Is NIU fundamental?

“Blunt discussions of faults are not the same as attacks. I know that you believe this—you advertise your own blog as “fundamentalism by blunt instrument.” You’re certainly not afraid of tackling issues and naming names, even to the point of telling parents and pastors (bluntly!) ‘Don’t send your kids to Northland.’ While I know that decisions of Northland International University have provoked controversy, I don’t think that anyone has decided that that NIU is no longer a fundamentalist institution—and I don’t believe that you perceive yourself as attacking them.”

 

The above is a paragraph by Dr. Kevin Bauder in a posting over at SI (it can be found here). I do wish to look at what Dr. Bauder brings up, and that is, Is NIU still a fundamentalist institution? Now, just because someone claims to be a fundamentalist (or anything else for that matter) doesn’t make them a fundamentalist (or whatever they are claiming). Putting on a façade doesn’t make the case either, any more than someone living in a garage, decorating themselves with auto parts makes them a Buick.

So let’s look at what has placed NIU into this controversy. You can find plenty of material at Lou Martuneac’s blog, In Defense of the Gospel (found here). Don Johnson at his blog, An Oxgoad, eh (here), and at the FBFI’s blog Proclaim & Defend (here) has also addressed some the NIU controversy. I too have touched on this controversy (here).

I wish to list here some things that have occurred at NIU over the past 2 ½ years (which are addressed in more detail in various blog articles at the sites mentioned above) to consider for the above mentioned question.

 

Ø  October 2010 Rick Holland speaks at chapel at NIU (Rick Holland at the time was on staff at John MacArthur’s church and was the leader of the Resolved Conference which was a rock concert with a spiritual emphasis put on by MacArthur’s church. It seems to have died with last year’s conference).

Ø  November 2010 Wayne Simien, former NBA star speaks in chapel as a result of a NIU student interning at Simien’s sport camp in KS. This sports camp is non-denominational and includes dance camp for girls.

Ø  Fall of 2010 Dr. Wynne Kimbrough, dean of students, and a few students do a song from the Broadway musical, Wicked, in chapel.

Ø  Summer 2011 Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary is in for a block course to the D.Min. students. Dr. Bruce Ware espouses progressive dispensationalism.

Ø  July 2012 Dr. Matt Olson attends an SGM (sovereign grace ministries) church in Philadelphia, and on his blog site publicly commends this church, the NIU alumni who attend and specifically, Greg Dietrich, who is on staff with NIU and attending this church

Ø  December 2012 Matt Olson attends Rick Holland’s new ministry, a church in the Kansas City area. Commending Rick Holland on the services, especially a concert on Saturday night (according to the church’s website’s calendar the only concert was an Enfield concert; Enfield is the Christian rock band out of John MacArthur’s church that was the music driving the Resolved Conferences that Holland oversaw)

Ø  February 2013 Matt Olson and about 40 students attend the I am redeemed CCM concert in Oshkosh to recruit students for NIU

 

All this begs the question; is this demonstrative of a fundamentalist institution? Do fundamentalists recruit students at rock concerts? Do fundamentalists attend evangelical churches and charismatic churches and promote both? Do fundamentalists have evangelicals preach in their chapels? Do fundamentalists promote camps that teach our daughters to dance? Do fundamentalists reproduce Broadway musicals in chapel, even if done in parody?

Personally, to answer the above questions, I give an unequivocal, NO! Some may argue that NIU still has a fundamental orthodoxy and that is true. However, from our orthodoxy flows our orthopraxis and orthopathy. Dr. Matt Olson has started to introduce a different –praxis (heteropraxis?) and –pathy (heteropathy?), ones that are at odds with the orthodoxy. This tension will have to be relieved. Either the –praxis and –pathy will revert or the –doxy will change as well.

Now certainly Dr. Matt Olson and the trustees of NIU are entitled to move the institution in any direction which they desire but with that change may they also be men of integrity enough to say they are changing direction and abandoning their previous position. Dr. Olson has yet to answer the questions surrounding the promotion of a charismatic church in direct contradiction to their stated position against charismaticism. What Dr. Matt Olson has initiated over the past 2 ½ years is clearly a direction change. Just talk to any alumni or former student who was last a student prior to the above mentioned events and you will find them saying things such as, “that was never allowed when I went there.” We are hiding our heads in the sand if we try to say that nothing is changing at NIU.

Change can be good. I’m not against change. I’m 51 years old, my first dress clothes date back to the mid 70’s…change is good. Change can also be bad. I would argue that the direction change that Dr. Matt Olson has taken NIU is not a good direction. He has put in motion a change that will lead NIU squarely into evangelicalism.

For those who always wish to bring up the perennial question, have you contacted Dr. Matt Olson? Yes, I have, on numerous occasions starting back in the fall of 2010 after he had Rick Holland and Wayne Simien. I was summarily dismissed. Dr. Matt Olson was not in the least bit concerned over my concerns and was not at all troubled if the school lost our constituency. Now, I have mentioned this at times in comments elsewhere, that all of this at NIU has a direct bearing on my ministry. There have been four students from our church go to NBBC/NIU. Three have graduated; one is out working right now. One of those graduates worked for over 10 years on campus. That person did not renew their contract for the 2011/2012 school year for the very concerns mentioned above that had occurred up to that point in time. So, yes, this is indeed impacting me, though I have never been on the campus. As a church we have severed having any ties with NIU. They are no longer on our list of recommended colleges for our young person or anyone. This is not fun. This grieves me very much. Thankfully our church family is united in this. We haven’t left NIU. NIU has left us.

Addendum: NIU just introduced their latest recruiting tool: Redeemed, a rock band (the link is here) Here is also a link to a video presentation of this group here
So, another question, does a fundamentalist institution use a rock band for recruiting students? Answer: NO! Northland has left the station that was once fundamentalism and has arrived at a new station, which is an old station, called evangelicalism. Clearly NIU is not where it once was, a tragedy, truly a tragedy.

See also: Removing the question mark, we're evangelical