An Open Letter from Dr. Matt Olson of Northland International University
Dear Friends in Ministry,
Thank you for your demonstration of true friendship over these past few months. So many of you have called, emailed, and written me. Yes, God has been doing great things. Yet, when He does, the pot gets stirred. Conflict often follows.
What God has been doing among us…
I thought it would be helpful for me to share a few thoughts concerning recent events at Northland as well as our process of thought. My prayer each day is that God would give us grace to work through our present opportunities and challenges in ways that fulfill His purposes for us and that please Him most. Never has there been a more exciting day to prepare this next generation for Great Commission living or to advance kingdom causes!
January 2008: I began praying for God to do “greater things” here at Northland. It seemed to me that the church as a whole had grown cold with the works of men and was crying out for the works of God to be manifest. I prayed to that end:
- For God to give us vision and clarity for what He wanted at Northland.
- For wisdom in navigating from where we were to where we needed to be.
- For boldness and grace—as we knew the process would be difficult.
- For abundant provision.
- For His name alone to be magnified.
In many ways God has been answering those prayers and has blessed Northland beyond our expectations. We felt, however, that this was only the beginning.
August 15, 2010: I began a forty day journey of fasting and prayer for the works of God to be manifested and for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. I took this step of faith with some uncertainty—not really knowing how I would do or what God would do. I was certain that I was not content to coast through this final stretch of life and ministry without seeing God do something much more. I have been longing for “greater things.” Dr. Ollila, the administration, faculty, and staff joined me in this. I wish I could share all that has taken place. It has been an incredible time!
What I did not expect was the testing that would follow. Yet, now I realize this to be a familiar pattern in scripture and in history. So, we take it from the Lord and respond with strength and grace that He gives. Sometimes our motives and actions can be misunderstood and miscommunicated. I know that happens. I have always felt that the best response would be to communicate in a positive way. The following are a few points of clarification on what is happening at Northland:
1. The Way of Discipleship
We have superseded our demerit system with what we feel is a biblical model of discipleship. In reality, it is a re-commitment to a means of discipleship that has already been present at Northland. We just took away an artificial demerit system that was awkwardly laid on top of our student system of governance. Our standards and expectations remain the same. But, the way we confront and encourage is relational and the consequences practical. Quite honestly, it is a lot more work with this new way. But, it’s more biblical. And it already appears to be yielding better results. We see “The Way of Discipleship” in the spirit of Matthew 5 where Jesus “raised the bar” from the Old Testament law. We believe grace expects more—and deepens more. While we see our system as a “work in progress,” we have been very pleased with the responses of our students, faculty, and staff.
2. Our Music Philosophy
Philosophically, it is unchanged. Let me say it again…unchanged. What we have always been trying to do, and will continue to do into the future, is to make sure Northland’s practice of music (as with every aspect of the Christian life) is built principally on clear teachings from the Bible rather than on reactionary, extra-biblical reasoning that has proven to be troublingly insufficient when exported to cultures beyond American borders. We believe the Bible is sufficient to bring us to right and God-honoring positions regardless of time and culture. Even though we haven’t changed our music at a philosophical level, we are changing our music on a missional level. Where you will see changes is in our intent to expand our training to prepare students for worship and music globally. This only makes sense because, as you may have noticed, Northland International University has become more and more an international, global ministry with a passion to take the gospel where it is not proclaimed. Over 41% of the world’s population is still without a Gospel witness. This has become our students’ burden. Our Director of Fine Arts, Kevin Suiter, has recently informed us he does not believe he can take us forward in this way and thus has announced his plans to move on. We wish Kevin and Grace the best and thank them for the investments they have made here.
