A while ago, an undergraduate student came to my office asking for a short interview for her class assignment. She said that the assignment was to meet and interview someone in a job that she was interested in pursuing in the future. Some of her questions led me to burst into laughter:

How much do you sleep?  When do you wake up?  How many hours do you work everyday? What do you do in your free time? Wait…. do you actually have any “free” time?

I had forgotten how I used to think of my professors when I was in college… Yes, back then, I also thought that professors didn’t ever sleep, play, or eat. This student had known me for a while (she has been working in my undergraduate research lab for several months); she must have developed a similar impression that, somehow I would spend most of my time typing away on my computer, teaching in a classroom, prepping for class, sitting in research meetings, or doing some other “work” without leaving much time to have a “life.” I told her that it is very easy to give out that illusion!

Another story:

In the beginning of this year, a group of Christian graduate students on campus had graciously invited me to spend an evening with them. We enjoyed hot tea, dessert, and conversation together. They wanted me to speak about the topic of excellence. I shared how I had been wrestling to let go of my selfish desire to pursue excellence in my work and to establish my identity as a number-one researcher.  I shared how easily we could lose our ultimate identity as Christians as we shift our focus away from seeking and glorifying our God and instead concentrate on success and excellence by “making ourselves known as the best.”   It was a wonderful evening of mutual encouragement, exhortation, and fellowship, and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations. One of the most memorable questions brought up that night was this: “Another Christian professor we had as our guest speaker last year said that she believed God had called her to work at least 80 hours a week. Do you think that’s what we’re all called to do as faithful Christians in academia?”

Hmm… that really made me think.

How do we know how much time we should devote to work (e.g., writing papers, working in the lab, etc)? Does working 80 hours always mean being a diligent, faithful steward…?

And this led to my pondering the very personal question:

What does it mean to serve God in my vocation as a psychology professor?

As I was mulling over these issues, two words slowly came to my mind: joyful obedience.

I desire to faithfully respond to God’s call in every moment, in every situation, with everyone I meet, and to find joy in everything I do.

God calls people for different purposes, so I cannot really speak for others about how exactly we should structure our individual lives. At the same time, I believe that ALL Christians, no matter what they do for their jobs and vocations, would resonate with the following: God calls us to be faithful in recognizing and using our talents, time, opportunities, and resources to work for His glory.

What, then, does it mean for me to be faithful in using my talents, time, opportunities, and resources so that I can glorify God in my work?

For a research psychologist, “work” probably means, among other things, “thinking.”   Working with ideas.  Striving to discover the truth about human nature, emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. More tangible activities include reading/writing papers, analyzing data, discussing ideas with others, responding to emails, preparing for classes, and so on.

As an assistant professor in a secular university with a heavy emphasis on research productivity, I believe that I am called to be diligent in my work and do good research, fully utilizing my skills and intellect to contribute new knowledge to the field of psychology and communicate it effectively with my fellow scholars in the field.

While it can be challenging to be faithful in ALL these activities, I also find it incredibly rewarding. What a joy to learn about ourselves – human beings, created by God and reflecting His image!  What a joy to share my discoveries of His creation with others!

Sure, one would not NEED a doctoral degree in psychology to do that. Nonetheless, I am deeply grateful that God has blessed me with the opportunity of being a psychologist.  I enjoy the scientific process of seeking “what is true about us” by reading and thinking critically about issues related to the human mind and behavior, designing and conducting studies that may help further our understanding of those issues, navigating through numbers and figures of data, discussing ideas with fellow psychologists, and interacting with students in classroom and research meetings.  I believe that that enjoyment is a gift from God. A gift that is to be cultivated through personal discipline, training, and obedience.

At the same time, I also believe that God did NOT call us to be excellent in what we do.  He wants us to be like Christ – humble and obedient. A big difference there… hmm…

God doesn’t say we all need to be “number one” in our productivity, but instead, He wants us to be faithful in how we work and live our lives.  Realizing this simple truth was so liberating and comforting to me.  Making the best use of my time by obeying God’s call is all I am to do!

And, I think there is another, very important, part of our job as Christian professors:

I believe that academia is a mission field.

Academia is the place where God has called me to be a blessing to others in every way possible.

With this in mind, I am becoming more and more aware that sometimes I need to learn how to give up my “precious time to write a research paper” in order to help out a student/colleague in need or simply stop and listen to His voice.  A lot of times it also means I need to let go of my selfish desires to be successful for my own glory, to please people for my own satisfaction and pride (e.g., journal reviewers, senior faculty in the department, students), and to believe that I am in control of my life (i.e., dictating how my day should be structured).

I am realizing that it requires wisdom to discern when to focus on task at hand, and when to stop and pray (I am hopeful that the more I seek to obey and make myself available for His service, the more clearly I would hear His voice)….  I realize that it also takes an obedient heart to see the needs of others and the needs for my own spiritual growth.  God is constantly calling me to love and care for my colleagues and students, whenever the opportunity arises… God also calls me to become more loving, joyful, at peace, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and disciplined, as I continue to grow as a Spirit-filled Christian.

In closing, I’d like to share what David Henderson (the head pastor in my church in West Lafayette) once said to me:  “it is my prayer that I may be open to whatever God wants to work in me and available to whatever God wants to work through me.”

May it be so for me, and for all of us in Christ!

Facebook Thank-A-Prof page

And stay tuned…many more resources and blog entries to come this semester!!

by  Heather Holleman, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Penn State University

You just have to fully engage.

Fully engaged students showcase character, build class community, and foster genuine academic conversation. When a Christian student models these three things, that person sows seeds for the gospel and opens wide the door for spiritual truth.  I see it every semester.

