by Dr. Bernard Bull
Worthy missions meddle in everything. They are wild and persistent, and will not settle for the status quo. Such missions call us to do hard things, embark on grand and noble quests, and embrace challenges and opportunities avoided or disregarded by others. They will not be tamed or caged in a few select portions of the school. They demand free range access and influence in every classroom, chapel, counseling session, court, field, board room, meeting, hallway, office, and program. They expect prominence in recruitment, marketing, hiring, fundraising, budgeting, policies, procedures, and even those informal conversations throughout the day. Worthy missions meddle in the most beautiful of ways.
Over twenty years I interviewed thousands of educators and school leaders. I studied hundreds of schools and learning communities. After two decades of listening, observing, researching, and reading about these schools, the ones that continue to be vivid in my memory and inspire me by their example are the ones that embrace a wild, clear, and compelling mission that is unleashed on the school, not just occasionally, but perpetually. These missions pester and permeate any siloed walls that might exist in a community or organization. They become so widespread that you would need to tear the schools down to get rid of them. These missions are so prevalent that you can ask anyone in the community and they will describe the mission with clarity and conviction: students, teachers, parents, administrators, board members, donors, and sometimes even people in the surrounding community.
Far from mild, I am referring to missions that are bold, so much so that they do not appeal to everyone. Yet, to those who are drawn to these mission-shaped schools, they are some of the most fervent fans, devoted donors, and compelling champions that you will ever meet. Quite often, such schools evoke the type of passion and loyalty that you see in the Lambeau Fields of the world.
These schools that I studied often embraced vastly different missions and convictions, but even when I might be opposed to some of those convictions, I came to respect the resolve of the leaders and the extent to which their missions shaped and reshaped everything in the school. They are luminous. They are distinct. They are not simply mission-informed. They are mission-driven.
Spending so long learning from and being inspired by these truly distinctive and mission-obsessed schools changed me. In some ways, I’ve become less tolerant and uninspired by lukewarm schools that struggle to let their missions and convictions drive them to create truly compelling, compassionate, creative, and courageous Christian education alternatives. There is certainly wisdom in Paul’s words about being “all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some.” There is value in learning from best and promising practices embraced by the larger education ecosystem. There is prudence in approaching such work with humility and respect in the face of solid research. Yet, schools that simply reflect the status quo in education so often fail to shine with the brightness that I’ve witnessed in these schools that chose the path less trodden. Perhaps that is okay. There is certainly plenty of good that happens in schools more broadly.
Nonetheless, I confess to having no interest in investing the rest of my life’s work in maintaining the educational status quo. I want to serve and lead in a Lutheran school that embraces a wild and compelling mission like what I described above, and I’m so honored to be serving in such a place right now. I further consider it is a personal quest to serve as an active champion and passionate supporter of those Lutheran schools and leaders who choose to embark on a similar journey.
Salvation by grace through faith in Christ is radical in our culture. In a world that strives for identity, purpose, meaning, value, worth, and acceptance in all sorts of ways, a distinctly Lutheran mission proclaims that all such pursuits are ultimately in vain, but answers are revealed at the foot of the cross. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Far from an abstract concept, this is a truth that transform what we do, why we do it, and how we do it in Lutheran education. God’s Word does not conform to the patterns of this world. Our call to love our neighbors, our enemies, and those who persecute us runs counter to the sinful nature that compels us inward.
A learning community shaped and reshaped by God’s Word can and will drive us deeper into a compelling mission, one that motivates us to point students to the reality that their worth and identity is found in Jesus Christ and no academic, athletic, or creative accomplishments. Such a mission moves us to equip students for lives of learning, service, and leadership in the church and the world; being salt and light as they live out their many callings. Now that is a compelling mission, and I thank God often for the honor of joining so many of you on such a grand and noble quest as is this global movement that we call Lutheran education, one that starts and ends at the foot of the cross.
Dr. Bernard Bull is the President of Concordia University Nebraska.