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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What seems more common these days is for folks who despise, in principle, the marketing of ministry to very quickly cast issues in marketing terms (this will adversely affect their niche…). IOW, it may be that the problem is in the eye of the beholder, not the institution. Some of this understandable—institutions have caved to constituencies in the past or shifted course to gain a new one—but some of it is also tiresome in that even the smallest of issues gets tarred with a presumption of guilt regarding the reasons behind it. I can still recall the insinuations of evil motive that were whispered when BJU changed from “The World’s Most Unusual Place” to “The Opportunity Place”! For some, this was the certain sign that the militancy of the former days had been left behind in order to become more user-friendly. Whatever.
What’s more interesting to me is how many students the most vocal detractors actually “send” to the places that they say they can no longer recommend. My experience has been that it is usually next to nobody. Clouds without rain.
DMD
[Dave Doran] If I may respectfully disagree with both Jeremy and Don, these decisions should not be made on the basis of potential increases or decreases in enrollment, but on whether they fit with what the institution perceives to be its purpose and understanding of biblical principles. Whether you agree or disagree with the decisions should be on the same basis. Introducing conjectures about what it will do to increase or decrease enrollment is speculation, some of which tends toward speculation about motives….Hi Dave
What seems more common these days is for folks who despise, in principle, the marketing of ministry to very quickly cast issues in marketing terms (this will adversely affect their niche…).
Far be it from me to despise marketing. I am all for it.
For the record, I think that the recent Northland decisions have been taken out of integrity, not with an eye to enrollment at all. If I am right in my speculations, their decisions are clearly not done with an eye to enrollment.
Regardless, there is such a thing as integrity and empty buildings.
[Dave Doran] What’s more interesting to me is how many students the most vocal detractors actually “send” to the places that they say they can no longer recommend. My experience has been that it is usually next to nobody. Clouds without rain.Point taken. The few young people who have gone on to college from our ministry have all gone to BJU. (My own kids had no choice in the matter.) Nevertheless, we have been glad to have Northland teams in our church and have been enthusiastic supporters heretofore. We have had one express an interest in Northland, but so far nothing has come of it.
However, if these trends continue, I am not of a mind to continue my support. I don’t think I am alone in that respect.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
What if Matt Olson were to host a council which included godly leaders from a number of segements of bible-believing Christianity? What if these godly leaders from the different segments of the Bible-believing church were to come with the fruit of the Spirit to the table to discuss events, reflect on decisions that have been made, and provide some guidance to the people of God regarding these winds of change taking place in our world, and making these decisions on the foundational doctrine of fundamentalism - the inspiration and authority of the Word, not the fears and threats of their constituencies?
While I am thankful that blogs like SI provide forums for many of us to talk, they can never replace a Bible-based council.
If we are unable to see a council of men together, doesn’t that speak poorly of the condition of the church in America today?
[Don Johnson]In response to your first Question concerning the “Conservative Evangelical radar screen” I would first have to say that I dont think the leaders at NIU have ever cared whose radar screens they turn up on. Secondly, Who cares if a student chooses NIU or not? God will either bring students or he won’t. Everyone keeps saying that NIU is changing direction. I think that is a ridiculous statement. It seems to me that they want to continue in the same direction, but in a manner that is more biblical.[JeremyO] Let me start by conceding the point that, yes, there ARE plenty of schools out there that a student who would be considering NIU might also consider. I was not intending to set NIU up as the end all be all of christian colleges. There are very few schools, however, that have the history of patience and defference to those inside fundamentalism who choose to, out of willful ignorance and deviciveness, pursue thier political, not biblical, agendas. That is one area that, in my estimation, sets NIU apart from the other institutions(question 2 of your response) who said, “see ya later” to the extreme fundamentalists long ago.Jeremy,
There may be some on the ‘left fringe’ of Fundamentalism who will be attracted to Northland over this change, no doubt. But do you think this will even show up on the Conservative Evangelical radar screen? Why should they consider Northland? What could their motivation possibly be when they have their own schools already?
And given the change, do you think those who on the more right wing side of fundamentalism (I don’t mean the KJO radicals, I mean people like me) will be all that enthusiastic about sending young people there? If there is some kind of middle ground between my point of view and the ‘left-ward fringe’, what will their response be?
Personally, I think that over the long term, Northland will be hurt by these decisions. Time will tell, of course, but I don’t think most fundamentalists are clamouring for this kind of change.
Third, it doesnt matter what “side” of fundamentalism NIU appeals to they will always take heat, which is why I applaud them for establishing their positions based on the Bible alone. Keeps it simple. Plus, trying to please ANYONE inside fundamentalism is a colossal waste of time because as a whole “fundamentalists” have earned the reputation of being fickle and difficult to please.
I agree with you that “most fundamentalists aren’t “clamouring for this kind of change”, but then again, I don’t think that “most fundamentalists” have really “clamoured” for anything beyond the defense of their own little kingdoms for quite some time.
