Carry On, Regardless

General Theological Seminary

Have you ever taken a stand that you wish you hadn't?

I wonder if the eight professors at General Theological Seminary are wishing they had taken a different approach.

On September 26th, Professors Joshua Davis, Mitties DeChamplain, Deirdre Good, David Hurd, Andrew Irving, Andrew Kadel, Amy Lamborn, and Patrick Malloy announced that they would not teach, worship or attend meetings until the issues they raised with the Board were addressed.

The issues they were demanding action on had to do with the behavior of the dean.  In their words:

Please know that we are not referring to off-hand remarks, or that we are overly concerned with ‘political correctness’. Rather we refer to a number of very serious incidents and patterns of behavior which have over time caused faculty, students, and staff to feel intimidated, profoundly disrespected, excluded, devalued, and helpless. In short, we find ourselves in an emotionally charged climate that regularly interferes with our current work of teaching and learning together for the sake of God’s Church not to mention our ability to envision and plan for our future.

The response they wanted didn't come.  Instead they were fired.

In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who joined in this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, 'We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul. - Acts 23:12-14

In the story of Paul from the Acts of the Apostles, the decision to commit to a hunger strike until Paul was killed didn't work out the way the Jews had hoped.  Paul escaped and we have no idea how long they stayed committed to their action after that.

There is a message in both of these stories.  For me, the message is clear.  Don't make a commitment or threat unless you are willing to see it through to the end.  Once you make a stand, carry on, regardless of the consequences.

If we are not willing to stick with our commitments, what value do they have?

Now, regardless of the validity of the claims of the professors in the General case, if they believe they were right, and I am sure they do, then they should press on, right?

Things don't always work out the way we hope or want.  But that doesn't mean we should give up, does it?

If the welfare of the students was a concern of the professors, it should still be, and that's where we come in.

Their act of protest, like so many acts of protest occurring around the world are cries for someone to take notice, to stop the types of behavior that are harmful and hateful, abusive and nasty, to name a few.

While we may look at this attempt and say they failed, we may also put ourselves in a similar situation and wonder if we would have done something or not.

When we choose to carry on, regardless, we may choose to do that with a commitment to fix things or with a resignation to continue on without complaining.

In either case, the responsibility for the situation shifts from someone else's problem to ours.  When we decide to do something or do nothing, it is our choice.

That's the way it works.

So, what will you choose to stand up for today, knowing you may be standing alone?

More to come...