3. Our Guest Speakers
We invited two speakers that have generated some questions.
a. Rick Holland. Dr. Holland is the Executive Pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where John MacArthur is senior pastor. Since we get many questions concerning John MacArthur and where he is in regard to fundamentalism, we decided that the best way to address this was to meet him face to face. In April of this year, Les Ollila, Doug McLachlan, Sam Horn, and I went to California and sat down with Dr. MacArthur, Rick Holland, and Phil Johnson (Executive Director of Grace to You). We had an excellent visit and found that while we did not agree on everything, we did agree on the most substantive issues of life and ministry. While we realize we function in different circles and with different constituencies, we appreciated what they were doing. I invited Rick to visit our campus to see what we were doing at Northland, meet with our Bible faculty, and speak in chapel. This was an opportunity to get to know one another and discuss significant issues of our day.
b. Bruce Ware. Dr. Ware is a professor at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. He is a well-recognized teacher and author. We have invited him to teach half of an advanced-degree seminar on a specialty subject our leading pastors need to be fully versed in. Why? Because Dr. Ware has written so skillfully and authoritatively on this particular topic. This seminar is for experienced, mature pastors who are presently in ministry. We see this as appropriate in the academic context and the type of thing we have done in the past for the very same reasons. In fact, most seminaries bring adjunct professors in to address key issues that they believe helpful. Never has this been intended as a move to align with any other group.
We did not see that having these speakers would be a significant problem. Biblically, we worked through a process of decision making and felt these choices and the context in which they were made were consistent with what we have always believed. Knowing now that these decisions might be confusing, misunderstood, or miscommunicated, we would likely have planned differently. We have no desire to distract from our focus here or on the field of ministry.
We affirm that Northland stands in the historic tradition of Fundamentalism and is committed to remain as an independent, Baptist, separatist institution. We will do our best to serve the local church, which we believe is the primary institution ordained of God to carry out the Great Commission. We respect the autonomy of the local church, the priesthood of the believer, and individual soul liberty. We know that other Fundamentalists will develop different applications based on biblical authority and the principles that flow from it. We will do our best to defer to our brothers in Christ but refuse to be swayed by party politics, threats, and pressures. While deference brings unity, the fear of man paralyzes our ability to serve Christ. In the spirit of Galatians 1, we will serve Christ.
Sometimes I have to smile when I think about the politics in college ministry. Early on I found that I had to just keep it simple: do the right thing, keep a right spirit, communicate the best I can, and leave the results to God. That is all I can do. That’s what I will do. I am not disappointed with differing views and opinions or even challenges that come from healthy critics. These help me grow. What I do think needs to be confronted in our movement is the lack of biblical process in responding to one another when we have questions or disagreements.
We must keep our focus. A friend of mine shared this with me, and I found it to be a great encouragement:
Stick with your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs; do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie, let sectarians quarrel, let critics malign, let enemies accuse, let the devil do his worst; but see to it nothing hinders you from fulfilling with joy the work God has given you. He has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you to defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood about yourself which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord. Keep at your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded and rejected, misunderstood, or assigned impure motives; you may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men. But see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being until at last you can say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”
If you have further questions or comments, please feel free to write or call me. I welcome that. We have never been more excited about our future than we are now. Doc O and I believe that God is moving in a very special way and that the evidence is seen in both the abundant blessing of God and in the attacks of the Devil. We have the greatest and most exciting opportunity in the world—preparing this next generation of servant leaders for Great Commission living. Pray with us as we move boldly forward for the cause of Christ.
Your friend and fellow servant,
MO
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Greg, what you quoted refers to what Don was saying to Matt’s pastor, not about Matt’s open letter.
Remnants of the chicago way will always exist, but thankfully more and more are leaving it.
1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
if you are a fundamentalist in any way and desire to move away from the chicago mentality, you better watch your back.
1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
That is why I said this:
I do think that Dr. Olson’s pastor does what most other defenders of Olson have done- appealed to his perceived motives, spirituality, sincerity and “niceness” rather than take on what Olson actually says- particularly about not anticipating the situations at hand would elicit significant response among Northland’s constituency.
Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN
I just did a cut and paste but these are exact quotes:
1. The bafflegab continues (confusing or unintelligible)
2. these are only so many platitudes (trite and meaningless statement)
3. Why should we not take this as, “Trust us, we’re spiritual”? (because that is exactly what Bill was trying to say)
4. My first criticism is that it is simply preposterous to believe that Matt didn’t see criticism coming over the decisions to invite Holland and Ware. (I don’t know why Don just couldn’t come out and say Matt is a liar)
5. I do think that the debate over our relationship with such men is worth having, but could we please do it with frank and honest speech and spare the platitudes? (So now Matt is deceptive and misleading with a pious sounding pastor)
No Greg, this is what I rightly referred to as a hit piece. You may still think of that as foolishness.
