ZERO DARK THIRTY

"Zero dark thirty" is military slang for any unspecified time between midnight and dawn. Whatever time it is, at zero dark thirty, it's dark. And spiritually in America, it's zero dark thirty, more zero dark thirty than it's ever been. Just as Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, learned in September 2014.

NO SMALL ACADEMIC POTATOES

You're probably thinking, "I never heard of Gordon College or Wenham, Massachusetts," and you'd be in the majority. A little back story is therefore necessary. Since it's zero dark thirty in America, little Gordon College, with an undergraduate enrollment of 1,736, is engaged in a twelve-month fight for its life. To help us understand why, we need to know is that Gordon is a private Christian school. We've never heard of it because if it has a football team, it hardly ranks with Alabama, Ohio State, or Texas Tech. As far as I know, its basketball team has never been invited by the NCAA to the Big Dance in March.

Even if you and I haven't heard of Gordon College, there are those who have, Forbes Magazine, for one. In its August 2014 issue, Forbes ranked Gordon in the top nine percent of all U.S. colleges and universities (out of 6,650 total accredited colleges and universities). That's no small potatoes; if there were an Ivy League for Christian schools, Gordon would rank second only to Wheaton College, located in Wheaton, Illinois. So, we're not talking about a degree mill or a "get your ordination by mail" whose campus is a P. O. Box.

 A DISCOVERY OF THE IMPERMISSIBLE 

What's happened is that it has come to light that Gordon College has committed the unforgivable sin in a zero dark thirty society--it has a policy, in writing, that requires every student and every employee "to limit sexual activity to marriage, which is defined as the union of one man and one woman." This is the policy of almost every orthodox Christian school and church in America. But such a statement and such a policy is not to be permitted without a serious challenge with serious consequences.

But, really, what can a zero dark thirty America do to Gordon? Look at what happened to the Big Chicken, Chick-fil-A--the wrath descended on them; they took the blows and emerged victorious. No problem; they raked in more serious cash than ever before. They did more than just survive. Same for the giant Hobby Lobby. They met the challenge, took the blows, and came out a winner.

But we're not talking giants here, we're talking about little Gordon College all nestled in liberal New England, only 25 miles from Boston, hardly red state (and redneck) territory.

THE WRATH IS DESCENDING

 And so, in a zero dark thirty America, the wrath is descending on Gordon. The first blow was a glancing one--the city of Salem decided to retract the contract which had allowed the college to use the Old Town Hall. This was spiteful and did no harm to the school. So far, so good.

But then came the blows to the head. The Lynn School District refused to continue their 11-year contract with Gordon to let Gordon's student teachers teach in their classrooms. This was odd and one would think illegal because they're denying the students their right to associate freely and speak freely. In addition, the school system, in doing what they did, was punishing the students who may or may not agree with the Gordon's stance. The action of the board of the Lynn School District was, in effect, killing the school's education department.

THE KNOCK-OUT PUNCH?

But more than that, the blow that could prove to be the knock-out punch was the one thrown by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The NEASC is the accrediting agency for Gordon. In September 2014, the NEASC told the school that they have one year to get their house in order and not "discriminate." Which, being interpreted means, "Toe the mark or we'll destroy you." The NEASC, at their discretion, may revoke Gordon's accreditation. And that's bad because students won't attend an unaccredited school. Without accreditation, none of their courses nor their degrees would be recognized by other schools, so out goes graduate school elsewhere for Gordon grads and no students could transfer courses already completed to another school. That's just one of the problems for an unaccredited school.

THE BIG CHICKEN

Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby have their millions of fans to support them, but Gordon College has no power players nor the collective mass of those who live in the Red States to rally to their cause. The stakes are high, as high as the future of Christian education in America. This is a battle for "the ability and the freedom to transmit knowledge and values from one generation to the next." (David French)

HOW TO WIN EVERY FOOTBALL GAME

A football team can win every game if it decides to run all over the stadium out of bounds to score "touchdowns," and demand six points for each time they crossed the goal line. Such a team would be unstoppable if there were no boundaries. The action of the NEASC steps way out of bounds and by doing so, ensures winning.

The function of an accrediting agency is restricted to the academic standards and financial stability of a school, it's out of bounds for them to examine and then dictate the school's religious beliefs and policies, but this is what is happening at zero dark thirty. If they had that power, they could withdraw a school's credentials for holding any doctrine with they disagreed.

By playing the game out of bounds, could they not just as easily decide that faith alone in Christ alone for salvation is "discriminatory?" Could they not examine the doctrinal statement of a Christian school and find that John 14:6 repulses them? Couldn't they examine a school's teaching on hell and find it offended their sensibilities?

Michael Brown summarized the matter with much-needed biblical wisdom when he wrote an article for the "Christian Post" in which he addressed some encouraging words to the President of the school, Michael Lindsay:

"Do you want to send the message across America (and beyond) that when culture changes, we capitulate to culture? That a practice expressly forbidden by the Bible and all major forms of Christianity through the centuries becomes acceptable if enough people sign a petition? That sufficient pressure exerted from some alumni or students or faculty can overturn God's Word? That accreditation is more important than morality?

"I pray your message will be that the potential loss of accreditation is a small price to pay for obedience to God.

"Jesus said that whoever loved father or mother or son or daughter more than Him was not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37). Surely those of us who love secular accreditation and its many benefits more than the Lord are not worthy of Him either.

"But why must the state (or accrediting agency) set the standards? What if that school has a unique purpose and function? What if it needs to major on things the state considers minor and minor on things the state considers major? Why must it conform? To offer degrees, of course! This too is idolatry.

"I'm sure there are many excellent standards set by accreditation organizations and many excellent benefits that accrue with accreditation.

"But when those organizations demand that we revise biblical morality in order to keep our accreditation, we respectfully decline without hesitation or flinching. Really now, if believers worldwide are losing their lives rather than compromise, surely we can lose secular benefits as the result of holding to our faith."

To ascertain just how dark zero dark thirty is, we await September 2015, the deadline imposed on Gordon College to toe the mark. 
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Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, and the author of Truthspeak, available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing sue.bove@gmail.com and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."




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