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In the forty-eighth episode of the second season of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Greg Elzinga, President of Calvin University. Elzinga begins by sharing his views on arguments that philanthropy as presently exercised in the West finds its origins in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Those origins then find their expression in the Reformed theological tradition animating the Calvin University community and Elzinga’s own commitment to philanthropy. Elzinga explains that various institutions to which philanthropy is important—including churches, colleges and universities, hospitals, and social service agencies—need to explore new ways of expressing their missions to members of younger generations. Confidence in institutions has understandably declined in recent decades due to abuses of power and financial mismanagement to name only two. Elzinga believes leaders can regain that confidence, however, by focusing anew on the importance of institutional mission and exercises of principled leadership. Elzinga goes on to explain his own commitment to Calvin University’s mission, how his understanding of philanthropy developed, and his aspirations for the university in the years to come. Elzinga then closes by discussing how Calvin’s widely recognized understanding of the academic vocation developed over the decades, how entities such as the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development, the Center for Faith and Writing, and the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship continue to advance it, and the ways in which such an understanding is also dependent upon vibrant relations with the Church.
Todd Ream: Welcome to Saturdays at Seven, Christian Scholar’s Review’s conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. My name is Todd Ream. I have the privilege of serving as the publisher for Christian Scholar’s Review and as the host for Saturdays at Seven. I also have the privilege of serving on the faculty and the administration at Indiana Wesleyan University.
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Our guest is Greg Elzinga, President of Calvin University. Thank you for joining us.
Greg Elzinga: Thank you, Todd. It’s good to be with you.
Todd Ream: I want to open by asking you about your approach to philanthropy, especially as someone with such deep experience in that area and an area that often escapes faculty and staff members who work in other areas.
But Gary Fergren, now Professor of History Emeritus at Oregon State University, argued in 2020 that early Christian philanthropy was deeply informed by the theological concept of the imago Dei, the conviction that humans were created in the image of God, a belief that Christianity had taken over, in Fergren’s estimation, from Judaism.
In what ways does your own theological understanding of philanthropy compare with Fergren’s understanding?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, it’s, it’s a great question, Todd, and I think in many ways, it goes right to the heart of the word philanthropy, right, which means love for human beings, love for humanity. And I believe that especially if you are a Christian in philanthropy it is seeing the image of God both in the the giver and the receiver of that philanthropy, right?
We believe that God works in and through the act of giving and receiving for mutual transformation. And seeing both the image of God in the person that you are asking to provide a gift, whether it be, you know, time, talent, financial support but also the investment that’s being made in the person, the individual, the cause receiving that gift.
I really like, and I think this is recommended reading for anyone in philanthropy, especially Christians, is Henri Nouwen’s book The Spirituality of Fundraising. And if anyone listening is in fundraising or philanthropy and not familiar with that, it’s a beautiful read. It’s a booklet. It’s an easy read. But he emphasized the importance of love and relationship.
And if you really come down to it, everything we do is we’re all in the people business, if you would. And philanthropy is a people focused effort, right? Both on the giver and the receiver of the gifts that are being provided. So Nouwen talks about the work in philanthropies is seeing the imago Dei in, in, in the both the giver and the receiver, and recognizing that each person is a, is a child of God and has inherent gifts to be shared.
And we can get later on into how does that factor from a Reformed perspective, because there’s also a Reformed perspective on that, that maybe we can touch upon. But it goes beyond just philanthropy from financial gifts, right? It is time and talent and all that’s very much needed in our society and culture today.
Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you. In that same article, Fergren also argued the classical world had no religious or ethical impulse toward individual charity. And that personal concern for the poor and needy, as he phrased it, was an important theme that was found though in the Hebrew Scriptures, which gave rise to the insistence in later Judaism that alms giving was a duty, a duty even of the highest virtue.
In what ways do you believe then that philanthropy is an inherently Christian practice, perhaps born out of the Christian tradition?
Greg Elzinga: And I think, you know, all religious traditions and cultures have various aspects of how philanthropy is practiced. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling around the world, both in my work at Calvin and, and my work previous to coming to Calvin University, and I’ve seen philanthropy, well, it may not be called that, I’ve seen generosity exercised in many different ways.
