So, I don't know whether or not the rest of you are receiving alumni emails from Wheaton (I assume that most of you probably are), but I thought I'd share this letter from Dr. Litfin just in case. I find the format interesting, though I'm trying to interpret exactly what some of the phrases mean and-- more importantly-- why THIS PARTICULAR event warrants an email to all the alumni of the college (and why the administration feels that they need prayers more at this moment than at others). I will be praying for Wheaton during this visit, but not the exact prayers that seem to be solicited by this email. I'm praying that the interaction will be free from condemnation, moral assuredness or closed-mindedness. I'm praying that there will be fear and trembling in the interaction and a genuine trepidation when speaking to people about something as central to character and identity as their sexuality. I'm praying that the encounters facilitated by this event will provide students with an opportunity to think-- not merely receive answers or reify prejudices-- and that, whatever tentative conclusions they come to, they will have thought carefully, seriously and openly (a prerequisite condition for the other two) about sexuality and about what their roles as Christians should be in a culture that often persecutes homosexuals.
I know that we do not all agree on all aspects of Christianity's prescriptions regarding sexuality, identity, community and other issues raised by this letter, but I do think that each of us here could gladly offer similar prayers for our alma mater (which, interestingly, means our "soul mother") at this time. I hope that we can all pray for a soul-birthing for Wheaton's students through this experience.
Dear [Coye],
I write to ask you for your prayers.
On Thursday and Friday of this week we will be visited by a group of homosexual activists traveling on a bus tour across the United States to various Christian college campuses. Their agenda is to draw negative media attention to institutions who maintain an historic biblical stand on the issue of homosexuality. This, of course, Wheaton does. (See Wheaton's Community Covenant) Hence our place on their list of targeted institutions.
We did not invite these visitors to our campus. But since they are intent on coming anyway, we decided to make a virtue out of a necessity by turning their coming into a teaching opportunity for our students. Given the ongoing changes in our culture, today’s students are potentially facing a lifetime of confrontations over the issue of homosexuality. What should be their Christian response? We have endeavored to prepare our students to respond to these visitors with the biblical balance captured in the injunction to “speak the truth in love.”
Wheaton’s provost, Dr. Stan Jones, a psychologist who has done extensive work in the area of human sexuality, has prepared a biblical rebuttal to the false teaching of this group. (See “CACE Resources on Homosexuality”) These and other written materials, along with various scheduled meetings and chapels, have been devoted to helping our students understand the many issues and shape a balanced Christian response. This process has been highly educational for all involved.
After this event is over, we will let you know how it went. In the meantime, please pray for us, asking that God will be glorified, His truth will be upheld with grace and humility, and our Christian witness to a watching world will be an effective one.
Thank you.
Duane LitfinPresidentWheaton College
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Actually, I didn't get that email. Of course it depends on execution, but I think that it's good that the college is intending to stir thought on a sensitive cultural issue in our society. While you might not agree with the views of the administration, you must admit Coye that Wheaton did encourage us to wrestle with issues and often provided encounters with thoughtful viewpoints that you weren't going to get from a secular media or most evangelical churches, where intellectualism often does not run deep.
We rarely had conversations about homosexuality at Wheaton. When you look at our own conversations on homosexuality, they've almost all been post-Wheaton.
As for why the administration is sending out a letter to ask for prayer, I must jadedly admit that the letter is probably largely issued now for the sake of image, and the desire for prayer is a true motive, but a secondary one. Ironic, considering Christ did things left and right that his society might consider damaging to his image, and he would rebuke people when they volunteered free image consultation. He was focused on obeying the will of the Father. Yet, Wheaton has a hard time doing that because of fear of alumni judgement. How hard it is to live by faith and not be absorbed in image maintenance. I must confess that I often do no better than our alma mater.
There's something in his wording that I don't like like. It's almost as if he's encouraging people to come into it with closed minds.
At least Wheaton isn't going to have anybody who crosses a police-line arrested on the spot. That was a little much.
You know, it's very interesting to me, now that I've almost been around the Calvin college culture more than I have the Wheaton college culture, how different two protestant colleges can be. It really is striking, seeing Calvin students wandering around having a smoke with their profs, attending school-OKed GLBT film festivals, and other kinds of behaviour that would seem "wrong" or at least out of place at Wheaton.
That was an aside, I guess.
Here is the Chicago Sun-Times story about the event:
Sun-Times
and the Tribune:
Tribune
The first paragraph of the Tribune article gives some information that was significantly omitted from Litfin's letter:
"A cross-country bus tour of young Christians fighting discrimination against homosexuals at Christian colleges came to Wheaton College this week, prompting robust discussions on the evangelical campus."
