maybe
50% of CALVIN STUDENTS are NOT SINCERE about their STATEMENT OF FAITH...I'M
just guessing but based on my memories of being a student at Calvin I know that
there are those who applied to Calvin NOT because it is a Christian
college but because it is PRIVATE and more affordable than other private
colleges (or was when I was there) and has a pretty good academic reputation.
I really do NOT know how many students (and professors) are SINCERE about their faith walk...I'm just throwing a number out there because it IS something that should be TALKED ABOUT...and I wonder if the Chimes ever broaches the topic (I don't peruse it regularly enough to know) .. ;
I also base my GUESStimation based on my interactions with Calvin Alumni...some of whom I thought were friends ..including some who also were "Eagle Knights" like me (ie attended Grand Rapids CHristian & Calvin College.
Some of these so-called "friends" do NOT seem to be sincere about their Christian faith anymore, if they ever were..the problem being that some of them are "Christian by tradition" ...their parents sent them to GRCH, and for many it was just "natural" to go on to Calvin College, all the while regularly attending their local CRC.
It's all nice and well, and keeps most kids out of trouble, but at some point there has to be an INDIVIDUAL decision and public profession of faith and committment to somehow trying to fulfill the Great Commission in our lives.
There's NO exact formula to follow...lots of Christians confuse being involved at church, even being a deacon, usher, elder, etc as proof of their faith and committment and involvement, but they have NOT really found a MODUS OPERANDI (M.O.) for being an evangelist out in the world...which is important, if not the main thing.
And there are many pastors who are great behind the pulpit and being church administrators but also lack the ability to truly interact with "the world" in telling the Good News. They can preach it but they can't necessarily teach it. And you won't be taught this skill at Calvin College either. It will be preached, for sure, if you attend chapel... (when I was there, Dale Cooper was the campus chaplain) , but it probably will not be "teached" (rhymes with preached) ( or should i say it will be "praught" but probably not taught) ..;
i myself ,even though I was a preacher's kid and a preacher's grand-kid , was NOT always so good at evangelism either. It took me a long time to find a way that i could fulfill the Great Commission according to my own unique style & personality. And it was uncomfortable for a while.. but I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you students (& staff and faculty for that matter) to keep working on it (or start working on it).
It's easier to write about it in your papers and talk about being good "stewards" etc, but we are called to be the REAL DEAL..and God will judge us accordingly. Don't be an escapist.
You KNOW the truth. So also put the TRUTH into PRACTICE !. And also I encourage you to PROTECT UNBORN LIFE and make a stand for the unborn (or preborn as
