Dear Professor Theophilus:

I'm a grad student in history at Big Ten Football State University, finishing up my dissertation and hoping to become a college professor next year. A large part of my desire to be a Christian professor is the desire to help my students -- to help them find their way through perplexities. I know I'm not as wise as Theophilus and some other Christian professors I know, but I yearn to be.

What I want to know is, how do you do it? I've mentioned my availability to talk about history and other things during the first day of classes, and I have six hours of clearly-posted office hours a week, but none of my students seem interested -- except to cram on the day before an exam. In fact, most of my end-of-quarter reviews said I was "too arrogant." I think part of this may stem from the fact that I am young (mid-twenties) and afraid of getting too "buddy-buddy" with the students for fear of losing their respect, but the students still seem to have fun in class. Is it possible that my concerns about respect are inhibiting them from coming in? Do I just need to be more patient and wait a while? What are the qualities of a good Christian teacher and mentor?

Reply

I'll start at the end. What are the qualities of a good Christian teacher and mentor? Part of the answer to that fascinating question is obvious, and you probably already know it. Another part may or may not be obvious. Still another part is difficult, and I'm not sure I know it myself. But I'll tell you what I can.

First, though, remember that the conversations of Theophilus with his students are idealized. My responses aren't as perfect as his; my students don't really pop in that often; and when they do, their questions are more diffuse. There do come golden mentoring moments, but for Theophilus the moments all seem to be golden. No matter how good you are, it won't be quite like that. It isn't for me either.

But I was saying that the answer to your question had three parts. Here is the obvious part. You aren't a Christian wearing historian's clothing, or a historian wearing Christian's clothing -- you are a Christian historian. This implies that you must master the discipline of history, striving for broad and deep knowledge of your subject rather than mere expertise in a microscopic niche. It also implies that you must pray for, and strive to practice, the moral and the spiritual virtues. That includes loving your students -- by which I mean having a deep commitment of the will to their true good, and a desire to serve them.

Now for the part of the answer that may or may not be obvious. You must desire to serve your students for their sake -- rather than because of your own need to be sought as a wise mentor. You must trust God to bring them to you -- if that is His plan -- rather than trying to get them to want to come. You must learn how to find points of contact with them, as Paul did when he spoke with the pagans of his own day. You must accept the discipline of Christian faith and tradition, rather than being a theological cowboy. You must remember that if you are obedient, God uses you whether you can see how He is using you or not. You must always be hopeful, never in despair.

Finally, here is the part of the answer I know little about. Good teachers and mentors are not all cut from the same mold; God makes use of people of more than one temperament. It's also difficult to know what to make of student judgments on our teaching. Consider the judgment on your teaching that you mentioned -- the judgment that you're arrogant. You might come across this way because of something you are doing wrong, like being impatient with dumb questions. On the other hand you might come across this way because of something you are doing right, like having high standards. What makes discernment especially difficult is that you might come across this way because of something you are learning to do right but haven't quite mastered, like finding the mean between the error of being "buddies" and the error of being stand-offish.

I'm sorry I can't explain all this better. Of course there are parts of teaching I still do badly. Even with the parts I do well that I used to do badly, though, I am not always able to explain what changed. We don't always know what it is that we know; much of what we know is tacit -- embedded in developed habits. This applies to most things, and teaching is one of them. I do know that you must remember your utter dependence on God. To be of service to Him, the important thing is to be obedient to the duties that you actually know. Don't worry too much about the duties you can't yet discern. You don't have to know how He is using you right now; you don't have to know how He plans to use you in the future. He is quite able to use you even if you are in the dark about all that. If you pray that He will show you the next step, He probably will, but He likes to be asked. If He doesn't show you, trust that He has His reasons -- and go on obeying Him.

Let me close with a story. A few years after my return to Christian faith, it was beginning to dawn on me that I should bear witness in every part of my life, my teaching and scholarship included. Yet it seemed obvious that I couldn't distort my vocation by using my classroom as a pulpit. Feeling a bit frustrated and befuddled one day, I prayed something like this. "God, I don't know how to speak about You without strong-arming my students. If you want me to talk with someone about Yourself, you will have to make the arrangements. You will have to bring him to me. You will have to cause him to open the subject." That week –- needless to say this had never happened before -- three different students visited at separate times during office hours to ask nervously, "Could we talk about God?"

Will that happen to you? You can't know. Frankly, it doesn't usually happen to me. But in His own good time, God will lead you into the way of serving Him that He has in mind for you.

