From the January-April 2011 Issue
A Christian presence in secular academia
Jan and Lucie Habl
Try to imagine an evangelistic crusade to which about 400 people come. It is not a one-time event, but a 13-week long crusade. The people come regularly, listen very carefully to the message, even take notes. And, in the end, they all have a personal conversation with the speaker.
This is real. It takes place every semester at the University where I teach. The subjects I teach (Philosophy of Education, History of Pedagogy, Ethical Education and Pedagogical Propaedeutics) are a perfect platform for introducing the students to the Christian worldview. Every semester, that is, twice a year, I have the opportunity to explain explicitly the essence of Christianity to 400 future teachers of our nation. Within a pedagogical framework the key ideas and principles of the Christian worldview are presented, applied to educational sciences, and its implication compared and contrasted with other competing worldviews. In the end, every single student is obliged to see me to show how well he or she grasped the subject.
The perfect meeting place
What is fascinating about this is the fact that I am completely legal. On the university ground I am free to present the subject in the way I want. So the opportunity is just incredible. Being a pastor of a Czech Evangelical church I know how difficult it is to bring anyone to hear the gospel in a standard Sunday service. Due to their historical experience, Czech people have developed a specific kind of scepticism and distrust towards church and Christianity in general. People simply do not go to churches.
Academia, however, has traditionally enjoyed a high level of credit in our society. I am not saying whether it is good or bad. That is simply how it is. I believe it is important for Christians to make use of the opportunity. Since there are hardly any non-believers in the church, it is necessary to go out and meet them outside of the church, to be with them where they are. The university is a perfect place for meeting people, a perfect environment for sharing the Gospel.
A secular society
The fact that Czech society is so secular has burdened me ever since I became a Christian. The burden grew even stronger when I became a teacher and realized there are almost no Christian teachers around. I guess there is no need to explain how important a role teachers have in society. When there opened up an opportunity for me to train future teachers at a local university, I could not help but take it.
Spiritual emptiness
After two years at university, my experience is just overwhelming. I am virtually flooded with opportunities. The spiritual emptiness is great. I found that both my students and my colleagues are greatly interested in spiritual issues. Even though I do not tell my students I am a Christian, I know they can feel the difference in both my approach and the content of my lectures and seminars. I deliberately shake them up with difficult, but deep questions, so that they will long for answers. As a matter of fact, within the last two years, I have had more spiritual conversations with non-believers and opportunities to share the gospel than within the ten years of my pastoral service. Many students (more than I can manage) want me to be a supervisor of their diploma thesis, which is a still greater opportunity, because it means spending more time with them and deepening our personal relationship.
My ultimate goal is to bring people to Christ. I pray God will use my service – both pastoral and pedagogical. I will be grateful if you would join me in prayer, for “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”