2006 New Faculty Orientation
Found in Union University Core Values > Future-Directed
Antonio Chiareli, Associate Professor of Sociology
1. What this core value means to me
Arguably the most ambiguous of our four core values at Union University, the idea of being “Future-Directed,” which I suspect could just as well be adopted by any number of secular, liberal higher education institutions, begs further elaboration. I believe that realizing its true worth for our organizational mission as a Christian liberal arts university requires that this value be couched in a clear biblical framework that distinguishes the Christian worldview-based idea of being “Future-Directed” from any other.
Three questions of import immediately come to my mind, as I consider the meaning and significance of being “Future-Directed.”
a) Who is it that actually directs the future? In the age of what Max Weber called the extreme over-rationalization of society, there are always compelling reasons for wanting to cast an institutional vision without regard for the authority of God. Yet, as Proverbs 19: 21 reminds us, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Thus it is God Almighty Who sovereignly directs our future. The acknowledgement of God’s direction in the endeavors of an institutional such as Union must characterize our type of “Future-Directed” orientation.
b) How perfect are our notions about the future? As human beings we are constantly functioning in the realm of incomplete knowledge. Although an expert knowledge of the past and a wise understanding of the present can help us gain better insights into the future, our views on the future will remain tentative. Moreover, one might say that, in fact, tomorrow exists only in our minds until it becomes today. Yet we are often led to envision it as a given, concrete reality, only to realize when we get there that our picture of it was incomplete. Thus our knowledge of the future is yet imperfect. And as the Apostle Paul’s famed discourse on love in I Cor. 13: 9 emphasized, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.] and in I Cor. 13: 12, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
c) What or Who guarantees our future? Our security in the future is but an illusion, if separate from the will of the Father. Indeed, we do not know the day of tomorrow. Yet we know in whom we have believed. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Thus the future is God’s realm, and it is secure, if we yield to His authority.
Having more clearly established these truth-based principles about the hereafter, we can then proceed to explore what is the place of human agency in the shaping of the future. I say “the shaping of the future,” because I am convinced that being “future-directed” should be thought of much less so in terms of preparing – in this case, our students – for some expected or imagined future reality out there, and much more so in terms of equipping our students to be able to shape a particular type of reality in the vocation they feel called to by God. The imagery here is not that of a fixed target somewhere out in the distance, and then adjusting our students’ trajectories such that they accurately meet such a target, but rather one in which each student represents his or her own target, manifesting Christ’s image in their own lives, and realizing or helping to shape a particular type of future for society, to the glory of God.
Being “future-directed” in a practical way begins and ends with the idea of connectedness: first, being rightly connected with God and seeking His direction for our future; then being rightly connected with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, using our God-given gifts to help ensure the future well-being of that community; then being rightly relationally connected with the lost so as to afford them every opportunity to know and receive the truth of the gospel and secure their future in Christ; then being rightly connected in one’s occupation with the culture and society around us, working redemptively but also prophetically in the present out of a God-inspired calling to a future, and bearing witness and pointing the world to a future hope in Christ.
College students are by their very nature extremely future-directed. They often come to college with all manner of future-related questions in mind, such as “What course of study will I pursue?” and Where will I work?” and “Whom will I marry?” and “How will my college experience help me get to where I want to go?” But if we really read these questions carefully, what we can discern is that these are primarily questions about connectedness. What they are really asking is, “What connections (be they academic, social, spiritual, etc.) must I make in order to achieve these future goals?”
As an institution with a distinctive, formative mission, it is our desire and responsibility at Union University to, in a real sense, contribute to the materialization of that future in each student, via producing a certain kind of rightly-connected Union University graduate that can then go on to engage the world even with all of the challenges that it presents: globalization, racial and gender relations, technological changes, inter-cultural/ethnic understanding, demographic and environmental problems, social inequality and injustice, etc…
2. How it is reflected in the classroom
“Future-directed” teaching must take into account the ever-changing nature of both material and adaptive culture. A pedagogical approach which freezes the future in some sort of arbitrary way, and then attempts to implement a strategy that aims at artificially preparing a student for a foreseeable future scenario, may prove disastrous for that student, if such a future in fact turns out to be quite different from that which they were prepared for. The only thing that is constant about the future is change. Therefore, I believe that students are best served not by being given a hopeful strategy that may turn out to be off target, but rather by a methodology which envisions the equipping of a student for any developing reality.
Thus, in my estimation, to teach from a future-directed or future-connected approach means teaching that does the following:
a) It demonstrates the relevance of God’s truth in the disciplines and in the world through a Word-world integrative approach to teaching.
b) It sparks the student’s imagination and empowers then to develop problem-solving skills. It is therefore teaching that sharpens the student’s thinking abilities. Students must learn to think on their feet and they must not be afraid to innovate.
c) It must emphasize the virtue of being teachable. That is, no matter how much a student thinks he or she knows, they must cultivate a beginner’s mind and always be willing to take on a learner’s stance, throughout their lives.
d) It must demonstrate to students how they are interconnected in society with a myriad of people, processes, and power structures. Gaining knowledge about the social dynamics in their world, and turning our pupils into students of people as much as students of discipline-related facts, will improve their chances of adapting to any sphere of society, be it social, educational, religious, economic, political, and so on.
In sum, training in the areas of faith-learning integration, thinking-skills, teachability, and social dynamics can give the students essential qualities that can help them succeed in their future personal and professional environments.