1 Kings 8:60 - so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
Also, a quick comment about Dr. Olson’s statement:
What I did not expect was the testing that would follow.I have experienced this, on more than one occasion. You have an idea that you are sure is right. You do your research, you pray, you seek counsel. Your passion for the rightness of the idea grows. So convinced are you that you find it inconceivable that anybody could have any reasonable objections. Then you are brought up short by questions you never expected, and hostility that seems to come from nowhere. In retrospect, it should have been expected. But a lot of things are clearer in retrospect.
Is not this a more charitable assumption than the accusation of lying and/or incompetence being bandied about in this thread? And don’t we owe our brothers in Christ the benefit of the more charitable assumption?
Missionary in Brazil, author of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" Online at: http://www.comingstobrazil.com http://cadernoteologico.wordpress.com
[Don Johnson] And as for Dr Bob lying, one would have to know whether he knew any statements he made were false. To make a false statement unwittingly is not a lie, although it is not a good thing to do.So we are to understand that we should accept that Dr. Bob was not lying because WE do not know whether he knew any statements he made were false. Why is that same grace not extended to Dr. Olson? Mr. Johnson, one of your major complaints is that you claim he is not being honest about his understanding of the backlash from his statements and sermons. How do WE know what he understood would happen? We simply cannot. We can make assumptions as to what he should have known, but that is all they are - assumptions.
[Bob Nutzhorn]Well put. After being frustrated by the accusatory and uncharitable nature of this discussion (and yet being inexplicably drawn to it, like a moth to a flame) it was refreshing to read this succinct piece of logic.[Don Johnson] And as for Dr Bob lying, one would have to know whether he knew any statements he made were false. To make a false statement unwittingly is not a lie, although it is not a good thing to do.So we are to understand that we should accept that Dr. Bob was not lying because WE do not know whether he knew any statements he made were false. Why is that same grace not extended to Dr. Olson? Mr. Johnson, one of your major complaints is that you claim he is not being honest about his understanding of the backlash from his statements and sermons. How do WE know what he understood would happen? We simply cannot. We can make assumptions as to what he should have known, but that is all they are - assumptions.
Missionary in Brazil, author of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" Online at: http://www.comingstobrazil.com http://cadernoteologico.wordpress.com
[Andrew Comings] You have an idea that you are sure is right. You do your research, you pray, you seek counsel. Your passion for the rightness of the idea grows. So convinced are you that you find it inconceivable that anybody could have any reasonable objections. Then you are brought up short by questions you never expected, and hostility that seems to come from nowhere. In retrospect, it should have been expected. But a lot of things are clearer in retrospect.Your scenario is readily identifiable for nearly everyone. Who among us hasn’t encountered similar situations? I’m sure your early experiences as a missionary on deputation put you in such situations, fro example.
Is not this a more charitable assumption than the accusation of lying and/or incompetence being bandied about in this thread? And don’t we owe our brothers in Christ the benefit of the more charitable assumption?
Recently, I had a root canal done. My dentist had not done such a procedure on me before. However, I was not at all surprised when he warned me that there would be a pinch before he applied the anesthetic prior to the procedure. He anticipated the response because of prior experiences with me (fillings, for example), not to mention training and experiences with other patience. In fact, for him not to have mentioned it to me before giving the shot would have been rather unpleasant for all concerned, I imagine.
It has been said that insanity is repeating the same procedure and expecting different results. I have little reason to think that Dr. Olson is insane. But Andrew, this is not the first time Northland has encountered a controversial situation involving someone outside their established Fundamentalist circle of influence. In fact, it isn’t even the first time they have encountered controversy because of Rick Holland. Furthermore, there was evidently enough uncertainty (whatever the cause) that Olson and the Northland administration, by Olson’s own despcription, deemed it wise to arrange a meeting with MacArthur, Holland, and company before the recent chapel invitation was extended.
