Northland International University closing

I think that some fundamentalist schools have failed to appreciate their real base. There seemed to be a tendency to cultivate relationships with well-known preachers with sizable churches and Christian schools while the majority of their student body were second and third generations from smaller works. Add to this that the new generations were asking a lot of “whys” that their predecessors didn’t ask (for various reasons). The result seems to be that the younger generation doesn’t have the loyalty level of their parents. Couple that with bad experiences as a student, the realization that the Christian world is bigger than you were led to believe, and that getting a secular education at an accredited school won’t turn you into an apostate; and you may have some reasons for the current situation.

Jay,

I basically agree with you about your assessment of fundamentalist and their reaction to changes in the system.

Which is exactly my point about Olson and NIU failing to grasp that basic concept when making their non-changes. The other day I re-visited a couple other conversations from a couple years ago on Sharper Iron about NIU. I was curious to see what people were saying back then and how it lined-up with the reality of NIU today. I re-read Olson’s open letter from a few years ago, this was the same letter where he stated NIU was not changing, repeat, not changing. In this letter he expressed surprise at the push-back NIU received for having a couple speakers on campus from outside the usual constituent orbit. Many people commenting, including my own thoughts, expressed their own surprise - that Olson was surprised by the push-back.

It is a fact of human nature the we do not like change. Cedarville University recently has started to move in a more conservative direction which has caused frustration amongst many alumni and supporters.

This is why when I think people who constantly bash fundamentalists are ridiculous. Because we are human every denomination or system will have politics and faults of some kind. Some more than others and in different ways, but problems will exist. Do fundamentalists have faults? Definitely! Do conservative evangelicals have their own problems? Yes!

Every system, be it fundamentalism or conservative evangelicalism, sooner or later will evolve into various factions and thus politics.

So, back to my point, this is something Olson and NIU did not understand and therefore did not handle their changes and communication in an appropriate manner. When you have a limited market such as what NIU had, the process of change becomes even trickier because even a small change in support can have a significant financial impact.

I am not saying then that NIU, BJU, or Cedarville have no options to make adjustments. I’m not saying these organizations should be slaves to the most hardcore of their supporters. I am saying an organization needs to have a solid grasp of the psychological dynamics of its market and then process change in a wise and appropriate manner.

As I said earlier, Olson and many of his supporters got the college, errr university, they wanted with the philosophy of ministry they wanted, but what good does that matter if no one wanted to buy or could buy what they were offering? A large portion of the supporters of the changes were younger people, people that did not have any real means to support the college other than to cheer on the fact that NIU was not banning Gershwin anymore and had a concert with Big Daddy Weave. It is like a movie of someone pursuing hard after something and getting what they wanted only to hear crickets chirping because no one else is there.

Appreciated your last two posts. Thanks for sharing.

I think that we’re coming at it from opposite sides - you from the constituency that NIU alienated and me from the NIU friendly side - but I don’t think that makes us enemies or anything. I hope that people can learn from both sides here, and I know your comments are helping me.

[Jay]

Appreciated your last two posts. Thanks for sharing.

I think that we’re coming at it from opposite sides - you from the constituency that NIU alienated and me from the NIU friendly side - but I don’t think that makes us enemies or anything. I hope that people can learn from both sides here, and I know your comments are helping me.

Agreed!

[mmartin]

Jay,

I basically agree with you about your assessment of fundamentalist and their reaction to changes in the system.

Which is exactly my point about Olson and NIU failing to grasp that basic concept when making their non-changes. The other day I re-visited a couple other conversations from a couple years ago on Sharper Iron about NIU. I was curious to see what people were saying back then and how it lined-up with the reality of NIU today. I re-read Olson’s open letter from a few years ago, this was the same letter where he stated NIU was not changing, repeat, not changing. In this letter he expressed surprise at the push-back NIU received for having a couple speakers on campus from outside the usual constituent orbit. Many people commenting, including my own thoughts, expressed their own surprise - that Olson was surprised by the push-back.

It is a fact of human nature the we do not like change. Cedarville University recently has started to move in a more conservative direction which has caused frustration amongst many alumni and supporters.

This is why when I think people who constantly bash fundamentalists are ridiculous. Because we are human every denomination or system will have politics and faults of some kind. Some more than others and in different ways, but problems will exist. Do fundamentalists have faults? Definitely! Do conservative evangelicals have their own problems? Yes!

Every system, be it fundamentalism or conservative evangelicalism, sooner or later will evolve into various factions and thus politics.

So, back to my point, this is something Olson and NIU did not understand and therefore did not handle their changes and communication in an appropriate manner. When you have a limited market such as what NIU had, the process of change becomes even trickier because even a small change in support can have a significant financial impact.

I am not saying then that NIU, BJU, or Cedarville have no options to make adjustments. I’m not saying these organizations should be slaves to the most hardcore of their supporters. I am saying an organization needs to have a solid grasp of the psychological dynamics of its market and then process change in a wise and appropriate manner.

As I said earlier, Olson and many of his supporters got the college, errr university, they wanted with the philosophy of ministry they wanted, but what good does that matter if no one wanted to buy or could buy what they were offering? A large portion of the supporters of the changes were younger people, people that did not have any real means to support the college other than to cheer on the fact that NIU was not banning Gershwin anymore and had a concert with Big Daddy Weave. It is like a movie of someone pursuing hard after something and getting what they wanted only to hear crickets chirping because no one else is there.

It strikes me with Jay & MMartin both talking about the factions coming into something of a defensive crouch, that fundamentalism and Protestantism have often lost sight of the true glories of the Reformation; the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and the inerrancy of Scripture. Freed from the shackles of church tradition—that “old time religion” if you like—we could correct our errors by appeal to Scripture. I am not bound to BJ, BJ2, BJ3, Mark Driscoll, Spurgeon, Gill, Calvin, Luther, Zwingli, or whoever. I can take the things they’ve done right and leave their mistakes in the past where they belong.

Now getting “fundagelicals” to a robust appreciation for Sola Scriptura will take some doing, but if we want BJU, Cedarville, Faith, and the like to prosper in the future, it’s something we’ve got to do. Even if it involves Big Daddy Weave, it’s well worth the effort.

Note; I have no opinion of BDW, actually, but figured it was a good word picture to use.