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:

  1. For God to give us vision and clarity for what He wanted at Northland.
  2. For wisdom in navigating from where we were to where we needed to be.
  3. For boldness and grace—as we knew the process would be difficult.
  4. For abundant provision.
  5. 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

Discussion

The chicago way will not die. The mentality that it is best for the young people to just sit down, shut up, and believe what you are told by the veterans of the mob wars is still all too real.

Too many make decisions based on fear under the disguise of biblical faithfulness. I am glad Northland is moving away from the neofundamentalism of yesteryear and instead moving toward actual historic fundamentalism.

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.

[Susan R] I believe that thinking of 18+ young people as being little more than large children is wrong-headed. And if these young people are attending college without two brain cells to rub together or the ability to adequately discern truth from heresy, it’s the parents who need to be paid a visit. Where is the discipling, mentoring, and training before these kids turn 18? And if, angels forfend, young men and women are into “hero worshipping’ at the expense of truth, then they are idolaters at heart, and that’s a problem that a university isn’t responsible for nor is it really equipped to handle at the institutional level.
I think you are hitting on a long-standing, deep-seated problem within fundamentalism. We really have come a long, long way, but there is still a lot further to go in some quarters. By the time a young adult graduates from high school and goes off to a fundamentalist college, he or she should already be somewhat prepared for life and should be excited about learning new information at a very high level (worth $15,000+ per year[?] ), sorted through a Biblical worldview.

He should not need to be told things like when to go to bed and when to get up. This isn’t the military, and “because we said so” is not a good enough reason to have such a rule. (Perhaps institutions also need to become rigorous in their entrance requirements.)

The same applies to “pulpit fellowship.” If I can turn on my radio or MP3 player and hear world-class teaching at the touch of a button, why would I want to invest a life savings into hearing mediocre (or worse) chapel speakers and teachers — such as inadequately-trained evangelists and pastors who are important to the school’s constituency.

Technology is changing all this. It is not so much that today’s students are more sophisticated — it is simply that they have more options and many of them are not going to put up with this kind of thing any longer at today’s costs.

Pastor Thomas states: “Some hastily applaud and justify these moves by pointing out the shameful fact that our institutions have used chapel sessions to expose our students to the worst that fundamentalism has to offer (poor theology and worse exegesis).”

I would add, let’s not be too hasty in dismissing the harm that this has caused in the lives of young people or the damage it has brought to fundamentalism’s reputation.

Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

[James K] The chicago way will not die. The mentality that it is best for the young people to just sit down, shut up, and believe what you are told by the veterans of the mob wars is still all too real.
You’re kind of losing me on what the mob wars have to do with anything here.
[James K] Too many make decisions based on fear under the disguise of biblical faithfulness.
I wonder how you could know that? I mean, I don’t doubt it happens, but how do you know how “many” have done this?
[James K] I am glad Northland is moving away from the neofundamentalism of yesteryear and instead moving toward actual historic fundamentalism.
I think it’s fair to say that historic fundamentalism had a different focus—anti-modernism vs. anti-evangelicalism. And I would agree that, as a focus, this was much healthier. On the other hand, it might be naive to suppose that we can sort of turn back the hands of the clock as though the neo-evangelical movement never happened. It did happen, and so the simplicity of the pre-NEA and pre-Billy Graham days of fundamentalism are truly beyond reach now. There’s no putting that paste back in the tube.
[Susan] Where is the discipling, mentoring, and training before these kids turn 18? And if, angels forfend, young men and women are into “hero worshipping’ at the expense of truth, then they are idolaters at heart, and that’s a problem that a university isn’t responsible for nor is it really equipped to handle at the institutional level.
I don’t really disagree with this except that we have to deal with what is. Schools have to train the students they have, not the students they ought to have. And it’s a solid observation that younger folks tend more toward hero worship than older ones. You tend get a little more skeptical by the time you’re 40. So we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the “Schools need to be careful who they hold up as examples for the adoring fans” argument.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

“The Meeting” fascinates me
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.
Questions / Comments:
  • “we decided that the best way to address this was to meet him face to face”. Comment: I would think that one could know quite a bit about John MacArthur by just reading his books and following his ministry.
  • ” … went to California …”. From a businessman’s perspective you would think they could set up a meeting without the expense of traveling. You know each group in a conference room with a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycom] Polycom .
  • This is would like to see fleshed out
    • “while we did not agree on everything” - as in like what!
    • “we did agree on the most substantive issues of life and ministry” - ditto
    • “discuss significant issues of our day” - ditto
    As to Don’s blog post ( http://www.sharperiron.org/filings/11-23-10/17090] filing here ):
    • Some have seen that Don’s comments are “condescending and obnoxious”. I don’t see it that way. I think he raised some good points like - what changed since 2005? (with links back to the old S/I)
    • As to “It is simply unbelievable that you didn’t see a huge negative reaction coming”. No negative reaction from me, but I can see why many would react the way that apparently they have!
    • I can see the value of having Ware speak to D Min students. At that level you would think they would be able to sort out the wheat from the chaff of any conversation.

