Evaluating the Faculty

The end of the academic year brings many activities that you would expect: exams, grading, commencement, the start of internships or bar study. For me, it also brings one activity that might not be expected—faculty performance evaluations.

Admittedly, “performance evaluations” does not bring a warm, fuzzy feeling. In some settings, performance evaluations can bring tension or even fear. Every year, though, I end the process greatly encouraged. As we talk through what each person is teaching and writing and how they are serving students, I am left with this thought: I am so thankful to teach with this group of colleagues.

The law faculty is made up of bright people. Really bright people. They were committed to excellence as lawyers before they chose to teach and they bring that same excellence to the classroom. But above all, my colleagues love both God and their students. They could be in many places and doing many things. But they are teaching here because they believe God has called them to train the next generation of legal leaders. I am privileged to be numbered among these brothers and sisters.

Commissioning the Class of 2010

The last several days have been a time of great celebration and joy—tinged with just a touch of bittersweetness. On Friday morning we held my favorite event of the academic year: the law school commissioning service. After celebrating student accomplishments with awards and a doctoral hood—placed on them while cheering family members looked on—the law faculty prayed over every graduate and commissioned them to serve God and others.

The service is a fitting close to the Regent Law School experience. Most students come with a strong sense of purpose. They believe God has called them to serve as ministers of justice. While three years of law school can make that call seem (very!) far off sometimes, on this day we celebrate the end of waiting and the beginning of a new life of opportunity and service. It is a joy to pray with students and their families. And it is a joy to hear students share testimonies about how God has led, protected, and blessed them. The commissioning service reminds me how fortunate I am to teach and work in this community.

On Saturday, we held the university-wide commencement ceremony. Another great event. I had the honor to shake the hand of—or hug—all of the law graduates. Once again there was cheering and joy. But on this day, I also felt a hint of sadness. While faint, that hint reminded me that I won’t see some of these men and women again for a long time. I have grown to know and love many of them. And selfishly I don’t really want to see them go.

I know, though, that God has called the class of 2010 to something greater—to be Christian leaders that he will use to change the world. I can’t wait to see what they will do. And so I join them and their families and rejoice.

Justice, Righteousness, and Liberty

I returned Tuesday night from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where I attended the Tennessee Renewal Project Pastor's Briefing. As its name suggests, the event was directed at pastors. Speakers challenged pastors to speak forthrightly from the pulpit on issues of both righteousness and justice and to encourage their church members to engage the culture at all levels, including politically.

Though not a pastor, I left the event challenged and encouraged myself. The highlight for me was an address by former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Huckabee surveyed the many challenges facing America today. His prescription to address those challenges was not the victory of a particular party. In fact, his speech was strongly nonpartisan. He argued instead that what America needs most is for Christians to rise from their pews, truly live out their faith, and be salt and light in the culture.

Huckabee noted that the growing thicket of laws and government programs in our society reflects a failure--a failure of self-government. He called on Christian Americans, led by their pastors, to embrace personal accountabilty and responsibility. He insisted that in self-government there is great liberty.

I believe Huckabee is right. I teach, of course, in a Christian law school. We train our students to think biblically about law and justice. But rather than driving cultural change, legal change usually follows and reflects that change. Our laws will better reflect biblical principles of justice--and better protect liberty--when members of society embrace and display accountabilty, justice, and righteousness in their daily lives. And that must start with the Church.