So for example, though, in Islam, it’s seen as an obligation, let’s say possibly, generally speaking. In Judaism it’s often seen as a good deed, which may be viewed as offsetting some of the bad things that we do in life kind of make us right, if you would. Whereas in Christianity philanthropy begins with the belief that all we have, our time, our talent, our treasure, belongs to God, right? That we are merely stewards of what’s been entrusted to us.
So I think from a Christian perspective, it’s viewing all of life as a gift. And what we’ve been given, it’s the grace of God by which we have time or talent or resources that we can offer up to humanity for God’s glory. So it’s been entrusted to us. It’s an issue of stewardship. And I think when people view what they have through the lens of stewardship and God’s grace, that’s where true joy-filled philanthropy develops versus obligatory, or trying to make myself right by, you know, doing something.
Todd Ream: In terms of protecting that view of philanthropy within the West from some of the threats that you just mentioned there at the end of your remarks, you know, obligatory giving or you know, a way to elevate oneself, what do you think that we need to do in terms of perhaps more clearly articulating a vision of philanthropy or at least contending with some of those other pressures that may parade at times as philanthropic efforts and commitments?
Greg Elzinga: I don’t know if this will get at exactly the question, but I’ll attempt to, I’m always surprised traveling around the world, you know, from a cultural perspective America is seen as a very individualistic society versus many of our friends, brothers and sisters in the Global South tend to be more collective or community focused. And despite those generalizations, Americans, by and large, are philanthropic people even though we are culturally more individualistic in how we approach much of life. So I always found that to be a fascinating tension if you would.
I do believe that when it comes to I’ll reflect upon this, some of the families that I have the pleasure of working with, both at Calvin and my time before Calvin do a great job at instilling the virtues of generosity, and of compassion, and of empathy and of understanding. They are very intentional about equipping and modeling, Christian philanthropy to the next generation, whether that be their sons and daughters, and now in this case, grandchildren that they’re modeling this by.
So I do think there are certain behaviors and you know, some would say, well, that’s the job of the schools, I would argue it begins in the home, you know, the, the virtues of showing empathy and generosity, seeing the image of God, as we touched upon earlier, in every human being. And how do those virtues manifest themselves then in a behavior, in a view on life, where we acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God, it’s been entrusted to us, but if we don’t couple that with the virtues of generosity and compassion and humility it can lead to a more selfish life and not one that is generous towards others.
Todd Ream: Yeah, yeah. Thank you.
While most students may think of themselves during their collegiate experiences relatively financially challenged in some capacity or another, the truth of matter is that they have a tremendous amount of talent, by virtue of the fact that they have made it to college and are looking to have those talents refined in certain ways and may then over time not only have those talents to give back in considerable ways, but also financial wealth or prosperity that may come to them.
In what ways can then colleges and universities, Christian colleges and universities, build upon maybe some of the values that were instilled in them by their parents, so that one day when students do find themselves in that place, other than what they think of themselves as being in when they’re in college, especially financially, that they’re prepared to act out of a right spirit?
Greg Elzinga: No, that’s a great question. And I’ll start by saying, I think the way we go about philanthropy with the, the next generation is going to be, it’s going to look differently than what it is historically. So, you know, right now many of us are still working with baby boomers or maybe very, very late stages of the greatest generation, where institutional loyalty was very high for many of the boomers and especially the greatest generation. I’m a Gen X-er, you go below me institutional loyalty drops significantly across the board.
So I think for colleges and universities we have to be very intentional about cultivating that during a student’s time at our institutions, right? What does it mean to be an alum, alumnus, alumni of an institution? In many ways we try to do that here at Calvin, I know others do, by modeling and showcasing how people that have gone before us, how they’re giving back because they believe in the mission of the institution and they’re investing in the lives of our students.
So we are fortunate that we are starting to see some of our, I’ll call them younger grads, meaning under 40 years old, who are now setting up named scholarships at Calvin. So they’re providing financial support to provide a scholarship to a student because they were the beneficiary of a scholarship. Somebody invested in them while they were here at Calvin and made this education possible for them. And now they’re saying, it’s my turn to give back to that. I want to invest in the next generation.