I appreciate your opinion on the potentially negative, long term implications of NIU’s decisions, but maybe, just maybe, God might choose to honor humble, Godly men who are striving to be biblical in the administration of their institution.
JO
[Pastor Joe Roof] a council which included godly leaders from a number of segements of bible-believing ChristianityWhile I love the idea, I’m cynical enough to say that it just won’t happen. Independence has been so ingrained in churches throughout America (let’s be honest: we’re America; no one does “independent” like we do) that a council wouldn’t make much difference. The churches who claim independence as a Biblical distinctive wouldn’t abide by any ecumenical council’s determinations in the first place - if for no other reason than the council wasn’t made up of fundamentalists who are just as fundamental as me - and the rest of evangelical Christianity in America has been doing “councils” for a while now. Non-independent organizations like the SBC and denominations like the PCA have teeth to enforce their rulings - if you don’t like it, you can leave the denomination and maybe someone will pick you up, or else we hope you have marketable job skills. Independent Fundamental churches just don’t have the infrastructure to comply with that kind of a council. If they did the FBFI would actually get stuff done in Fundamentalism, rather than holding mutual back-slapping sessions every year.
I personally don’t think “a council” would be valuable or is needed:
- The local church has all the resources to decide on issues of separation and cooperation
- NIU has no authority over the local church - it’s a parachurch ministry / business
- Any such council would be pre-stacked with participants from one point of view anyway - so waste of time
- This whole Holland / Ware thing is but a very minor kerfuffle. With regard to Holland … he is going to speak in chapel. What is that … an hour?! Ware … limited to a D Min course (that looks excellent by the way!)
- I doubt parents who pay for and send young adults to a school care one whit about this. Pastors … man up to the fact that you don’t send kids to college. You never have (except your own) and you never will! Sure churches (youth pastors) influence a decision. Other things like quality of education, philosophy of spiritual formation, distance from home, academic options, and overall cost factor in very heavily on the choice of a school. Holland in chapel … nada!
- To Doran’s “clouds without water” quote above. That was instructive. With all due respect to Don (who raised some good points in my view!), he didn’t send any kids to NIU. Plus none from his church.
- A reminder that “the schools” aren’t the movement. (I’m not even sure there is a movement!). I look around my church and there are plenty of people that never went to one of “the schools”. I personally never went to “a school” and many regard me as a leader of sorts in my own church.
- When it comes to outreach …. you know that thing we ought to be concerned about …. reaching our own Jerusalems! …. we don’t first filter disciples through “a school”. We seek to evangelize the lost and incorporate them into our own churches.
- It’s a little kerfuffle that’s it!
- It bothers Don … OK … it bothers Don
- Others see a slippery slope …. well there was a good comment way back (on this thread) about that old time Fundy canard
- I doubt one parent at my church who sends a kid to NIU cares about this
I remember that fairly well (I was a GARBC Pastor at the time)
Here’s the sum of that:
L.A.B.C. was a foundering school struggling with enrollment and finances. Had John MacArthur not “taken it over” (which he did not do! The L.A.B.C. board voted to cede control!), it would have collapsed. Just like Pillsbury and Spurgeon Baptist Bible College (Mulberry Florida).
John MacArthur rescued L.A.B.C.
[Jim Peet] Had John MacArthur not “taken it over” (which he did not do! The L.A.B.C. board voted to cede control!), it would have collapsed. Just like Pillsbury and Spurgeon Baptist Bible College (Mulberry Florida).Props to my alma mater!
Missionary in Brazil, author of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" Online at: http://www.comingstobrazil.com http://cadernoteologico.wordpress.com
The Standpoint Conference (even the first one that met at Lighthouse Bible Church in Simi Valley, back in 05’ or 06’) was started in part to help with the type of discussion you men are talking about here. We would love to see some of the larger ministries take up the cause and run with it. The “big guys” while being our friends and offering their personal encouragment, have been hesitant to join us officially….so far. That being the case, It would be great to see them combine their resources and do something here.
However, if they continue to be hesitant to do what Matt has done in speaking out, I would encourage groups to do as much of this as you feel is helpful. I really appreciate Jim’s thoughts about not giving to much influence to the schools. They really have no legitimate authority over the actions and wisdom of the local church. Pastors, not educators, ought to be leading the efforts and saying what needs to be said without worrying or waiting about what “such-in-such seminary or college” have to say about the matter. We have too many spineless men whose character, actions and heart is held captive by the opinions and pleasures of men. Even when those men are good men - at some level, this has to be a form of idolatry (This is kind of a separate point that could be a separate thread). About 5 years ago before I published some of my first thoughts on Type A and B fundamentalism, I determined that we needed to stop waiting for the leadeship of the larger ministries to address the issues at hand. So a few of us with fear and trembling (talk about misguided worry!) began to talk openly. Some of that was here at SI.