There are other things that could have been said. “It was not our intent to offend.” “We believed this was an opportunity to demonstrate charity and extend fellowship to a ministry that we can appreciate, even though we have some marked differences in how we approach key areas.” “It was my hope and prayer that attitudes had improved since controversies that ensued in ‘05…” But I have yet to see anyone explain how Olson could legitimately say he just didn’t know in light of 2005 and God-Focused. Instead, the responses counter to this point center around dismissing and overlooking because Olson is sincere and nice and leading them in a commendable direction. Okay, fine. Someone could be sincere and nice and have good intentions, but if he is engaged in missions ministry in Brazil and wondering why his ministry is ineffective, yet doggedly persists in doing his ministry in English only, I’m going to have difficulty accepting his explanation of “I didn’t know they spoke Portuguese here. If I had, I would have planned differently.” If he isn’t dishonest, he at the very least shouldn’t be continuing to lead in the same capacity.
Help me, here- how does the current situation differ?
Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN
[Bob Nutzhorn]Interesting appellations… you call Matt “Dr.” and me “Mr.” If you are going to use honorifics, you should properly use “Rev.” for me, as you well know from past correspondence that I am an ordained minister. But I’d rather you just call me “Don”.[Don Johnson] And as for Dr Bob lying, one would have to know whether he knew any statements he made were false. To make a false statement unwittingly is not a lie, although it is not a good thing to do.So we are to understand that we should accept that Dr. Bob was not lying because WE do not know whether he knew any statements he made were false. Why is that same grace not extended to Dr. Olson? Mr. Johnson, one of your major complaints is that you claim he is not being honest about his understanding of the backlash from his statements and sermons. How do WE know what he understood would happen? We simply cannot. We can make assumptions as to what he should have known, but that is all they are - assumptions.
I am not claiming that Matt is dishonest. I am saying that what he said cannot possibly be true. He certainly ought to have known that Rick Holland and Bruce Ware would be controversial. As Greg points out, as I pointed out in my original article of complaint, as others have pointed out in this thread and elsewhere, Dr. Olilla and Northland were embroiled in a controversy over Holland only 5 years ago. Greg said in an eariler post that he understood Matt to have been directly involved in Dr. O’s decision to pull out of the God Focused conference because of Rick Holland’s involvement.
Maybe Matt forgot about that. Maybe he thought sincerely that the whole fundamentalist world had changed its mind in the last five years. Who knows? Maybe there is some other reason. But it simply cannot be believed that he didn’t or shouldn’t have expected controversy over these new invitations. These are far more than assumptions.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
I thought I was being respectful to both of you. Sorry that I did not remember that you were a Rev. - interesting that you pointed that out Dr. Olson to me but not Dr. Bob.
Anyway, I am not arguing that Matt/Dr. Olson did not know what would happen with all of this. What I am saying is that this situation and the blood issue are very similar. Those who attacked in that situation could, and some would claim, should have known what John MacArthur really believed and taught. Just like in this situation, Dr. Olson should have known the end. In the Dr. Bob issue you say, well we don’t really know what he knew, and in this situation you say that what he is claiming could not be true. I am not saying which reaction of yours was right, just pointing out an observation.
[Bob Nutzhorn] Sorry Don,Bob,
I thought I was being respectful to both of you. Sorry that I did not remember that you were a Rev. - interesting that you pointed that out Dr. Olson to me but not Dr. Bob.
Anyway, I am not arguing that Matt/Dr. Olson did not know what would happen with all of this. What I am saying is that this situation and the blood issue are very similar. Those who attacked in that situation could, and some would claim, should have known what John MacArthur really believed and taught. Just like in this situation, Dr. Olson should have known the end. In the Dr. Bob issue you say, well we don’t really know what he knew, and in this situation you say that what he is claiming could not be true. I am not saying which reaction of yours was right, just pointing out an observation.