So I do think we have a responsibility to model that and set expectations while they’re here as students. And then our hope and prayer is that we can stay connected to those alum in an increasingly disconnected society and culture where people don’t stay living in one place anymore, right. Mobility has increased.
Also people are getting hit with all kinds of different messages now. So even if they say, I care about Calvin, does our message or any other institution’s message just get caught in the noise of everything they’re hearing from everyone else. So it’s going to be an interesting challenge I think for 10, 15, 20 years from now, as institutions are seeking to keep connected to their alumni or their constituency. How do you do that in an environment that’s increasingly noisy and historically has less trust in institutions?
Todd Ream: Thank you. For that Gen X-er, then in you, I want to ask you some biographical questions then, if I may now, and make a transition here that you earned an undergraduate degree in communication from Calvin and then an MBA from Nova Southeastern and served as a leader, and you echoed this actually already in your comments, for a variety of for-profit and non-for-profit organizations, before you returned to Calvin.
What lessons did you learn when serving in those organizations that you then brought with you when you returned to Calvin?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, thanks Todd. So yeah, I had a great experience here at Calvin back in the late eighties, 1986 to 1990. I graduated and then went to work for two large publicly traded companies for the first 16 years of my career. And in those settings I worked primarily with people, many of whom were either not Christians or they were raised Christian, but not actively involved in practicing their faith through church attendance or any other aspect of their life. There were some exceptions, but that was probably largely the rule for many of them.
And it was the first time in my life that I was working. I moved to Florida. So I was living in a, in a new city, a new community, working with people who I didn’t know who had never heard of then, Calvin College. So I found myself in a highly secular environment, and for the first time in my life at 23 years old thinking what does it mean for me to live out my faith in the workplace? What does that look like? How do I do this in a way that doesn’t offend people, but hopefully, does this winsomely, relationally, organically, if you would?
So those first 12 years of my career when I was in Florida was a lot about how do I live out my faith in ways that are authentic within the workplace, while not being seen as, you know, a crazy Christian who’s trying to push his beliefs on somebody. I really wanted it to be invitational, if you would.
I learned a lot. My career was in sales and sales leadership, so I learned a lot about building teams, about establishing goals and objectives, about being disciplined in how we went about our work. And actually a lot of that has translated over and to subsequent aspects of my career. So I spent, again, 16 years in the corporate world, and then at the age of 38, I made a pretty significant shift to go into the Christian nonprofit space, doing economic development work for an organization called Partners Worldwide, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
And we were doing work around the world in about 30 different countries, economic development work, helping people out of poverty through small business growth and job creation. So I had the opportunity, while I was based out of Grand Rapids, to travel quite a bit to India, the Philippines, East Africa, a little bit of Haiti, and Central America.
And my sales skills and sales leadership were then transferred into non-profit leadership and fundraising. And there’s a lot of transferable skills, as you can imagine, between sales and, and fundraising because again, it’s all relational. It’s all working with people. In many ways, helping people solve problems. You know, the problem of how do you be generous, how do you invest in the lives of others? And then matching that up with the needs of our institution around the world.
But I also recognized that to be a nonprofit organization, that’s a tax status. It shouldn’t be a way of doing business. And too many nonprofit organizations don’t operate with some of the same principles that I think are modeled in business. Now, there’s differences, but nonprofit organizations can take the very best of how you operate a for-profit business enterprise, and then couple that with what I believe is a world impacting mission as well for your nonprofit organization, whatever that may be.
So I do think there are some business principles about, you know, financial accounting, about strategic planning, about missional discipline. A lot of nonprofit organizations, because it’s generally led by people who have big hearts and are empathetic and everything, scope creep can happen quite easily because you want to be all things to all people. And if you’re not careful, you’ll take yourself off of the mission that originally made your institution distinct and meaningful in the workplace.
