How often do students at Union miss valuable Biblical lessons and knowledge because they don’t have the time or attention? Since chapel is required, it’s easy to huff about being forced to go and to use that time for homework or scrolling social media. I’ve done the same thing!
On Wednesday I attended chapel to listen to David Medders’ lesson. Medders is the Executive Vice President of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, and he is passionate about sharing the gospel and Biblical wisdom. In chapel, Medders wove his story of hiking the Appalachian Trail with his son through his lesson about Christians leaving their burdens behind in order to follow Christ the best they could. Not only was he passionate about his message, but he was funny as well.
“I tripped over a vine on the bank of the St Croix River and keeled over,” Medders said. “I had a Luke 15 experience where the prodigal son came to his senses.”
Medders used the Appalachian experience as a vivid, memorable example of the walk with Christ. It’s almost effortless to allow ourselves to be burdened by unconfessed sins or grudges, but it weighs us down on our journey.
“What’s in your pack?” Medders asked.
This was followed by the story of how his son, after packing for the hike, had asked someone to check his bag and make sure everything was necessary. He didn’t take over half his baggage. “There’s a big difference from hiking with 40 pounds as opposed to 85.”
One comment he made that cracked me up while relating the story of the Appalachian Trail hike was when he said to his second son, “As soon as we cross a road, we’re going to hitchhike out of here. I’m going to bless your brother and send him South on the Appalachian Trail and we’re going to go get help.”
I admit I often get distracted in chapel, and once the speaker prays and lets us out, that’s the first time what is said registers. I’m not proud of it, but it takes a mindset shift to begin to think of chapel as a privilege rather than a chore. But, once I started listening to Medders’ message, I was interested and ready to learn. I sat at the edge of one of the chapel rows on the right, near the windows that look out over green grass and concrete roads, but I paid attention to Medders and not the occasional jogger who would fly by. He had a Southern drawl which could be incomprehensible for people from the North who aren’t familiar with the accent, and he spoke, not slowly, but like he was taking his time to get the message across. He used his hands to emphasize his points, but not only that, he pinned a map outlining the Appalachian Trail to the pulpit immediately once he stood up in front of Union students. I was immediately curious. Why would we need a map for this lesson?
“I am the way, the truth and the life,” Medders quoted from the Bible.
He spoke about the different paths God has called us on, and how easy it is to follow Christ as an act while forgetting how to follow Him spiritually. It’s not a hardship for college students to pretend to be spiritually alive on a Christian campus, but to actually be walking in sin, separate from God. That should sound impossible, especially on a campus with required chapels that are meant to spiritually feed college students. Shouldn’t we be learning about God twice a week, spending time worshipping him? But we fall into the pattern of ignoring powerful sermons, instead catching up on schoolwork or taking impromptu naps.
After chapel ended, I joined the crush of students flowing towards the dining hall in search of food escape from class. Once I’d grabbed my plate of messy mac n’ cheese, chicken and dessert — a necessity for every meal in my opinion — I headed to a smaller dining room where Medders was eating with any students or staff who wanted to ask more questions and learn more about him and his mission in general.
Fun fact: apparently glory, often used in the Bible — over 600 times — does not mean that the Lord shone. It means weight or majesty, and it shares a root with the word liver, which is the heaviest organ in the body. So when the Bible mentions that the glory of the Lord surrounded Moses, or Israel or Jesus, it actually means the weight of the Lord’s presence rather than a literal light. I didn’t know that until Medders mentioned it. But what was fascinating to me was how well educated on Biblical text Medders was, and how well he understood how the original languages affected current translations.
I am a Christian, but I’m ashamed to say I don’t have enough scripture memorized. I know the basic verses learned in Bible drill, a common event in most churches I believe, but I don’t know much beyond that. Talking with Medders was an experience that simultaneously reminded me how uneducated I was Biblically but also was a wonderful lesson on the scriptures and how they can be used in everyday context. Another fun fact: Medders is fascinated by history and sociology, and he started a conversation based on a book he’d read that researched how each four generations affect each other, and the changes that follow the four.
I interviewed Medders after I, along with several other students, had finished eating and he was preparing to go. We were seated at a conference table, long, wood and lined with cushy office chairs. I wish those were in classrooms too.
I struggle with being the center of attention or being put on the spot, so I panicked a bit when I realized I had to start the interview with several students and a few staff members watching. If only the ground could swallow me up! That feeling increased drastically once I asked Medders my first question.
“So your message was on following Christ, even when, like, not carrying those burdens. Is that difficult to teach college students while thinking about the, um…” I said.
At this point, I was thoroughly embarrassed. I couldn’t pull my thoughts together to create a coherent sentence. I had wanted to ask if, while he taught in front of these college students, he was discouraged by the way society was pulling younger generations from the Lord. Instead, it came out jumbled.
Thankfully, I managed a decent-sounding question after a few tries, I forget what, and Medders was ready to go from there. Since I was struggling with interview questions in front of an audience, it was such a relief that Medders could talk with so little prompting and just keep going. I will confess that it was especially interesting because his talking not only took the pressure off me, but he was insightful and informative on scriptures and current society as well.
However, after the interview was finished, he apologized for rambling. I assured him I was glad he had; he shared so much information I would not have thought to ask about. One point he emphasized throughout the interview was how burdensome a misplaced sense of justice could be while following Christ.
“A part of human nature at its core is a cry for justice,” Medders said. “When someone is wronged, there’s a part of us that intuitively wants it to be set right.”
The idea that “an eye for an eye” is the proper response to an injury is common, especially in modern society. But he continued by pointing out that that is a misplaced sense of justice. Bitterness is as burdensome to the hurt people as the people who hurt.
In the three years I’ve been at Union, I have fallen into the pattern of attending chapel but often not paying attention. And while this could be expected from busy college students required to attend chapel 14 times a semester, that attitude can restrain students from truly learning and growing from messages shared by men who are passionate about what they can teach and invested in their spiritual well-being. If I hadn’t attended chapel and listened to Medders’ lesson, I wouldn’t have found a new perspective on fulfilling the purpose God set for us and letting go of the burdens that hold us back.
“The first step is that you’re going to acknowledge that his purpose in you is greater than anybody else’s statement about your purpose,” Medders said.
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