[WilliamD] I wonder that if schools like Northland get to cozy with Southern Baptist and Non-Denominational colleges - will they lose students to those schools and end up dying due to lack of enough of a fundamentalist distinction? This is what I think some might fear who disagree with Northland on this.
Quite the opposite WilliamD. The “schools like Northland” are ALREADY losing students to other colleges and universities by the droves because they do NOT expose their students to a more diverse view of the whole of conservative Christianity and give them an environment in which to fail, pick themselves back up and try again. That’s why the Liberty Universities and Cedarvilles continue to set new attendance records while Pillsbury closes and multiple other similar schools are on life-support in the face of dropping enrollment (Names redacted to avoid unnecessary controversy). They get it…. albeit sometimes imperfectly and in some cases in ways that deserve some brotherly confrontation, but they seem to understand where today’s generation of college-aged students are living.

The Southern Baptist colleges are by and large gone. Corrupt. They saved some of their seminaries, but lost their colleges. I can’t think of one original SBC college where I’d fit theologically. The failure of the fundamental colleges and universities to reach out and include a broader definition of “fundamentalism” (aka “historic”) has forever stunted their ability to have a leadership role in the direction of evangelicalism in general (as they once did.) It’s a shame.

Today, fundamentalist colleges/universities fight for a shrinking pool of available candidates who would even consider attending there and in order to attract a loyal following, they define themselves too frequently with narrow, extraBiblical positions that appeal only to people who already sing in their own choirs. If fundamentalism represents TRUTH, why should we not be using it to challenge the thinking of others rather than retreat to our high-walled palaces and waiting for the inevitable? Can it not stand up to the pimply-faced emergent kid who walks on campus with “Velvet Elvis” under his arm? Do we not have scholars who can pick apart deconstructionism and hyper-Calvinism and social gospel revivalists? How can we expect to make an impact when we are more concerned about purity in the puddle than making waves in the ocean?

And on another note, whether or not Olsen was naive (or even manipulative) requires a level of insight and judging with which I’m not comfortable. How frequently have I, when on the defensive, tried to explain my rationale for something and ended up inaccurately articulating my heart and motivation. Leaders are human and prone to pride, paranoia and simple mistakes. I don’t understand the rush to pin Olson’s motivation to the wall by virtue of a single letter. Johnson seems like a weak and pathetic choice to try and do so for those who seem so inclined.

Dan Burrell Cornelius, NC Visit my Blog "Whirled Views" @ www.danburrell.com

[Jim Peet]
  • “we decided that the best way to address this was to meet him face to face”. Comment: I would think that one could know quite a bit about John MacArthur by just reading his books and following his ministry.

    As to Don’s blog post ( http://www.sharperiron.org/filings/11-23-10/17090] filing here ):
    • Some have seen that Don’s comments are “condescending and obnoxious”. I don’t see it that way.
As for the first point — Actually, you will find the “in person” John MacArthur to be quite different than in his books. While his books come off rigid and at times harsh, in person he is warm, expansive and reasonable. I think it was an excellent idea to talk to John, Rick and Phil in person — all of whom are immensely intelligent and interesting men. In addition, one of the problems in fundamentalism has been that we tend to talk “over” each other in the form of books and open letters rather than “to” each other.

On the second item — I really find that stunning, Jim. Seriously, you don’t find a palpable difference in the tone of Johnson vs Olson?

Dan Burrell Cornelius, NC Visit my Blog "Whirled Views" @ www.danburrell.com

[Dan Burrell] On the second item — I really find that stunning, Jim. Seriously, you don’t find a palpable difference in the tone of Johnson vs Olson?
  • Yes I see I difference in the tone
  • And no, I didn’t find Don’s comments “condescending and obnoxious” nor do I find him “weak and pathetic”
Suggest you interact with his views (whether you agree with him or not)

On these two I agree with Don:
  • “It is simply unbelievable that you didn’t see a huge negative reaction coming” (Like I said early … no negative reaction form me!)
  • And Don’s comparison of NBBC circa 2005 versus today.
    • Whether the change is good or bad, for better or for worse
    • It is a change
* I would be ok with John Mac speaking at my own church!