So I’ve learned a lot from both the for-profit and the not-for-profit space. And while I didn’t know it at the time, Todd, it was only looking back now can I see how my 16 years in the corporate sector and my 10 plus years at Partners Worldwide prepared me in some ways for what God has called me to do here at Calvin University.
Todd Ream: Thank you. Prior to your appointment then as the president of Calvin you served as the university’s Chief Advancement Officer. In what estimation, and we talked about this, you know, or touched on this just briefly earlier, but what theological commitments define the Reformed tradition’s approach to philanthropy, in ways that are unique within the larger Christian communion?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, well, I think, you know, Reformed theology and, and we’re not the only ones that view it this way, but it starts with the sovereignty of God over everything that we have, over all of creation. In fact, you’re hard pressed to spend any time here at Calvin University and not hear a reference to a quote by Abraham Kuyper the former Dutch theologian, Prime Minister in the very, very early 1900s, who famously said, “There is not one square inch over all of creation over which Christ doesn’t cry mine,” right? So the sovereignty of God over every square inch of creation.
And you know, from that perspective, if you couple that with also the belief that we are stewards, that everything we have is truly a gift from God, and we’ve been given those gifts only through the grace of God. Nothing on our own merit has earned that. I think that then fuels a very Reformed perspective on philanthropy.
The sovereignty of God, the gift of grace, and the concept of stewardship. Those three things combined, and there’s probably more to it, but those three to me, serve as some foundational elements for how philanthropy is modeled or exercised or practiced within a Reformed theological setting.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. You were appointed Calvin’s interim president in February 2024, with your full appointment then coming in October 2024.
Would you please describe the discernment process that led you to embrace an appointment as president at Calvin?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, I’d be happy to, Todd. Well, I’ll, I’ll tell you, when I was appointed as the interim back in February of 2024, I thought I was one of the more unlikely candidates for that role. I don’t have a PhD. I’m not a theologian. I don’t have a Master’s of Divinity. I love this institution. It has shaped my life in profound ways. I have an extensive understanding of our alumni network and our donor base so I found myself as a very, what I thought at the time, was an unlikely candidate, but I thought I can do anything for six months to a year, right? Until they find the next woman or man to serve as in this role.
And it was about well it was end of the summer that the search team and the board of trustees had assembled a search team. And the search team does what any good search team does, they kind of listened to the community. They ask questions, what are we looking for in the next leader? What’s most important for this chapter of Calvin University in the landscape of higher education? And through that process, people increasingly started to point to ways in which I was attempting to lead the university.
Even though I’ve not been formally trained in higher education administrative leadership, I really was just tapping into what was then almost a 30-year career, as I said in the corporate sector and nonprofit leadership, in building teams and trying to build cultures of representing in some ways selling or advocating this incredible world-impacting mission that God has given to Calvin University that we have here.
And it’s that, as more people started to encourage me, Todd, in that’s when I, my wife and I together, had to really do a lot of talking and a ton of praying about, do we feel like God’s calling us to do this longer term? And there are many aspects of being a college president for which I feel woefully underequipped. And I think anybody in today’s landscape who would tell you otherwise is probably not being fully honest with ourselves. It’s such a demanding role, but where I come up, weak or short, I feel the grace of God in powerful ways. I’m surrounded by an amazing team of other leaders here at Calvin. Our, our, president’s cabinet, a very talented, committed, missionally-driven group of people.
I have felt the prayer of thousands of people from around the world who have been praying for me and our institution. So despite how I feel about my own shortcomings, it was the affirmation of others, it was God speaking through the affirmation of others, that really brought me to the point of saying, alright, Lord, if, if this is what you’re calling me to do for this next chapter I have to surrender and submit and trust that you’re going to work in and through the situation.
Todd Ream: Yeah. In the months and years to come then, what are your hopes and emerging plans for the Calvin community?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, that’s a great question. As I have traveled around the country and around the world, I have met many people. And I’ll go back to my work at Partners Worldwide. I would travel to India or Philippines or East Africa, Todd, and I would meet Christian business people. They were nationals, so they were Filipinos or Indians or Kenyans or Ugandans. And our conversation, as we got to know each other, we go along the lines of this, you know, where are you from? United States. Where in the United States? Michigan. Oh, where in Michigan? Oh, Grand Rapids. And people would say, oh, do you know Calvin College? And I said, oh, I went to Calvin College.
