“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” Col 3:1-2 (ESV).
Christ-Centered is one of the four core values of North Greenville University. There are really only two ways that people live their lives, Christ-centered or self-centered. One of the surprising confessions of newlyweds is that they never realized how selfish they were before they married someone. A major part of our sinful nature is that we want things our way, but Christ’s way is always better. Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of God. He is the only Savior, Lord of lords, King of kings, fully God and fully man. He is both the center and the subject of all of life for believers. Only Jesus can turn our selfishness to being centered in Christ.
Christ-centeredness begins with a personal relationship with Jesus through faith and repentance. He is Lord of all. He is the only Savior (John 14:6). He is fully God and fully man. He lived a life of human flourishing (life to its fullest) while revealing to us the perfection of our Creator. Jesus was in the beginning with God, the active agent in creation. He is God. He is the living Word of God who became flesh and lived among humanity. He is full of grace and truth. Grace without truth leads to permissiveness. It breeds deception, compromise, and a false view of freedom. It can even become an excuse to sin by rationalizing the behavior. On the other hand, truth without grace leads to an empty orthodoxy that reveals itself as legalism. It breeds self-righteousness and arrogance which ironically may appear on the surface as humility but is, in reality, a false humility. Jesus was full of grace and truth, the perfect balance. Being centered in Christ is to embrace this balance of grace and truth. Jesus spoke the truth seasoned with grace and he expressed grace within the bounds of truth.
NGU must be Christ-Centered if we are to fulfill our mission of building transformational leaders for church and society. Spiritual formation is at the heart of this task. Transformation is usually caught more than it is taught. As we live lives reading and applying God’s Word, exhibiting a life of prayer by seeking God’s leadership, and modeling personal holiness as we walk alongside others (students, faculty, staff, and administration in my context) in their spiritual journeys, we are intentionally building transformational leaders for church and society.
As a Christ-Centered community, we must pray for all of our constituents. Spend some time in prayer for our students. Faculty members may want to pray over their class rosters, remembering every student in every class. You might be the only person praying for that student. Ask God to bring conviction, repentance, and faith to the lives of unbelievers. Pray for the many students at NGU who are believers. Ask God to show them how to grow in their faith, balancing grace and truth. It is a privilege to be a part of this Christ-centered community that seeks to live as academic disciples of Christ.