by David Melton
It’s old news now, but last winter was beyond any comparison for us, and it made a mess of our campus calendar and our facilities. Thanks to the generosity of many of you, we are busy repairing the damages while students are away. We lost the gutters on Henderson Hall. Yet we lost more than gutters. The exterior beams that sustained the roof were mutilated. So, before we could replace the gutters, we spent about $20,000 more just to have something to attach those gutters to! Are you happy yet? I was so excited to learn all that. While I grumbled about it, I thought, “Why pay so much and only get drainage?” I went looking for some lesson and I actually found an education in the damage repair.
Our repairs are so costly in this case because the preparation for our structure was no longer sufficient. (I bet you can already see where I am going.) This very issue is at the core of why we do higher education in the BBF. We have always gone to much work, cost, and sacrifice because we believe we have something of value to say in the kingdom, and in the culture. We want to solidify the structure of our young leaders so when storms come, they will not only survive, but thrive.
At no time I can detect in all of this nation’s history is our commitment to Christian higher education more important than it is now. Who would doubt America is markedly more pagan in its thinking than it has ever been? Who would be so foolish as to deny biblical principles are less known and more directly challenged than at this juncture? Our young people have been bombarded with an anti-biblical worldview all their lives. At some point, we must push back. The home, the church ministry, the youth group — they are all important. But for intellectual construction, Christian higher education is more important than ever.
I want to urge you to educate yourself about the higher education around you. The secular campus is not what it used to be. Even the community college, becoming ever so popular for financial reasons, is no friendly place for biblical values. You can almost certainly go online and get reading lists for your local university or college. Check the books out of the library and read a bit. Is this a plan for equipping our best young people for the battle that rages for the mind and for biblical truth? I’ve worked with and interact with the secular system all the time. And the more I see, the more I am sure we must do what we do at Boston. The pressure is intense, and likely to get more so. The cost is a constant headache. And I must admit the occasional remark from Christians that seem to downplay Christian higher education is a punch in the gut. But the absolutely essential need to equip the minds of our young people to be committed to biblical truth has not deteriorated nor can it be neglected. And every time I see those new gutters I will remember that expensive lesson.