A fully engaged student displays the kind of character that professors and other students pay attention to.   One semester, I had a Christian student who arrived late for nearly every class.  She was bleary eyed from the night before, and she acted bored and entitled the entire semester.  She turned in papers late, never spoke, and never once approached me in office hours.  Another student (not a Christian), arrived to class early, had his notes spread out in front of him, and greeted me as I arrived to teach.  He had questions prepared for class discussions and drafts written before the deadline.  He was alert, eager, and courteous.  So engaged was this student that I had to ask what motivated him to be this way.  What was his secret?  Can you imagine if that student was a Christian and could tell his professor how Jesus helps him live with excellence?

A fully engaged student also builds class community.  Whether she’s in a 400 student lecture hall or a 15 student seminar, a Christian student can challenge herself to meet the people around her, invite them to study groups, and foster connection.  She might arrive early to make conversation with students and then leave late to invite students to lunch.  Last semester, I had a student plan a dinner party for our class and invite us all bowling.  Another semester, I had a student invite the class to breakfast, and they insisted I join them.  A few weeks ago, a Jewish student asked me if she could treat my family to homemade latkes for Hanukkah.  She came to my home with her menorah and Hebrew blessings.

As community forms, students start to share their lives.  When students start to share their lives, the gospel naturally enters in.  As a professor invited to a student outing, I wanted to learn what my students did outside of my class.  I wanted to hear about their interests.  Can you imagine if Christian students could share with their professors about their Bible study, their worship service at church, or their campus outreach event?  When community forms, these times of sharing can happen.

Finally, a fully engaged student fosters genuine academic conversation.  Whether he’s in an engineering class or a poetry workshop, a Christian student might always ask the question, “How does this course material teach me more about Jesus?  How did that lecture resonate with the spiritual truths found in scripture?  How does this information usher me into worship as I consider the wonder of this research?  If a student came to my office hours to have a real conversation about how my syllabus intersected with his faith or philosophy of living, I would listen and learn.  I would want to know more.  No professor I know can resist a student who wants to have a conversation about how the course matters to them.

Character, community, and conversation:  These aspects of being a Christian in a college classroom can transform a lecture hall into a mission field ripe for spiritual discussion.

Heather Holleman, Ph.D., teaches advanced writing at Penn State and helps direct the graduate student and faculty ministry there.  She blogs daily at Live with Flair  www.livewithflair.blogspot.com

“My husband says you’re religious.  Do you believe in Creation?  Do you believe in the Big Bang?”  ­I’m thankful I was prepared to provide faithful answers to a professor’s seeking wife.  I get the same types of questions from believing students. The subtext being:  “Do I have to chuck my brain for the cause of Christ?   Please tell me I can follow Christ with my whole self, including my mind.”

But there’s a far more important battle at stake.  Are we training a generation who knows how to let their faith wrestle with tough questions?  Are we willing to allow thoughtful debate about questions when we may disagree about the conclusions?

These aren’t academic questions.  I’m talking about truly impacting society.  Abortion, pornography, cloning, stem cell research, terrorism, the energy crisis…  How do we engage society on these difficult issues?

Part of the solution involves loving God with our whole selves, including our minds.  To impact society on these weighty issues takes street cred.  By which I mean some serious academic credentials.  Young Christians who show aptitude and passion in bioengineering, political science, genetics research, media, the arts, and other strategic areas should be encouraged to pursue them, for the glory of Christ.  We need people in every walk of life, in every area of expertise, with street cred to shine God’s light into the difficult questions society faces which so desperately need God’s love and wisdom.

This is the knowledge side.  But knowledge makes arrogant; it’s love that edifies.

The rest of the answer involves Love.  Are we training a generation who knows how to love their neighbor, even when they disagree vehemently?  Even when you have diametrically opposed solutions to propose to tough questions, do you show the love of Christ by showing respect for the other side?

One way to train a generation who can impact society, by fundamentally changing the debate rules from knowledge and arrogance to love abounding in knowledge, is to first change the Church.  Train disciples who know how to engage in discussion and debate about controversial issues, while maintaining an unswerving commitment to love your neighbor as yourself.

Luckily for us God has provided a great training ground to gain these real-life, game-changing skills and character traits, things that will allow us to engage society on tough issues, fundamentally changing the conversation between the Church and society for His glory.  Scripture provides ample tough questions and issues with which to wrestle.  We absolutely have to teach the absolutes about the faith.  God made you; He loves You; Jesus is The Way.  And we’ve also got to teach students how to wrestle with the tough questions that make up the finer points of theology, including things many of us disagree about.  We need to provide loving, structured environments for Christian students (and their seeker friends) where all questions are welcome.  All questions are taken seriously.  We may not know the answers, but we will respect your questions, and help you on your journey to the Truth.  Everyone is respected.  Everyone is loved.

Even when the other side is completely wrong?  Especially then.  It’s easy to show love to people who think, act, and believe just like me.  It’s harder to show love to people I think are just plain wrong.  It’s so easy to tell them exactly why, where, and how wrong they are.  So easy.

Noisy gong.  Clanging cymbal.  Where is the love?

By providing time and space where mature Christian students are taught how to look at controversial topics right in the Bible, taught how to understand the other side enough to argue for the other side, taught how to always without fail show love by showing respect for people we disagree with, we can win.  We can raise up a generation who confidently enter the public square in love, with well-trained minds, and fundamentally, forever, change the conversation.

We love Jesus. And we love the Academy. We think that Jesus and learning going hand in hand. We love professors. And we love students. We think that Students and Professors go hand in hand. Take away students and you don’t have a university. Take away professors and you don’t have a university. Our desire at Cruprof is equip you to reach out to and work with professors and students so that the whole campus and the whole world will find hope in a beautiful Savior.

Feel free to post a comment or ask a question as we work together!

Paul Gould

Cas Monaco

Faculty Common’s Executive Team Members