In inevitably, this is what I would hear, Todd, let me tell you what Calvin alumni are doing in my city or my country or my community. And I would hear story after story from people in India, the Philippines, East Africa, Haiti, Central America, telling me stories about Calvin alumni in business, in healthcare, in law, in government, in arts, in every sector of the economy, all over the world living, working and serving as Christ’s agents of renewal was a physical manifestation, our alumni, our alumni’s lives were a physical manifestation of our mission statement at Calvin. And then I thought, when I have the opportunity to come back and lead an institution like that, what an absolute honor and privilege that is.
So as I think about the future, I’m convinced more than ever before, in a time where trust is at an all time low in our culture, in institutions, anxiety levels are an all time high on just about everything, our world needs more young men and women who are equipped to go out and, as I said before, to live, to work and serve Christ’s agents of renewal. And I’m coupling that with also ambassadors of reconciliation. I believe when you couple reconciliation with renewal, we’re going to see the Holy Spirit work in very powerful ways in and through the lives of our graduates, regardless of what sector of the economy they go into or wherever they choose to work around the world.
So we have an opportunity. We still have a phenomenal world-class liberal arts education here at Calvin. We have great professional programs as well. We want to continue to live into those and lean into those and strengthen those because I’m convinced our world needs more Calvin alumni.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
I want to ask you about one aspect of Calvin’s mission that has had a large impact, not only on campus, but also beyond the campus, and that is distinguished exercises of Christian scholarship, primarily led by the faculty, but also in partnership in many cases with students there.
What do you believe allowed such a culture to emerge at Calvin?
Greg Elzinga: You’re right. Calvin has a deep history in the landscape of Christian higher education. I do believe Calvin is regarded well in terms of Christian scholarship and teaching. In fact, just in the last few weeks well last year, Calvin was recognized by the US News and World Report as the number one undergraduate teaching institution in our space in the Midwest, which is just a testament to the caliber quality of our professors in the work they do in the classroom.
But historically, we’ve always coupled that classroom teaching with world-class scholarship within the Christian university and college space for many, many years, right? It was our philosophy department. If there was a Mount Rushmore of Christian philosophers, I think it would probably include a few people from Calvin’s background, right?
But it’s not just been exclusively philosophy. There’s a lot in, in the STEM fields as well. I was looking back on some of our historic documents and there’s one called our expanded statement of mission here at Calvin, and I just want to try and pull that up here because, in many ways I thought characterize some of this.
It said this: “The most desirable institutional culture at Calvin is the one that best accords our deepest shared convictions about the task of Christian education. That Christian education should let faith find full expression, and that Christian colleges are called to help transform contemporary society and culture.”
And it goes on to talk about specifically about scholarship. And it said: “There’s a communal purpose,” and this gets to the question about scholarship. “There’s a communal purpose to examine ideas, to exercise the life of the mind, to engage modern culture in all its manifestations. Calvin, then College, has also acquired and supported a faculty that does a considerable amount of scholarship. The life of the mind that is cherished in the classroom frequently expands beyond the classroom in articles, books, workshops, conferences, and performances for larger audiences.”
So it’s that coupling of in-classroom teaching, but world-class scholarship within the Christian academic environment. And I think Calvin’s always been seen as an institution that’s willing to wrestle with some of the tough issues. We’re willing to maybe deal with even some of the controversial issues in culture or society or in the Church, we do so through the lens of Scripture, to the very best of our ability as broken human beings though, right?
So we do through, through the lens of Scripture, through a, an institution that holds dear to both the Creeds and for us, the Reformed Confessions. And I know we’re going to land in some different places on some different issues from time to time, but I think it’s that willingness to engage in that rigorous scholarship and intellectual inquiry that has made Calvin what it is today.
Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you.
That legacy of Christian scholarship has not only had a large impact on campus, but has had a large impact within the Reformed theological tradition and beyond the Reformed theological tradition.