I feel your pain here and agree with much of what you are saying. Problem is that many in fundamentalism would rather fight even over something imaginary than be honest and just preach the word. You will see this especially in conferences and such where men will preach a sermon to other pastors and want to rile ‘em up with some “good preachin’ ”! One example of this was back in 2009 when Chuck Phelps preached up at Bethel Baptist and used a quote by John MacArthur that was an obvious editor’s mistake in one of his books. There was an update made years ago and even 5 minutes of online research would have revealed it for what it was. Instead the mistaken paragraph was used and it made for some great hootin’ and hollerin’ amongst the brethren at the FBFI meeting! Praise the LORD! This was pointed out and no apologies were needed and the sermon is still up on sermon audio. You can find it here if you would like:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?sourceOnly=true&currSection=sermo…
Point is that the end justifies the means to some fundies. To villify someone like Piper or MacArthur is a good thing. Whereas historic fundies did battle royal over those who denied Scripture or the Virgin birth, many of the hysteric fundies like to do battle royal over drums and britches on women…
Now if every person DOES claim to be speaking the mind of Christ someone is in the wrong, and therefore in need of repentance. Thankfully, in my short time in ministry, I have seen that being able to see who is following the mind of Christ and who is not is made possible over time. I will sit and wait.
Tim Lyzenga
[Don Johnson] I am not claiming that Matt is dishonest. I am saying that what he said cannot possibly be true.I’m not saying he’s a thief, I’m just saying he took something that didn’t belong to him.
Missionary in Brazil, author of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" Online at: http://www.comingstobrazil.com http://cadernoteologico.wordpress.com
[Greg Linscott] Help me, here- how does the current situation differ?First, kudos on knowing that in Brazil we speak Portuguese. You would not believe the number of times I hear “So you’re a missionary in Brazil. Say something to me in Spanish.” Sigh.
On to your well-thought-out analogy. I can only find one difference…but it seems to me to be significant.
Portuguese has been the language of Brazil since 1500. It was the language five years ago, and will be the language five, ten, and most likely one hundred years from now. Barring some geopolitical upheaval, Portuguese will be the language of Brazil for the foreseeable future. To be in Brazil and not know that Portuguese is the language of Brazil one would literally have to shut oneself up in a house and never have contact with anyone, which is impossible.
However, the Fundamentalist movement is just that…a movement. And movements, by definition, move. Even Fundamentalist ones. Some examples: 1) Just a decade ago I could not have dated the woman who is now my wife had we both been on the BJU campus. Not only has BJU dropped the interracial dating law and apologized, but they now actively recruit and sponsor minority students. This is a major shift in just ten years’ time. 2) The GARBC has had non GARBC speakers at their national conference. Five years ago when I left for Brazil that would not have happened. 3) A recent issue of the Baptist Bulletin featured people with up stretched hands during a praise service. 4) After being out of the country for almost five years I have noticed a significant change (for the good, mind you) in the worship of the local churches we visit. They are using a wider variety of instruments and styles as well as the classic hymns of the faith. These examples are off the top of my head as a lowly missionary on furlough. I don’t inhabit the halls of academia, nor have I ever met personally with the likes of John MacArthur.
All of this to say that comparing the established language of Brazil and the Fundamentalist movement might be comparing apples to orangutans. There is another factor that inclines me to give Dr. Olsen the benefit of the doubt: Just when you think you have seen it all when it comes to vitriolic attacks from Fundamentalists, someone writes something that literally takes your breath away. Thus I have no problem believing that, even though Dr. Olsen clearly remembered the previous controversy (and perhaps because he remembered it) he was genuinely surprised at the responses he got to these recent decisions.
For all of these reasons (and further inspired by Rev. Johnson’s gracious willingness to extend the benefit of the doubt to Dr. Bob Jones in the MacArthur “Bloodgate Scandal”) I am more inclined than ever to extend the benefit of the doubt to Dr. Olsen
I’m sure he’ll sleep easier tonight…
Missionary in Brazil, author of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" Online at: http://www.comingstobrazil.com http://cadernoteologico.wordpress.com
The other question is who and what is truly fundamental? The comments shared on this thread seem to come from a broad spectrum of thought, with the one common desire, to lay hold to the title of true fundamentalism. The actions at NIU vary greatly from the fundamentalist thought and actions that I have grown up in, and believed and practiced in my 20 plus years in ministry. Yet, they are laying claim to historic, traditional, separatist, Baptist fundamentalism. The winds of change are obviously blowing. I think it a bit disingenuous to claim the “old” but try and practice something “new.”
Fundamentalism is a movement rooted in Bible truth. The movement moves the Bible stands and somehow we must find the balance. The enemy is not my brother, the cause remains clear and the need has never been greater. Time to move on and move ahead. I will watch NIU but I fear history is repeating itself!
Cgrif
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