<\/p>\n
I publish it without alteration or further comment.<\/p>\n
This is Not a Day Care. It\u2019s a University!
\nDr. Everett Piper, President<\/p>\nOklahoma Wesleyan University<\/p>\n
This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt \u201cvictimized\u201d by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them \u201cfeel bad\u201d about themselves, is a \u201chater,\u201d a \u201cbigot,\u201d an \u201coppressor,\u201d and a \u201cvictimizer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen.\u00a0That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins\u2014not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s my advice:<\/p>\n
If you want the chaplain to tell you you\u2019re a victim rather than tell you that you need virtue, this may not be the university you\u2019re looking for. If you want to complain about a sermon that makes you feel less than loving for not showing love, this might be the wrong place.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re more interested in playing the \u201chater\u201d card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don\u2019t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n
At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don\u2019t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don\u2019t issue \u201ctrigger warnings\u201d before altar calls.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a \u201csafe place\u201d, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn\u2019t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that\u2019s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that\u2019s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.<\/p>\n
This is not a day care. This is a university!
\n – via Oklahoma Wesleyan University<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I publish it without alteration or further comment. This is Not a Day Care. It\u2019s a University! Dr. Everett Piper, President Oklahoma Wesleyan University This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt \u201cvictimized\u201d by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians … <\/p>\n