Merry Christmas

I have been struck this season by the image of Christ’s coming as a light shining in darkness. Read the last few verses of Isaiah 8. They describe a people in darkness, distress, and abject hopelessness. This bleak picture is a perfect description of all of us without Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 9, though, offers a different picture: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” And that light changes everything!

Praise God that he didn’t leave us in darkness. Praise God that the light of the world came to bring forgiveness, salvation, and hope.

To students, alumni, and all of my readers, I wish you a Christmas filled with joy and rest as you celebrate the great light that came into the world for you and me.

Honesty and Ethics

Gallup just released the results of a poll asking the American public to rank different professions in terms of honesty and ethics. Only 13% of Americans ranked lawyers as high or very high. As usual, lawyers finished toward the bottom of the survey—though events of the last year have moved business executives and stockbrokers below us!

While I find polls like this somewhat amusing, I also find them deflating. It saddens me that a profession that should be about finding and declaring truth should rank so low on an honesty scale. I am especially saddened when I hear a prospective student—or parent—sincerely question whether it is possible to be a Christian and a lawyer.

Regent University School of Law exists because we are convinced that it is not only possible to be a Christian and a lawyer, but that God specifically calls men and women to serve him as Christian lawyers. It is possible to display the character of Jesus Christ not only in worship on Sunday, but also in the courtroom on Monday, in a meeting with clients on Tuesday, and in a negotiation on Wednesday.

One of my great joys of teaching in a Christian school is that we are able to address hearts as well as minds. Our students are trained to think and write well. They win awards for their trial, appellate, and negotiation skills. But they are also trained to use those skills with honesty, courage, and honor. Our prayer is that the legal profession will look different twenty or thirty years from now because our graduates are there.

Silence

Robertson Hall is eerily quiet these days. We are in our second week of final exams. Except for bleary eyed students occasionally trudging into and out of exams, no one is around. Professors are writing or grading exams. Students are in their hideaways, studying anywhere but here.

For most students these days are simply to be endured. I talked with one first year student, though, who is energized. She has loved studying for and taking the exams. A little sick, but encouraging!

In four days it will all be over. The tension will lift. Students who have not had a spare minute since Thanksgiving won’t know what to do with all of the time on their hands as Christmas break comes. There is a certain beauty to the academic calendar. Things that begin have an end. Crazy busy ends in rest.

Last Day of Class

We held our last Christian Foundations of Law class today. Great class!

Throughout the semester, we have considered basic questions about the nature of law and the different worldviews that have shaped our law over time. We ended with a wide open discussion of one of the toughest issues facing Christian lawyers and legislators: how should we distinguish between sin and crime? More specifically, what moral wrongs should be made criminal offenses by human government?

Not easy questions! We know God’s standards of justice are perfect and right. But that doesn’t mean that we should—or even can—impose all of them as part of human law. It doesn’t mean government should prohibit all things that are bad for us or compel us to do all things that are good for us. The need to prohibit murder and theft seems pretty clear. But what about gambling, recreational drug use, music file-sharing, or adultery? Should the law compel us to love our neighbor (perhaps through a mandatory community service requirement)? How should we decide?

We had an engaging, controversial, and wide-ranging discussion. The kind of discussion that makes me glad I teach here. It is a true joy to be able to openly discuss a Christian perspective on some of the most difficult issues facing our culture today. Though we ended with no simple answers, I know that the students will be better prepared to thoughtfully, Biblically, and humbly fulfill their roles as lawyers, citizens, and legislators in the years to come.