a megachurch. “Just what were you thinking? Why did you become a Bible college president?”

They went on to say things like: “Talk about a lousy business plan . . . the government subsidizes higher education student tuition with a plethora of complex regulations; community college is heavily subsidized””so it is nearly impossible to compete during the first two years. Students pay a fraction of the cost of their education, and still they think they are being overcharged. And our colleges depend on donors for half or more of the actual operation costs. At any given moment many of your stakeholders think you are too liberal, while at the same moment, many of your stakeholders think you are too conservative.

“So, Clay, you appear to be a bright guy with a sound business mind. Just what were you thinking?”

Well, here is what I was thinking.

 

I was thinking . . . I love ministry.

Whether ministry is in the church or the marketplace, serving others is God”s calling. It is such a joy to nudge people of all ages to consider ministry and then educate them for ministry. The Bible is clear: we are all ministers. Every Christian, whether working in the marketplace or in the church, is a minister for our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I am very passionate about ministry. While being interviewed to serve at Mid-Atlantic Christian University, I clearly remember telling the search team that I love ministry, and I especially love those who earn their living from preaching and teaching God”s Word. But ministry is for all believers. Our colleges must return to this biblical position of educating ministers and allowing our students to determine where they will serve, either in the local church or in the marketplace. The mandate for our colleges today must be Christian education for every member of the local church.

 

I was thinking . . . I love preaching.

If we are not educating the next generation of preachers, we are in serious trouble. Our colleges are committed to partnering with churches to fan the flame of educating more and more preachers. Send us men, and we will send you preachers.

Recently in North Carolina, Plymouth Church of Christ held a “Timothy” revival. We noticed all but one of the featured preachers was educated at Mid-Atlantic. After one of our chapel services in which one of our general ministry students preached, Aaron Stokes (a student) said to me, “If anyone tells you we are not educating preachers, tell him to come to our chapel services” and they will hear our students preach.

I freely admit our colleges are not educating enough preachers, nor are they doing it fast enough. But, having served most of my ministry in the local church, and now serving at one of our colleges, I can affirm our schools are very passionate about educating preachers. Remember our relationship is symbiotic in nature; we can educate only those you send.

 

I was thinking . . . I love biblical higher education.

All disciplines of study in higher education are best taught from a Christian worldview. A college degree from a Christian worldview is distinctive, by default. The difference between a Christian university and other institutions of higher education is this: a Christian college weaves a Christian worldview into the entire fabric of the institution.1

 

I discovered . . . great ministries are birthed at our schools. 

Dr. Ajai Lall, one of Mid-Atlantic Christian University”s graduates, reminds me that Central India Christian Mission was birthed at MACU. My mentor, Dr. Dennis Pruett, started two medical missions, FAME and HASTEN International, after his studies at Kentucky Christian University.

Serving as a leader in one of our colleges puts me in an amazing position to see what God is doing in the hearts and minds of our students and alumni. I am amazed daily by what I see, so I asked my peers a simple question, “What ministries have your alumni founded?” I discovered that our schools are incredible incubators for a wide variety of organizations serving the church and marketplace.

(See chart, right. Dr. Perkins also is making available a MORE EXHAUSTIVE CHART.)

 

I am thinking . . . that Christian higher education is worth your prayers and support today. 

I tremble to think what our brotherhood would be like without our schools. It is impossible to measure the ripple effect of ministry from the alumni of our schools. Please join the churches and individuals who partner with our colleges and universities. Our schools educate ministers; many will serve in the church, and many will serve in the marketplace. Alumni from our schools are ministers influencing the culture for Christ. We are dependent upon your support and prayer: we are empowered by your prayers and enabled by your giving. Our schools cannot exist without you.

That is what I am thinking. Just what are you thinking?

________

1Rick Ostrander, Why College Matters to God: Faithful Learning and Christian Higher Education (Abilene: ACU Press, 2009).

D. Clay Perkins serves as president of Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.