Up in the frigid midwest town of De Pere,Wisconsin lies a small Catholic liberal arts school named St. Norbert's College. A suburb of Green Bay, De Pere has been the home of St. Norbert's since 1898, having been founded by a Norbertine priest. St. Norbert of Xanten founded a Catholic order called the Premonstratensians, later called Norbertines, in a monastery in Premontre, France, in 1120, so there is a long history to this order. The school named for St. Norbert has around two thousand students. Although founded to train men for the priesthood, it is today a coeducational college. If you go to their website, you can see that among their many mission statements is one to, "Fulfill our vocation by embodying Christ's example of loving service."
On the faculty of this small college is a man named James Neuliep, PhD, Professor of Communications and Media Studies. I certainly don't know much about Dr. Neuliep, but it would seem that he wrote a college textbook called, "Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach." I don't have access to that book, although with a little time (5-7 business days) and money ($44.49) I suppose I could have a copy to actually peruse. And it would appear that in this textbook is an exercise for college professors everywhere to use with their students that involves writing JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper, putting the paper on the floor, and then stepping on it. When most students will refuse to do this, the teacher then asks them why and starts a discussion going. I find it a little odd that such an exercise would come from a professor at a Christian college. The textbook is supposed to be a best-seller, so I imagine that the intention is to have college students across the nation being offered the opportunity to step on a piece of paper with Jesus' name on it.
Anyway, there is another school fifteen hundred miles away in Boca Raton called Florida Atlantic University. There is another professor there named Deandre Poole, PhD, who teaches Communications and Multimedia Studies. He took the lesson to heart and tried to implement it in his classroom, with vigor. The students were not just to step on the paper but to stomp on it. A Mormon student was deeply offended and complained to the teacher and to the Dr. Poole's supervisor, and was therefore suspended from that class. The University initially defended Dr. Poole's teaching, but has since recanted and apologized, and assures everyone that no student has been suspended from the University and that the lesson won't be used again. This hasn't finished playing out yet.
I do not know the faith, if any, of Drs. Neuliep or Poole. Whatever their beliefs, they take a rather casual approach to the name of Jesus. The Third Commandment given by our Lord is, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." The Jewish people take this so seriously that they will not pronounce out loud the name of God that they call YHWH (Yahweh). The Scriptures are replete with descriptions of the holiness of the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 tells us, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Many in the Christian community were offended by this exercise. In other countries, we have seen violent demonstrations when the name or image of Mohammed have been used carelessly; as Christians in America we rarely resort to such extremes. In my new book, Surviving the Suffering, there is a chapter devoted to Christian persecution, which as of yet is really not seen in this country. We may endure slander of the name of our Saviour, derisive remarks, and offensive language and blasphemous imagery, but rarely is our personal well-being threatened. Christians are not slain nor churches burned here as they are in other lands.
Such disrespectful behavior for our Lord should not be a surprise. Jesus was certainly used to it in His time. God has given His commandment for the use of His name, but His commandments are regularly and routinely disregarded today. God provides us opportunities such as this to stand up for His name and commandments, and the student at FAU responded admirably and with courage. We should, however, continue to expect such childish silliness to periodically reveal itself at our Universities. Our institutions of higher learning have distinguished themselves as bastions of lower morality.
Those who would use lift their leg to place a foot upon the name of Jesus will find that same leg bent against their will when He returns. As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9-11, "Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." And listen to the author of Hebrews in chapter 10, verses 12-13: "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool." Those who would seek to "stomp" on the name of Jesus will be under His foot for all eternity. Those who seek to be clever teahers will be taught severe lessons themselves, and having a PhD after your own name will mean nothing to the Man with no degree after His.
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