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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Seriously, I wonder if there are not some regional aspects to the comments being made. I don’t know where everyone is from but I know that Dr. Olsen is not surrounded by SBC churches up in Northland. Some of the other higher profile posts have come from people who are from the North.
Here in the chilly South (25 today), I am surrounded by the SBC. One of their key seminaries is in town—SEBTS. Because of that, many outsiders tend to think that we are SBC. Some of our church family used to attend SBC churches. Moreover, the SBC down here is varied with conservative (sometimes very conservative) churches all the way to very liberal. In showing the distinction between ourselves and the SBC there has been tension with some of our members who were formerly associated with the denomination. Remember, they have no thought out doctrine of separation…none at all.
I’m wondering if pastors who are more affected by the SBC are also more passionate about what Northland and others are doing in regards to the inclusion of SBC leaders at “fundamentalists” schools and churches. It seems to make sense that it would matter more to us than to someone who doesn’t deal with the SBC very often.
Matt
@DMD and “clouds without water”- I had a currently-enrolled Northland freshman whose family we have known since we ministered in Iowa contact me yesterday as she tried to make sense of the matter. She is feeling rather unsettled in regards to these events, and is considering if this should affect her current enrollment there. I am treading carefully on how I handle that, but I am not at all skeptical that this is ultimately a non-issue for everyone.
Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN
[Louise Dan] This IS a change. But sadly, it’s a change without acknowledgment of or repentance over the legitimate problems they are addressing. Which means it won’t be Biblical change. There is no humble heart of repentance. Apart from that, it’s just changing the externals.Humble heart of repentance? If I may be so bold as to ask, repentance for what exactly?
JO
[JeremyO]but I think what Louise may have been talking about is … say a student was disciplined and even expelled for listening to … I don’t know- Casting Crowns. And now the rules have changed, let’s say Casting Crowns is perfectly acceptable. What is the school’s responsibility to students who were penalized for behavior that is now allowed? After all, damage was done to a student’s life and reputation. Do they offer an apology? A refund? A really nice Hallmark sympathy card?[Louise Dan] This IS a change. But sadly, it’s a change without acknowledgment of or repentance over the legitimate problems they are addressing. Which means it won’t be Biblical change. There is no humble heart of repentance. Apart from that, it’s just changing the externals.Humble heart of repentance? If I may be so bold as to ask, repentance for what exactly?
Personally, the student knew the rules and made a decision to disobey the rules, and was disciplined accordingly. But I’ve seen the root of bitterness spring up when the rules change and leadership acts very nonchalant about it. It isn’t the change so much as refusing to acknowledge the confusion caused by these kinds of policy reversals. At least that’s how I’m perceiving it.
Which comes back to Bro. Linscott’s point- it isn’t the change so much as the manner in which they are being presented.
I agree that there is nothing to indicate at this point that the changes Bro. Olson is suggesting means that they are painting the walls of the chapel black and installing disco balls, fog machines, and drum sets on stage. Right now it’s more of a “Bob likes macaroni and I like Bob so therefore I like macaroni”- ‘guilt’ by association with Holland.
A few quick thoughts in reply:
(1) My point was not that some people would be influenced by the happenings and conversation regarding the happenings, it was that more often than not, it has been my observation that pastors who say things like “I’ll not be recommending XYZ place anymore” usually haven’t had a whole lot of students from their churches attending there anyway. I’ll speak for myself, it is basically window dressing to my argument if I, after explaining my concerns about, say West Coast, then say, so I won’t be recommending it to our students. My non-recommendation will have zero effect on their enrollment. We will have no less students going there then we currently do.
(2) I am not surprised that anybody reading this thread would now have doubts about NIU! What would be interesting to know is whether they got them from Matt’s letter or from the public insinuations of naivete or disingenuousness. Perhaps it was the public expression of suspicions about hidden reasons for staff changes. Maybe it is one of the cowbells people tried to tie around Matt/NIU based on the actions and beliefs of people once or twice removed. I’ll concede that Matt set himself up for this by sending out an open letter, but I’ll cast my vote with those who think the nature of this conversation is a significant piece of evidence regarding the ill-health of separatism in our day.
