The Pilgrim’s Protest

This article first appeared in The State newspaper on May 29th 2007.

William “Bill” Jones has a vision for the students who come to his 400-acre Bible university and seminary tucked off Monticello Road. The newly appointed president of Columbia International University wants to turn out “velvet covered bricks” — graduates able to explain and defend their faith without alienating those who are skeptical or disagree. “We want to produce people, graduates, that are not obnoxious or adversarial but that are advocates for truth and moral attitudes,” Jones said. “We want them to be confident in their beliefs but compassionate in how they communicate.” The energetic Jones, an insider with a maverick streak, hopes to raise the profile of CIU, a resolutely evangelical institution more widely known on foreign continents than at home. “I think there is a sense of anticipation that is growing on campus,” Jones said last week. “We are starting to see some really good signs that we may be in for a great adventure.”

A NEW VISION
It hasn’t always been seen that way. The institution founded in 1923 in downtown Columbia to provide Bible education to mill workers has, by choice, been insulated and insular. And it has been defined by some, observed CIU’s seminary dean Junias Venugopal, as “legalistic, separate and holier-than-thou.” CIU, with 960-plus full-time students, is nondenominational, with conservative evangelicals forming its core. Tuition and fees top $20,000. Students who gain admission to CIU are required to believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. The school holds to the doctrine of premillennialism, that Christ will reign for 1,000 years after his second coming, which graduates must also affirm.
Students must abide by a code of conduct that prohibits use of alcohol and tobacco and the viewing of R- and X-rated movies. Physical contact among students who are not married — beyond greetings — is restricted.
With a focus on international Christian mission, the school now located north of the city for more than 40 years has remained largely removed from city life except for its signature Ben Lippen School, which provides private K-12 education. But that might be changing with the elevation of Jones, a longtime evangelism professor and interim provost who understands and relishes the power of communication. He takes office July 1. Jones, along with a strategic task force of CIU administrators, is staking out a broader vision for the university that they hope will not only take advantage of its location along the Broad River but also elevate its standing in the evangelical Christian world. There are plans to expand CIU’s seminary into Atlanta; offer more online courses; update and expand campus buildings, including housing for single and married students; and develop at least two sports programs through the National Christian College Athletic Association, or NCCAA. There are conceptual drawings for a impressive conference center that one day could grace the highest campus bluff — known as The Pointe — and provide scenic river vistas and a glimpse of the Columbia skyline. The talk on campus these days is as much about the marketplace as it is about missions. “He comes from a mind-set of being an entrepreneur,” said Venugopal, who, like Jones, has worked in business and served the church overseas. “He is very task-oriented. He has complained about our culture being a culture of discussion rather than a culture of action. “Dr. Jones is a man of action.”

‘GO-AND-TELL’ MENTALITY
Jones speaks in the language of a new-generation evangelical Christian, more inclusive and less judgmental than the generation of leaders that preceded him. At 51, his contemporaries include the Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of California’s Saddleback Church and author of the popular “The Purpose Driven Life” series, and the Rev. Frank Page, the Taylors pastor who now leads the Southern Baptist Convention with a deft and gracious hand.
Jones might be as passionate about the role of Christianity in American life as the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. Pat Robertson and Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. But his language, and the language of others at CIU, is neither divisive nor alienating. “I think there has been a broader change in the evangelical world, and I hope we have been a part of that,” said Keith Marion, CIU’s senior vice president for development and operations. “We use the term ‘relational evangelism,’ rather than ‘confrontational evangelism.’ Jones believes, like other high-profile evangelicals, that the Christian faith has become marginalized in American culture. But Jones’ answer is neither retrenchment nor political retaliation. Even the term “evangelism” “carries some baggage,” he said. He prefers instead to talk about communication, about the power of relationships. He wants his institution and its leaders to be “high-tech and high-touch.” “Now if our culture is really and truly going to experience, personally, God’s love and forgiveness, then we have to have a ‘go-and-tell’ rather than a ‘come-and-see’ mentality,” he said. “We have to take the message to the culture, which means we have to equip people who are going to the mission field and church ministries but also to the marketplace.” The way Jones looks at it, Jesus was the ultimate communicator, a man “filled with truth and grace” who looked forward rather than backward. Jones says he too rarely looks back. “Why did Jesus say, ‘Go?’” Jones asked rhetorically. “Why? Because the best way to communicate the love of God is through Incarnational ministry. We are the messengers.”

EXPLAINING THE BIBLE
Jones has made a deliberate effort to enter the Midlands marketplace. He conducts weekly Bible studies in Lexington and downtown Columbia, small gatherings of men who immerse themselves in study. Michael Crapps, president and CEO of Lexington’s First Community Bank, met Jones at a religious round-table discussion two years ago. Now, Jones comes to his bank each Monday during lunch to teach the Old Testament. “We put together a group of business people in and around Lexington that I thought would be interested in learning and growing in their faith journey,” said Crapps, a member of a Lutheran congregation. Jones, he found, has an amazing gift for explaining the Bible. “He has a real passion for teaching business people, people in the marketplace,” Crapps said. Jones laments the biblical illiteracy and the “cultural Christian” mentality that pervades American life, even though he, too, grew up biblically illiterate.
Jones, who grew up in Atlanta, found a community of Christians at Georgia Tech who introduced him to the Christian faith. As an exchange student to the former Soviet Union, he fixed his spiritual compass on evangelism and church planting, a mission he continues today through Crossover Communications International, an agency that operates in offices across from CIU. Church planting remains a top priority with Jones and CIU. He hopes to keep his hand in the classroom by teaching at least one course each semester.

POWER OF THE MISSION
Flags that line the boulevard leading into CIU attest to the power of Christian evangelism and the endurance of CIU. Banners from seven continents mark either the home of a student or a place where a CIU graduate lives and works. Some of those places are in Muslim countries, where CIU graduates long have served.
CIU houses the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies, which offers courses on understanding Islam and evangelization of Muslims, a practice that remains troubling to some nonevangelicals. Even when they disagree, the power of their mission — and the place itself — seems to unite the CIU community. Ralph E. Enlow Jr. resigned as provost in 2005 over philosophical differences with departing president and now chancellor George Murray, but he said he is “praying and cheering” for Jones’ success. At the time of his departure, Enlow was concerned that the institution, with a $33 million budget, was becoming financially and directionally “wobbly.” But he remains its champion. “The vision that we worked on at CIU, in perception and reality, is that it become one of the most influential institutions in the world in transformational … higher education,” said Enlow, a CIU alumnus who now is executive director of the Orlando-based Association for Biblical Higher Education. “In some corners of the world, that is already reality.”