In what ways do you believe Calvin has sought to be of intellectual service to other institutions?
Greg Elzinga: That’s a great question, and I think my hope is that in the landscape of Christian higher education, there’s a lot of pressures out there for, for many, many institutions, whether it be the business model of higher education, the political, cultural, social landscape in which we live. So I honestly believe that collaborations are going to be more critical to the future of higher education than ever before. I think like-minded institutions are going to have to, or can benefit by partnering, leaning, supporting each other in different ways.
So one of the ways we try to do that here at Calvin is we have something called the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development. It is a center that has been endowed by the late Rimmer and Ruth de Vries, and they intentionally reach out, they do this both within Calvin but within higher education, and we have clients if you would, both domestically and internationally, that seek to engage with us and connect with us, because Calvin has this long, rich track record of integrating the Christian faith into every academic discipline, whether it be the teaching in the classroom or back to what we said within scholarship.
So part of our Vision 2030 here at Calvin is we want to be a trusted partner for learning throughout the academy, the Church, and the world. So one of the ways that we do that, to be a trusted partner for learning, and we want to do that across cultural and religious boundaries, is to further extend the impact of things like the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development here at Calvin.
We also have a number of centers and institutes here at Calvin, like the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, the Calvin Institute for Faith and Writing. Each of these centers and institutes draws in a different aspect of the culture. For the Center for Faith and Writing, it draws in creative folks, folks who love to write, who have the gift of literature and expression. And that brings in a whole community, thousands of people to Calvin’s campus each year, who learn from each other.
I talked about the de Vries Institute for Faculty Development, reaching out very intentionally within the academy. And then you have the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, which reaches out more ecumenically to the broader Church, the Christian Church, and how we learn from each other about Christian worship around the world.
So it all comes back to us wanting to be a trusted partner for learning throughout the academy, the Church, and the world. And I look forward to that. And I think there’s going to be more need for those partnerships and collaborations in the future.
Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you.
As our time is unfortunately beginning to become short, I want to transition now to talking about your understanding of the academic vocation both as it’s practiced in higher education writ large, but also in particular at Calvin.
How would you define the characteristics and qualities of the academic vocation, for those who exercise it on a formal day-to-day basis?
Greg Elzinga: Well, I’ll go back to what I said earlier, right? I was not trained in higher education. I’m not a career academic. But I have, I am an individual whose life has been shaped by my time here at Calvin, and not only as a student back in the late eighties, but even more recently as a staff person, a vice president, and now as president as well.
So I think when it comes to the vocation of being an academic there is this tension or balance at times of there’s the teaching in the classroom, there’s the scholarship that will at times push the limits of doctrinal belief or confessional commitment. And we have a long history of trying to be both confessionally committed but also an environment of academic freedom. And what does that look like, right, in Christian higher education?
I know my best learning comes when I’m surrounded by people who view the world differently than me. My best learning in my life, quite honestly, the process of sanctification if you would, in my own life, has come through being around people who have a different lived experience than I do. And I think higher education is a tremendous opportunity to help shape young women and men for that future, right? Where we have to be lifelong learners, if you would.
So I think in terms of the vocation of an academic it is both challenging us to think more broadly. There’s also an element of instructing us in the truth, whether it be the truth within an academic discipline, but also knowing how to ask good questions.
And I think in a Christian environment or any Christian college or university, there’s always going to be some tension between that at times, where you’re pushing the limits of scholarship and research and where do those things begin to intersect with long held faith beliefs? And that’s where, you know, I think so many of the challenges right now in society or culture, you see that happening within some church settings as well.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you.
Earlier we talked about the virtues that need to be cultivated in relation to exercises of philanthropy. In terms of exercises of the academic vocation of you as you described it, what are some of the virtues that you think are important for the Calvin community to develop amongst itself, in terms of its educators, but then also its students too, that it’s seeking to serve?
Greg Elzinga: You know, I would probably, Todd, cite a few of the ones I mentioned earlier. I think so much in our world today, the challenges we face need to be addressed by people who are empathetic, people who are willing to be humble, people who have a willingness, even in their strongest convictions on certain things, a willingness to want to see the goodness in another person’s perspective.
