Up Front with President Hammond

Making All Things New

Along one of the walls in my last office sat four antique baseball stadium seats—a row of brilliant red just below a smattering of baseball posters and tin scoreboard panels numbering 75, 76 and 90 (the three most recent years the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series). My family and I salvaged the seats, along with a strip of AstroTurf, from a rubble pile when the Reds’ Riverfront Stadium was demolished 20 years ago. They’re certainly not the most comfortable seats, but they remind me of a few truths that transcend baseball fandom.

First, remodeling is temporary; renewal is eternal. At one of the first Chapel services of the fall semester, I spoke on Revelation 21:1–5. In this vision that the Holy Spirit brought to the Apostle John, we see a promise that God will make all things new. There is a new heaven, a new earth, a new city, a new world, a new creation at the end of this story. We will be new. But unlike stadium reconstruction or home remodeling, Christ’s promise of renewal is lasting—a recreation of us into people who are no more marked by sin. And the beauty is that this great promise, the work of making all things new, is happening in us right now and we can share in that work today.

Second, seats are worth saving. And I don’t just mean saving collector baseball seats from demolition; I mean saving space in our lives for others. The Kingdom to come has an impact not just on how we’re renewed in our own hearts but how we can extend that renewal to be in right relationship with Christ and with those around us. While we wait for that new creation, we’re not to waste our time here— we’re to seek the welfare of this place, to be good citizens and loving neighbors.

What would it look like for Gordon—on campus and beyond—to be known as a community marked by our civility and our peacefulness? That’s not to suggest for a moment that uniformity of thinking or total agreement would be a prerequisite. Rather, as a community of believers who foremost draw together under the lordship of Christ, faith provides the framework for us to dialogue about disagreements and differences. So, as I lead here at Gordon, this is my prayer: That we would be so marked by the love of Christ that this would not only alter our hearts internally, but it would change the way we interact with the world around us.

When you come to campus, there’s a seat for you. My office chairs are a little less colorful now but no less inviting, and I’d love to meet you.

With expectant hope,

Mike Hammond

P.S. My enthusiasm for sports isn’t limited to baseball. I am thrilled to be cheering on all 21 varsity Fighting Scots teams—including the fall 2021 CCC Champions, Men’s and Women’s Soccer! It’s been a joy getting to know the current teams and the legacy they stand on. (Read all about the “Century of Scots” on page 14.)

Dr. Michael Hammond is the ninth president of Gordon College. After attending three Fenway games since moving to New England last summer, he’s still a diehard Cincinnati Reds fan but says the Red Sox are now his “favorite American League team.”

president@gordon.edu

www.gordon.edu/president

@mike_hammond_gc