The Pilgrim’s Protest

TPP feels that it would be beneficial and informative to interview Dr. Jones in his new position as president of the school. On July 1st, Dr. Murray, the former, was named the Chancellor and Dr. Jones, then the provost, was made president. TPP Editor Elizabeth Castellow had interviewed Dr. Jones as the provost and was happy to interview him as the new president. We began with discussing the summer and Dr. Jones shared some of the things that he had done.

How was your summer?
On a personal level, I spent a lot of time trying to finish my book on the New Testament. Since Putting Together the Puzzle of the Old Testament came out this spring, I wanted to finish the New Testament sequel this summer but I had to start getting ready for convocation and other responsibilities. I have only two chapters remaining to write in order to finish the book. I also had the privilege of seeing a mid-50’s year-old man as well as an attorney and his wife pray to receive Christ. Good summer!
In terms of the school, I spent a lot of time on reorganizing student life though, of course, the student life staff did most of the work. The President’s Cabinet spent much time on CIU’s direction; I’m very excited about our future. We have presented it to the university’s faculty and will soon take it to the Board of Trustees. I think the students are going to love our direction, and TPP can do an article on that in October.

Now, some background about you: how did you become a Christian? Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Atlanta in an unchurched home. We went waterskiing at Jackson Lake on Sundays, but…I carried a ton of guilt; did the typical bad stuff in high school. As a result, I started going every three to four months for years to a monastery to spend the weekend. Most of the time I would fast, though I didn’t know what fasting was. I took my Bible, though I didn’t understand a thing I read. I didn’t know what was going on during mass because the priest spoke in Latin. I just wanted to be close to God, but I didn’t know how. At college some Christian friends began to share the Gospel with me. They used ‘The Four Spiritual Laws,’ but I didn’t understand that either! When my mom asked how to know if she was going to heaven, I took her The Four Spiritual Laws and read it to her. She prayed to receive Christ, and then about a month later I prayed to receive Christ. Twenty years ago this month, I enrolled as a student here at CIU because three of our seminary alumni joined our church and helped me catch a vision for world evangelization. When I realized God’s heart for the nations, I immediately enrolled. I also started Crossover to mobilize other people for missions. So, for twenty years I’ve been at CIU as a student and professor.

You do a lot, you are a president, you started Crossover and are still involved with that, you do evangelism to businessmen in the Columbia area and you teach, how do you keep that all balanced as well as family life and spiritual life?
I have to operate with a team; I am a very heavy delegator because I feel like there are certain things God has gifted me to do, and I try to stay focused on those certain things and let the team do the things they’re good at. So for example, our academic deans, they’re awesome so let them be awesome, let them do their thing. Bob Kallgren has been here for hundreds of years I think, somewhere in there. So if he doesn’t know how to do his job then there’s a problem. People are very intrinsically motivated to do what they do and I think one thing that my role helps is focusing on what pulls us all together, so we become a laser rather than a shotgun. But once you do that you just kind of watch and see what happens.

How do you fit into the history of CIU presidents: their backgrounds, the kind of ministry they’ve been involved in, where they saw the school going?
I’m not the orator of Dr. Murray; I’m not the rocket scientist of Dr. Miller; and I’m not the man of Christ-like character of Dr. McQuilkin. I think people have said I tend to be, in terms of interest, more like the first president since he was very involved in downtown Columbia. I also resonate with the direction he took the school, which is what I am proposing we return to. There is a pamphlet from the 25th anniversary of the school, written in 1948, that articulates what he saw for CIU’s future. It was unlike anything that was being offered in Christian education at the time.

What most excites you about being president?
The students, no question. When the university recruited me to teach at CIU 18 years ago, they kept persuading me with comments like “You will get to influence people going to the ends of the earth, beginning with our Jerusalem, Columbia.” And “Over the years, you could help train thousands of future world-changers.” That’s what lured me here and kept me here.

What do you think the biggest challenge will be?
I think that in any leadership position the hardest part is avoiding being seduced by the secondary. Lesser priorities look very appealing and they often demand urgent attention. Yet, as leaders, we must help keep focused on the main thing. For CIU that’s “educating students from a biblical world-view to impact the nations with the message of Christ.”
I want to see students graduate from CIU and go to the mission field, into church ministry, and into the marketplace to make a huge difference for Christ. So, the big challenge is keeping focused on providing our students with an excellent education and not being pulled away with urgent but lesser issues.

What do you see as CIU’s direction for the future, as in liberal arts vs. Bible College?
Though I want to, I cannot tell you that just yet. I’ll let you know after October 5th, when CIU’s Board of Trustees gives final approval of the proposal. So, be patient, I’ll give you more specifics in a month and then TPP can have an exclusive on CIU’s future direction. But I will say that CIU will never move away from our Bible core.

How would you like to see CIU interact with the community?
I want all of us to get involved in community life not just in the churches, but in the community. CIU needs to be a light to those around us. For example, several years ago, some vandals burned several predominantly African American churches. The first group to help them was the USC football team. It would make me proud if, whenever tragedy occurs in our city, that CIU students show up first to help those suffering. The Red Cross, the news, and CIU students should be the top three people to respond. So, for example, if an apartment complex burned, our students could get teddy bears to take to the kids who had all their toys burned. If a hurricane comes and destroys a church, our students could go and help. Habitat for Humanity should be filled with CIU student teams. Unfortunately, we content ourselves with short forays into Denny Terrace. I long for us to let our lights shine in such a way that Columbia sees our good works and glorifies our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

How do you think communication is between the students and the administration?
I have an open door; if students need me, they’re welcome. We have the Student Union and the Student Senate hopefully taking care of much of the communication. If an issue needs to come to my office, please bring it. If necessary, we will go get pizza and discuss what we need to. We must always take the time to communicate, to make sure our relationships are right, and that the resulting decisions honor God.

What is the most important thing that you want students to know about you and/or your vision for CIU?
I want them to know that I will do everything I can to provide them with an excellent Christian education so they can reach the nations with the message of Christ.

Imagine that it is 20 years from now and you are retiring . What do you want to be known for?
Televangelism… (laughs). I’d love to see thousands of people coming to Christ through the efforts of our graduates. I’d love to see CIU impacting the nations for Christ in a significant way…and I’d also love to finish the last two chapters of my book on the New Testament.

We at TPP thank Dr. Jones for his time and we look forward to hearing his vision for the school in October.