(3) As a parent who has a son at NIU, I can say without hesitation that: (a) having Bruce Ware teach a block class for pastors does not concern me; (b) that the music that is used in chapel and around campus is consistent with what I believe is conservative Christian music; and (c) the the new system of discipleship/discipline is not providing any evidence to me of relaxing standards, etc. As to who speaks in chapel, this has always been my biggest beef with all of the schools, so I’ve got no new problem here (but maybe I am a grouch about this and it might be better to ignore me—the schools do!).
Just to preempt any scuffle some of what I have said might produce, I’m logging out right after I post this. I’ll leave the last word to others.
DMD
[Susan R] Bro. Mount- I can’t imagine getting expelled over music either, but I was just trying to get across the point I think Louise was trying to make- that if a student was disciplined for actions that are now allowed, shouldn’t the college admin ‘repent’?Fair enough. I think the principle there is that it depends on the rule. Rule changes happen all the time, and let’s face it, 90% of rules at a Christian college are functional, not moral. “Don’t chew gum in the classrooms” is not a moral rule; that is, it isn’t aimed at curbing immoral or sinful behavior as there is nothing inherently sinful about chewing gum in a classroom. Nor is it an unjust rule, because there is nothing inherently praiseworthy, nor are any foundational rights as a human being infringed upon, when someone is chewing gum in a classroom. So when someone breaks that rule and is punished, and later on that rule is dropped, there’s no harm done. In the case of, say, inter-racial dating, that *did* infringe on human rights and dignity in the name of scriptural teaching, so people were wronged by the execution of that rule, and therefore they must be approached with repentance on the part of the institution that created the damaging rule.
So in any of these cases of alleged change, should the school be writing letters to formerly-disciplined students? Matt laid out three areas where they are refocusing their efforts:
- The way of Discipleship - I read this as, “We’re not changing the rules of conduct but we are changing how we handle students who break those rules.” If the rules aren’t changing, then there’s no cause for repentance.
- Our Music Philosophy - This area, to me, is the one area where you might could argue for a call for repentance, but again, if there are to be rule changes about what bands are or aren’t allowed, they’re functional changes only. Human decency is not violated because I can’t listen to MercyMe on-campus. It was just a rule, and Susan, as you pointed out quite correctly, students know that going in. If someone did have “music violations” in their litany of demerit offenses, it’s very likely there was a host of other, unrelated, rules that were broken, and that speaks more to their own attitude towards rules than anything else. NIU can’t repent of enforcing the rules on a student intent on breaking them all.
- Our Guest Speakers - repentance to students doesn’t really apply here because students weren’t involved in selecting and inviting chapel speakers.
So if that truly was Louise’s question (Should the administration be repenting to students?), then my response is no, they don’t have any reason to repent in this case because they did not wrong anyone.
But then you still have the fact that students know where the land lies, and if they trespass, the responsibility is unavoidably on them anyway.
The problem with this way of correction and discipleship is 1) some students find it very easy to break the rules but not get caught and 2) some students find it easy to follow rules yet have a heart of stone. So, if I understand their new way of discipleship, it will allow them the ability to discipleship every student (it almost seems as if it included faculty/staff as well) regardless of whether they broke any rules.
That last part was sarcasm, btw.