I will post the follow-up letter from Wheaton if and when they send it.
And the follow up from Litfin:
Dear [Coye],
I promised you a report on the recent visit to our campus of a group of gay activists. We can provide you more details later if you like, but for now let us settle for this early summary.
The occasion proved on one level to be rather uneventful. There were no unfortunate incidents, no other activists made an appearance, and the media gave the event only scant attention. All parties on both sides handled themselves not only civilly but graciously. The many issues were fully and freely aired with honesty and candor all around.
At a deeper level, however, I think this event has proved to be a significant one for Wheaton College. I cannot speak for our visitors, but for our part I think this episode turned out to be the very learning opportunity for which we had hoped.
Our task as Christians is to speak the truth in love, and it appears to me that we made progress during these two days on both sides of this tension. On the "truth" side, the impasse between the two positions was laid bare. And Wheaton upheld its commitment to the historic truth of the Bible, not to mention the monolithic testimony of two thousand years of church history, without waffling. Here we stood, for we could do no other.
Yet we also gained something on the "love" side of this tension. These visitors condemn us for maintaining an historic Christian stance on homosexuality. So what does this require of us in return? It cannot mean abandoning the truth. But it has served as a reminder to us all of our Lord's instruction to "bless those who curse you," and to "revile not in return."
"If you love only those who love you," Jesus asked, "what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:46-48).
These visitors were real people, with real stories, real struggles, and real needs. They are individuals our heavenly Father loves and for whom he gave his Son. According to Jesus, we are to emulate the Father's love. If we cannot do that, I found myself thinking during these last few days, then no matter how clearly we maintain the truth, we are just "a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal ... we are nothing ... it profits us nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
I want to thank all who expressed your willingness to pray for us. The Lord has used these events to remind us of what it means to uphold his truth in the face of some strong challenges, but to do it in love. Which means the Lord appears to have answered your prayers.
Duane Litfin
President
Wheaton College
I don't claim to have the authority to decide who is a Christian and who isn't, but I'm skeptical of any effort to give this protest extra merit as a group of Christian gay activists as the Trib did. I've heard reports to the contrary as to how the group largely identifies itself. Plus, I find it hard to use the argument that claims of Christianity in protest, automatically make you valid. Claims like that have always bugged me about groups such as the Christian coalition even though I do agree with them on some things. It's how your points line up with Scripture and the Church's interpretation (not closing the door on tradition here, that would be a separate debate) that enable a claim to stand on Truth.
I've wrestled with whether or not to speak up here, because I know there is a person or persons capable of tearing my head off in debate, especially since others have more passion and time to devote to the matter than me, meaning they've probably thought about it more, too. I suspect that's part of the reason that posts like these don't generate more response even though they are interesting. Nobody wants to put their head in the hole over the basket, when they fear someone might be passionate enough to drop the blade. I admit that these issues deserve discussion, but frankly I don't feel safe enough to do it here on a grander scale than what I did at the beginning of this comment.
I have two cents to input here... I just talked to a couple students on campus this weekend (I was in town visiting Rachel) who were present for the discussions that were brought up this past week. First, for some background, the founder of the group who came to Wheaton, Soul Force, was the ghostwriter who had done significant writing work for Christian behemoths such as James Dobson and Billy Graham. After working for many successful years in this field, he decided to embrace his homosexual desires. I say that to share that while this group can't just claim that they're Christians and so expect legitimacy, they shouldn't be disregarded, either. This groups was NOT kin to the group of northwestern cultists that came while we were at Wheaton decrying the evils of a "worldly" education.
The couple students I talked to said that the entire event was just as they prayed it would be - everyone was there with a listening ear, a mostly open mind, and a desire to show love to this group that had come to campus. Stan Jones had a huge influence on the preparation of the campus for this, with the focus on being able to have open discussions and embrace these people as brothers and sisters. The students said mostly the Soul Force people wanted to talk and share their experiences, stories, and reasoning, then they would ask for questions. The girl I talked to said they were totally surprised and pleased by the warm and open reception at Wheaton. I think that speaks volumes of the maturity of the administration in this issue.
But... that's not to say the administration isn't being short-sighted in other issues. I thought the article in First Things was spot on. Glad it was written and thought through by someone who is there and in a position to speak wisdom and truth to the leadership.
Adam, thanks for your two cents. I did not know what you wrote.
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