Perhaps with some of the more well-known leaders in more well-known ministries demonstrating a degree of increased open-ness to certain bread of militant and anti-eccuminical evangelical leaders, maybe now would be the time they would be open to such a gathering.
All of that being said, I would love to see Matt, Northland and others bring together this kind of a meeting. In the early days, the Leadership Conference in Lansdale had this kind of a feel. I remember the first several of those were “electric”….at least to me. My guess is the Lansdale Conference in 2011 will be a return to that atmosphere. Furthermore, it looks as if the meeting at Troy in January of 2011 will cover some of this, btw - the leaders leading the Troy conference while having very much by way of “content”, probably have very little by way of the “variety” - at least the kind of variety that some of you may be looking for with such a council. Of course that may be part of the point - I’ll find out by listening to the discussion….hopefully in person this time. Yes….I’m going to try and be at the Troy conference because it looks outstanding - and the guys talking have sharp minds and it’s been a while sense I’ve heard those guys talk together in public.
I’m hoping for a group hug at the end of the conference! :)
Standpoint initially tried to bring together a group of significant leaders from what I call the Type A, B and C worlds to discuss the issues at hand. None of them at the time were willing to go there. Perhaps with different people leading and different people hosting, we’ll be able to see such a gathering take place. That would be a thrill. These kinds of things have to have the unseen hand of God to make them work.
That’s a fact & there is a cause!
Straight Ahead!
jt
Dr. Joel Tetreau serves as Senior Pastor, Southeast Valley Bible Church (sevbc.org); Regional Coordinator for IBL West (iblministry.com), Board Member & friend for several different ministries;
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
[Jim Peet] On “time for a council” and the primacy of the local churchI basically agree with you on this point. There is no weight of authority that any such gathering would possess. It would be nice, however, if we could get some open discussion from acknowledged leaders and come to some conclusions for the rest of us to follow, one way or another. I could even be happy if such a gathering led to a parting of ways with some heading one direction and some another.
[Jim Peet] Pastors … man up to the fact that you don’t send kids to college. You never have (except your own) and you never will! Sure churches (youth pastors) influence a decision.Jim, I don’t agree with you in this sense: Pastors have a large influence over what schools are seen to be on the ‘approved’ list for a church. This is done by the literature you promote, the music/drama groups you might have in, the college reps, etc. Obviously each family makes their own decisions, but don’t discount the influence of pastoral ministry.
[Jim Peet] To Doran’s “clouds without water” quote above. That was instructive. With all due respect to Don (who raised some good points in my view!), he didn’t send any kids to NIU. Plus none from his church.Your point here seems to contradict your earlier point. But I don’t think it entirely washes. We have had a total of 7 young people head off to college from our church, if I am counting right. Four of them are my own kids. I am partial to my alma mater, so it stands to reason that I tend to support it most. However, we have had no problems with Northland up till now and have had two ministry teams from Northland in and a man who was VP at the time to come in and speak. I have never had a BJU team (they haven’t asked). So I think the point is somewhat moot. To whatever extent we have promoted any school, we have certainly promoted Northland and haven’t been averse to recommending it up till now.
I would say that is probably true of most of the men I have seen taking Northland to task on this issue.
[Jim Peet] A reminder that “the schools” aren’t the movement. (I’m not even sure there is a movement!).Here I really differ with you. In particular, Fundamentalism, for better or for worse, has been defined by its schools. Most of the dividing lines you see in Fundamentalism are around schools. There is, of course, some crossover, especially in the BJU/Maranatha/Detroit/Central/Northland orbit (up till now), but there are still “school led” loyalties, even in this group. I think there is a good reason for this, but it is the subject of a blog post I have been thinking about for awhile. Maybe it will see the light of day soon.
[Jim Peet] I doubt one parent at my church who sends a kid to NIU cares about thisMaybe not. I know of one parent who is very concerned about it. (Not in my church.)
~~~
Finally, I think we have beaten this subject to death and are probably coming to the end of the thread… although I can’t stop this compulsion to reply whenever someone touches on something I’ve said… It’s “SI Compulsion Disorder” … SICD…
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
[Don Johnson] There may be some on the ‘left fringe’ of Fundamentalism who will be attracted to Northland over this change, no doubt. But do you think this will even show up on the Conservative Evangelical radar screen? Why should they consider Northland? What could their motivation possibly be when they have their own schools already?Raises the interesting point that fundamentalists and their schools have a potential interest in maintaining certain distinctions from the rest of Christianity that has nothing to do with whether those distinctions are warranted by Scripture.
Furthermore, Don’s comments about a council as proposed perhaps giving conclusions we can act upon, together with his statement about institutions setting the direction for fundamentalism really highlight, for me at least, how much some of us seem to need a “movement”.
[Pastor Joe Roof]Who would be on the council?
While I am thankful that blogs like SI provide forums for many of us to talk, they can never replace a Bible-based council.
If we are unable to see a council of men together, doesn’t that speak poorly of the condition of the church in America today?
Hoping to shed more light than heat..
Discussion