[Susan R]1. You must have NIU confused with another school if you think that a student would be expelled for listening to Casting Crowns, so I’m not even sure how to respond to that. Disciplined is more accurate, and yes, as the rules formerly stated, there were demerits assigned or the student would have to meet with the dean of men(probably a worse fate than being expelled) as a result of listening to such vile “worldly” music.[JeremyO]but I think what Louise may have been talking about is … say a student was disciplined and even expelled for listening to … I don’t know- Casting Crowns. And now the rules have changed, let’s say Casting Crowns is perfectly acceptable. What is the school’s responsibility to students who were penalized for behavior that is now allowed? After all, damage was done to a student’s life and reputation. Do they offer an apology? A refund? A really nice Hallmark sympathy card?[Louise Dan] This IS a change. But sadly, it’s a change without acknowledgment of or repentance over the legitimate problems they are addressing. Which means it won’t be Biblical change. There is no humble heart of repentance. Apart from that, it’s just changing the externals.Humble heart of repentance? If I may be so bold as to ask, repentance for what exactly?
Personally, the student knew the rules and made a decision to disobey the rules, and was disciplined accordingly. But I’ve seen the root of bitterness spring up when the rules change and leadership acts very nonchalant about it. It isn’t the change so much as refusing to acknowledge the confusion caused by these kinds of policy reversals. At least that’s how I’m perceiving it.
Which comes back to Bro. Linscott’s point- it isn’t the change so much as the manner in which they are being presented.
2. The rules were, in fact, the rules so the “root of bitterness springing up” is the sin and ultimately the responsibility of the individual, not NIU, so no “Hallmark card” necessary.
3. To call this a policy “reversal” is simple ignorance. It’s not a reversal. It is the long overdue abandonment of a biblically indefensable position (Read either of Dan Lucarini’s books if you want a lesson in the clumsy treatment of the Bible on the topic of music).
4. How are the leaders of NIU being non chalant?
JO
[JeremyO]The answer to all of your questions is that I was giving a hypothetical situation to explain where I thought Louise might have been going with her comments.
1. You must have NIU confused with another school if you think that a student would be expelled for listening to Casting Crowns, so I’m not even sure how to respond to that. Disciplined is more accurate, and yes, as the rules formerly stated, there were demerits assigned or the student would have to meet with the dean of men(probably a worse fate than being expelled) as a result of listening to such vile “worldly” music.
2. The rules were, in fact, the rules so the “root of bitterness springing up” is the sin and ultimately the responsibility of the individual, not NIU, so no “Hallmark card” necessary.
3. To call this a policy “reversal” is simple ignorance. It’s not a reversal. It is the long overdue abandonment of a biblically indefensable position (Read either of Dan Lucarini’s books if you want a lesson in the clumsy treatment of the Bible on the topic of music).
4. How are the leaders of NIU being non chalant?
The next time I have the impulse to explain someone else’s post, would someone please belt me over the head with a nine iron? Thanks.
I’m guessing that there aren’t that many SBC churches in Pembine or Iron Mountain. I’ll even bet that there are more SBC churches withing 35 miles of me than are in the whole state of Wisconsin. If Dr. Olsen has a teacher from Louisville come to teach in one of his classes, I’m guessing that it will mean less to those who know less of the SBC and deal with them less often than I do.
I spoke with him briefly about this and one thing I truly appreciate is his personable, approachable attitude. I also came away from our conversation thankful for Dr. Olsen’s sincere commitment to doing things Biblically. All those who are criticizing him on this forum might disagree with him but I’d be careful to question his desire to please the Lord. I’m not saying anyone has directly done that…but some of the comments have been pretty close.
Matt
[Dave Doran]Yup. Nailed that right on the head, Dr. Doran.
(2) I am not surprised that anybody reading this thread would now have doubts about NIU! What would be interesting to know is whether they got them from Matt’s letter or from the public insinuations of naivete or disingenuousness. Perhaps it was the public expression of suspicions about hidden reasons for staff changes. Maybe it is one of the cowbells people tried to tie around Matt/NIU based on the actions and beliefs of people once or twice removed. I’ll concede that Matt set himself up for this by sending out an open letter, but I’ll cast my vote with those who think the nature of this conversation is a significant piece of evidence regarding the ill-health of separatism in our day.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
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