Thanks to Bobby Ross and the Christian Chronicle for this interview with Bruce McLarty. It is important that we let Dr. McLarty lay out his vision without assuming we know his conclusions before they are made and/or communicated. From the contact I have had with Dr. McLarty in the past I was always struck by how grace-filled he seemed to be and yet still had convictions about his core beliefs. You hear that balance in this interview and I think that is one of the necessary tensions (if you want to call it that) that has to be maintained in order to move ahead in healthy and Christ-like ways.
Q&A: Harding University’s next president on faith, Christian higher education and Churches of Christ
6 Responses
“From the contact I have had with Dr. McLarty in the past I was always struck by how grace-filled he seemed to be and yet still had convictions about his core beliefs.”
Grace filled AND still had convictions?! Yeah, right!! Lol
Are you saying it is an either or?
No, at least it shouldn’t be. I was mostly being (trying to be) funny towards your wording. The fact that you were “struck” by the man being BOTH grace filled and “still had convictions” just stood out to me.
Ultimately, it comes down to definitions. Oftentimes, the ones “holding to their convictions” are encouraged to be more grace-filled. Also, the grace filled ones are often encouraged to have more convictions. I suspect that any man could and would be accused of needing more of one or the other….
ahh…got it. I guess I used that word because it was so obvious that he was both by the way he carried himself, the words he used, attitude, etc.
Read the article. Sounds like a good man. But also sounds very committed to churches of Christ. The devil is in the details. So we have to wait and see.
There are no perfect universities or university presidents. Let’s pray for him!
Prayers are certainly needed. I don’t see his commitment to Churches of Christ as problematic at all. Students know going in that is Harding’s heritage. It shouldn’t really be a shocker to anyone. What is more, I don’t see anyone expecting state schools to not be state schools or non-restoration private universities to become restoration type private universities. So I don’t really know why would we expect Harding to distance itself from its heritage in the Restoration movement (and churches of Christ in particular). Now, every family has a crazy uncle or two and it makes sense that we will feel like distancing ourselves from every nuance of every view of the most extreme parts of our movement has held over the years (especially those that don’t fit the tenor of scripture).