The first chapter of the Gospel of John says that God is love and love is embodied in Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth. John says that God had so much love and compassion for the world that He took on to Him, through his revelation in Christ, the punishment for the sins of the world for all peoples at all times. That compassion continues to be at work in the world. Just as the work of Christ continued in and through the Apostles and early followers of Christ by the Holy Spirit to the world, His compassionate, salvific work of love continues today. The Christian university is part of the continuing compassion of Jesus Christ in and to the world. It is expressed especially through God's love for the poor, the vulnerable, the dispossessed, and the marginalized. By showing the impact of compassion, the Christian university teaches both discovered and revealed truth.
The Christian university teaches compassion when its students go off campus to rake leaves and wash windows for senior members of the community, when teams fan out across North America during spring break to partner with Habitat For Humanity to build houses for the poor, when student teams travel internationally to work with women and children caught-up in the slavery of human trafficking, addiction, and poverty, when nursing students travel to Zambia to work for free in a Salvation Army hospital caring for HIV/AIDS patients and their children, and when business students and their fathers travel to Thailand to promote micro-economic development, lending their own money to start new micro-businesses. In the teaching, there are exposures and encounters that are transformational, because engagements in acts of love and compassion in the name of Jesus Christ transforms and creates a lasting impact on the character of all involved.
(Excerpt from Called to a Higher Purpose, pages 21 & 22 available in the TWU bookstore)
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