I mean, there are some things that I am very convicted on, and when I engage with somebody with whom I know has a different position on that, I try hard to go in with an open mind and say, Lord, help me, help me see some goodness in their perspective, even, even though I’m holding dear to what I believe on this particular issue.
So I think humility, I think compassion, I think empathy, a spirit of generosity, a willingness to say, I made a mistake. I think for any of us, pride can get in the way of so much. Pride can get in the way of learning something new. Pride can get in the way of I’ll go back to what I said earlier, reconciliation.
So I think some of the same virtues that would support and foster a very healthy philanthropic life are the same virtues that would lead toward a life, whether it’s a student or an educator in higher education. Empathy, understanding, seeing the imago Dei, as we talked about it right at the outset, in each human being, are important things for any learning community.
Todd Ream: Yeah. You mentioned pride as one vice that can challenge the cultivation of those virtues. Are there any others that you would mention beyond pride in terms of this understanding of the exercise of the academic vocation?
Greg Elzinga: Pride’s a, a big one. I don’t know if this is a vice, but fear. So much, Todd, of what the conflict and the tension that I see in our society today whether it be within the Church, a university, the broader culture is, um from coming from a standpoint of fear. So I’m not sure that would technically be considered a vice or not, but I do think pride and fear are two things that are driving much of the behavior, what I would consider to be even overreactions.
Whether it be regardless of where one sits on the political-cultural spectrum I think it’s pride and fear that are two big ones. I’m sure there’s others if I were to give it some, some more thought. But those are the two that come to mind.
Todd Ream: Yeah. As we prepare now to close our conversation, I want to ask just a couple of questions then about the Church and to start in particular the relationship that the academic vocation shares with the Church via the health of the relationship that campuses share with the Church.
In what ways do you think that the kind of understanding of the academic location that we described is dependent upon the health of this relationship?
Greg Elzinga: Yeah, well that’s one here at Calvin that we’re, we’re in the middle of navigating. We have a long standing relationship with the Christian Reformed Church of North America. In fact, this next year we’re going to be celebrating 150 years here at Calvin, both Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary, together 150 years of God’s faithfulness in educational ministry.
I think there’s actually a renewed opportunity. I’m not sure the Church, whether it’s Calvin and the Christian Reformed Church or other Christian universities and the, their church, whether they have a denominational relationship or not, I think there’s actually renewed opportunity to reimagine how the Church and the university, Christian universities, colleges, can better serve and support each other for a broader mission in our world today.
I think there are some within the Church that have been skeptical of higher education. I think there whether it be an anti-intellectual perspective with some, whether it be a wow, it’s getting too expensive and I’m not sure the value is there anymore objection.
But I do think that there has been a growing gap between the local church and the university or denomination and a university or college, and I think there’s far too much that the Church of Jesus Christ and Christian universities have in common than have different. I think, and it sounds very simplistic, but I am very optimistic that I think our world needs to see the Church and Christian universities collaborating in ways that make an impact in our world.
And I’ll end with this. The Church is what I’ll call it’s the Church gathered, it’s the Body of Christ gathered on Sunday morning. And I know it’s not just that. But I see Christian universities, in places like Calvin, as the Church scattered. So if the Church represents the Church gathered, universities are sending hundreds and hundreds and thousands of young men and women out into the world that we graduate each year after four, sometimes five years of university to go out and be, as we say at Calvin, Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.
So I would rather focus on the 95% of doctrine and theology and, and that we have in common to impact the world for God’s glory, than get divided over some of the other stuff that is so disruptive in our churches today. So I just think there’s a renewed opportunity regardless of what Christian college or church denomination, I think there’s an opportunity for the Church and the university to better partner together for bigger impact in the world.
Todd Ream: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Our guest has been Greg Elzinga, President of Calvin University. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom and your insights with us today.
Greg Elzinga: Thank you, Todd. It’s been a pleasure. Appreciate it.
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Todd Ream: Thank you for joining us for Saturdays at Seven, Christian Scholar’s Review’s conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. We invite you to join us again next week for Saturdays at Seven.
