It is my conviction that there are few if any Christian colleges that have clearly identified and articulated what makes them really distinct in the world of American higher education. I believe there are practical, pedagogical, and theological reasons why this sharpened focus is essential. I think Christian colleges can and must discover their genius.

Unfortunately, too many Christian colleges have traditionally pursued integration at the cost of academic quality. Integration has meant dabbling. But it is equally unfortunate that more recently, some Christian liberal arts colleges, in understandable reaction, have swung to the other extreme, pursuing the esoteric research agenda of their secular counterparts. This has often meant a severe strain on resources to compete in the same game as those often wealthier institutions; not to mention the crucial loss of distinctive I alluded to above.

I believe true integration goes beyond both of these models. It demands the best disciplinary competence and at the same time a commitment to bring that competence to bear on real-world problems. Such problems inevitably integrate multiple disciplines, values and learning, and theory with practice.

Perhaps even more central to our distinctive mission, the intrinsic value means helping students become a certain kind of person rather than just teaching them to do certain kinds of things. This is education for character and I believe it requires colleges to help their students go beyond both dogmatism and skepticism to what I call critical commitment.

Christian colleges will not be content to produce dogmatic graduates with “all the answers” but who have never risked asking the questions. Nor should they be content with graduates who have asked all the questions but like the skeptical products of most secular institutions have embraced relativism and abandoned hope that there even are answers.

This means two things. First, Christian education is risky business. Faculty, students, and parents must understand this. Second, this means the work of Christian colleges is doubly difficult and must go beyond both what is normally done in Bible schools and what is done on secular campuses. Expectations for faculty will also be commensurately higher. But I believe that given a clearer picture of this distinctive role, faculty at Christian colleges will take great pride in the task and will eagerly rise to the challenge.

With clearer vision, Christian liberal arts institutions can be distinctive by providing faculty and graduates capable of resolving the thorniest dilemmas facing society and the Christian community.