[Dan Burrell] If fundamentalism represents TRUTH, why should we not be using it to challenge the thinking of others rather than retreat to our high-walled palaces and waiting for the inevitable? Can it not stand up to the pimply-faced emergent kid who walks on campus with “Velvet Elvis” under his arm? Do we not have scholars who can pick apart deconstructionism and hyper-Calvinism and social gospel revivalists? How can we expect to make an impact when we are more concerned about purity in the puddle than making waves in the ocean?
Amen, good thoughts, Dan.

Striving for the unity of the faith, for the glory of God ~ Eph. 4:3, 13; Rom. 15:5-7 I blog at Fundamentally Reformed. Follow me on Twitter.

“We did not see that having these speakers would be a significant problem.”

“It is simply unbelievable that you didn’t see a huge negative reaction coming”.

These are two entirely different issues. I don’t “see” a problem with it either, although I might “foresee” others having a problem with it. Perhaps this whole line of interpreting Olsen’s letter is skewed.

Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

[Dan Burrell] And on another note, whether or not Olsen was naive (or even manipulative) requires a level of insight and judging with which I’m not comfortable. How frequently have I, when on the defensive, tried to explain my rationale for something and ended up inaccurately articulating my heart and motivation. Leaders are human and prone to pride, paranoia and simple mistakes. I don’t understand the rush to pin Olson’s motivation to the wall by virtue of a single letter. Johnson seems like a weak and pathetic choice to try and do so for those who seem so inclined.
Dan,

The choice of words used by Olson in this letter is what I am basing my agreement with Don’s point on. Supporting the recent choices of Olson at Northland is another issue. Olson’s intentions, even in this letter, perhaps are commendable. But to say “we did not see” or “knowing now that these decisions might be confusing, misunderstood, or miscommunicated” (as though there was no possible reason to anticipate negative reaction) is bordering on impossible, especially in light of the specific events that Don highlighted when Les Ollila withdrew from the God-Focused conference because of Holland’s inclusion as a speaker. A friend who was intimately involved at Positive Action at that time shared details of the situation at that time that included the decision to have Ollila withdraw being initiated by Olson himself.

Again, I am not disputing whether or not this is the right direction for Northland. What I am disputing is whether or not the situation is being represented accurately by Olson. If he believes that was the wrong decision back then, fine- Man up and say so. But don’t go all Casablanca on us and say that you’re shocked, shocked to find gambling going on at Rick’s.

An aside- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27845030/ns/us_news-life] Stephen Jones is a model of what good leadership can (and should) do in situations like these:
[Stephen Jones, ] Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it.

In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.
“We were wrong” is hard, but it is sometimes what is needed. This Northland issue may not rise to the same level as BJU racist issue, but it is a similar admission that I believe is called for if Olson wants to maintain personal and institutional integrity.

Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN

[Greg Linscott] Again, I am not disputing whether or not this is the right direction for Northland. What I am disputing is whether or not the situation is being represented accurately by Olson. If he believes that was the wrong decision back then, fine- Man up and say so.
For me, that is not the issue at all. Not being a Northland grad or anything, maybe I just don’t have a dog in the hunt. But to me this is a teachable moment to evaluate the substance of where fundamentalism has been and where it is going — in terms of the question of which is more important: theology and Biblical content, or separation (which in theory is supposed to be based on theology and content, but has often been pushed to center stage, with theology becoming a political football).

Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Can we correct the spelling error on Dr Olson’s name?

Should be

olsOn

I know it may not be that big of a deal, but it is a bit distracting probably to most that attended N under him.

Thanks

Paul,

The problem I see is with this situation is if changes in Fundamentalism are needed, leaders implementing them while simultaneously appealing that they are keeping things the way they always have been does no one any good.

Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN

Perhaps Northland’s critics could help us understand their position better by taking a moment to answer the following questions:

1. In what way did Rick Holland’s chapel appearance hurt the cause of biblical Christianity?

2. How does a public denunciation of Rick Holland and Bruce Ware better advance the cause of the gospel?

3. How does completely sealing off fundamentalism from the rest of conservative Christianity promote a healthier fundamentalism?

4. Why do you feel that indoctrination is the best educational model? In other words, how will a “see no evangelical, hear no evangelical” approach to education improve the quality of the graduates?

Just wondering.

[Daniel] Can we correct the spelling error on Dr Olson’s name?

Should be

olsOn
Fixed now. Thanks for pointing it out. I’m not one of the regular editors, but I try to fix these when I know about them (names are harder, since you have to know them first).

Dave Barnhart