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS

DIRTY HANDS

Dear Professor Theophilus:

I need your advice. I'm a Christian who is considering taking a job as a planner and administrator at a small liberal arts college. The school isn't Christian. My motivation for applying for the job is twofold: (1) To bear Christian witness: The job would be a great opportunity to witness to fellow employees and students. If, instead, I were to seek employment at a Christian college, which I have thought of doing, there would seem to be little need for witnessing. (2) To advance in my field: The job would provide an opportunity for professional growth and a nice compensation package.

However, I find myself struggling with the notion that if I do accept the job, the very purpose of my work as a planner in the college administration would be to further an organization with which I disagree on many issues. I ask myself, "Would I be honoring God by using my professional skills and talents for the benefit of an organization that advances un-Biblical teachings, supports same-sex couples by providing them with health benefits and whose Health Services Center offers the 'morning-after pill' to female students"? Could this really be what God wants me to do with my life? What should win here, (a) my desire to serve God in a secular institution by being a Christian witness to unbelievers or (b) my desire to avoid dedicating my career to an un-Godly organization?

Reply

My first suggestion would be to reconsider your assumptions. There may be a lot of opportunities to witness at a Christian college! Not every one who attends a Christian college is Christian; many nonbelieving students choose Christian colleges just for the education, or because they are looking for a small community. Some Christian colleges have also drifted from their mission, and need to get back on course. Perhaps you could help that happen.

My second suggestion would be to make some distinctions. You're right to avoid what theologians call "formal cooperation" with evil. Formal cooperation takes place when you share in the sinful purpose of the wrongdoer, and it is always immoral. You would be guilty of formal cooperation if the college development chief proposed to raise money for the college by robbing banks, and you agreed to drive the getaway car -- or if the Atheist Studies Center needed a director of outreach, and you took the job.

But consider a different example. Someone offers you a position as a library administrator. Are you formally cooperating with evil merely because atheist and Christian books are mixed on the library shelves? It's true that your actions help allow the atheist books to circulate, but that’s not at all your aim. This is called "remote material cooperation" with evil -- "material" because you aren't sharing in a sinful purpose, "remote" because any connection with evil is indirect.

Remote material cooperation is not necessarily immoral, though it can be. After all, even buying a quart of milk might be considered remote material cooperation with evil, because for all you know, the checkout clerk might be planning to use her salary to get drunk. Does that mean you have to swear off grocery stores? Of course not.

Here's how to judge wisely. Remote material cooperation can sometimes be justified -- but only if there is a strong offsetting reason for it (theologians usually call this a "proportionate" reason), and only if your action does not cause others to fall into sin by your example (theologians usually call this "scandal"). You can see that both conditions are satisfied in the grocery store example. Both are satisfied in the library example too. In the first place, there are at least four strong offsetting reasons to work there: Reading and reflection in general should be encouraged, you want people to read the library’s Christian books, people who develop arguments against atheism need to study the opposition and the banning of atheist books wouldn't encourage atheists to believe in God anyway -- it would only encourage them to pretend. In the second place, working in the library is unlikely to cause others to fall into sin by example: Most people understand the purposes of libraries perfectly well, and would not be morally harmed just by seeing you shelve an atheist book.

What about this case? Suppose you take a job as abortion referral manager at the campus health center, defending your action by saying, "I am personally opposed to abortion, but ..." Theologians call this sort of action "implicit" formal cooperation with evil. Although it may seem to be different than formal cooperation, that's actually just what it is, because your purpose cannot be meaningfully distinguished from promoting abortion. The difference is merely empty words. Formal cooperation with evil is every bit as wicked whether it’s implicit or explicit.

The bottom line is that you have to consider the purposes of the college as a whole, the purposes of the unit in which you would work and finally the nature of your work there. If taking the job would involve you in formal cooperation with evil, then you can't take it. If it would involve you only in remote material cooperation with evil, then you might be justified in taking it, but only if there are strong offsetting reasons for doing so and only if doing so would not cause others to fall into sin by your example.

I didn't say it was easy.

Grace and peace,
PROFESSOR THEOPHILUS

Postscript

By the way, this isn't the first column in which I've written about the difference between formal cooperation and remote material cooperation. Take a look at "Ballot Box Blues."

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If you have a question you'd like Professor Theophilus to consider for this column, please send it to asktheo@trueu.org. Please note, all questions that are selected for "Ask Theophilus" may be edited for clarity and privacy and become the property of Focus on the Family.