Joining the Journey with Students Interdisciplinary Engagement from Aviation and Divinity

the Person of the Jesus Christ, Whose cross towers over the wrecks of time as a witness to the truth that God will never ask us to suffer anything which He Himself has not first suffered in our place. And we have this assurance: “if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12). God Resurrected Jesus and has promised to make Him the firstborn of many brothers (Romans 8:29). Those who join themselves to Him in the solemn covenant of faith shall be raised with Him from death in the greatest rescue ever accomplished, and the final fulfillment of every promised deliverance.

How Scripture Prepares Us

So, what do the testimonies of these stories tell us? First, it is in God’s character to deliver, but a close second is that we often experience what we think is God’s silence before His deliverance. Walking with God sometimes feels like wandering in a den of isolation. But we learn from the testimony of His Word that even then He can be trusted. By knowing God’s character, we can avoid the shattering of our faith when we suffer and learn to trust Him all the more.

The psalmist says, “It was good for me that I was afflicted so that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:71). This is the voice of someone on the other side of suffering who has the joy of looking back and seeing what God was teaching through intense pain (Psalm 119:65-72). In affliction, God teaches us who He is and who we are before Him. He shows us that He never turns a blind eye to the oppressed.

To you who are suffering affliction: God has not abandoned you. In the 20 years that Jacob did not hear from the LORD, God was protecting him. After Israel’s long wait in Egypt for God’s hand, He brought it, and when He did, He struck the Red Sea in two. The LORD is present in your life. Be faithful.

To you who have not yet suffered greatly: do not be anxious for your day of affliction. It will come, but it is not something to fear. Through it, God will grow you and teach you why you can trust Him. Do not rush to your affliction so that you can all the sooner experience God’s subsequent deliverance. God’s timing brings the truest, deepest growth. Be faithful.

To you who have endured suffering: reflect on what God has taught you. Do not waste your lesson. Learn what is meant for you to learn. Then, tell others. Like Joseph, calm the fears of those around you by offering a word of truth (Genesis 50:20). Give testimony to God’s faithfulness so that somebody else can trust. Be faithful.

Because the LORD sees the afflicted, and He rescues — trust Him.

1 All translations are the author’s work.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ESSAYS

Joining the Journey with Students: Interdisciplinary Engagement from Aviation and Divinity

Claudia Dempsey, Online Chair, John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, Liberty University Julie Speakes, Online Dean, School of Aviation, Liberty University

A significant challenge for many Christians today is discerning how to engage the culture. While this question has obvious implications for the Church universal, we would like to explore whether there are specific considerations for Christian educators. Some may wonder, however, how two schools, like Aviation and Divinity, can collaboratively speak to engaging students in a way that embraces a telos that goes well beyond the academic classroom. After all, Dr. Speakes specializes in aerodynamics, horizontal stabilizers, and instrument landing systems, whereas Dr. Dempsey’s work focuses on bibliology, exegesis, and ministry praxis.

Clearly, these two academic worlds do not readily intersect, yet we believe they can and should because of their shared understanding that humans are a “journeying people.”1 Although notably different, Liberty’s Aviation and Divinity programs exist to teach students about specific aspects of the journeying process. The School of Divinity, for example, explores the reality of man’s spiritual journey from the vantage point of God’s redemptive metanarrative, while the School of Aviation specializes in one of the most spectacular modes of journeying available to modernday travelers.

So, although we are distinct on many (if not most) levels, we’ve partnered on this effort because we recognize that life is a voyage, and to honor God in our forward pursuits, we must learn how to journey effectively with those around us. For educators, this means learning how to walk with our students in a way that fuels their journey while also modeling what it means to walk with others.

Co-Journeying with Different Perspectives

There are some who contend that humanity was designed as a co-journeying entity.2 Yet, when it comes to engaging people with different perspectives, Christians typically default to one of two contrasting options. The first approach, in pure Benedictine fashion, advocates a withdrawal response in order to insulate oneself from the depravity and influence of sin.3 Clearly, a strong defense trumps a good offense in this camp. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who seek to combat the beliefs and values of the culture in an attempt to reclaim that which has been taken captive by sin. While both approaches are not without value and may have their time and place in a Christian’s response to culture, these extreme views have left many within the Church feeling as though their only options are to bend, mend, blend (with), or fend (off) the culture around us.4

There is, however, a middle-ground approach, which recognizes the call for Christians to engage and walk amid the culture as instruments of God’s love and grace. Based upon Christ’s example of drawing near, this approach encourages believers to walk alongside (rather than hide from or oppose) those with differing views and perspectives. How else will those around us hear of Christ’s message of hope unless we demonstrate a willingness to share the road as we shine our light?

A Biblical Paradigm

Scripture is full of stories that highlight significant journeying moments. From Abraham’s homeland departure to Israel’s Promised Land pilgrimage and Paul’s missionary ventures, there is a clear understanding that the life of faith is a process of forward movement. Contemporary literature similarly acknowledges and highlights this journeying motif as well-known travelers, like Bunyan’s pilgrim and Hurnard’s Much-Afraid, depict various realities of the journey.

For Christians who embrace the journey of faith, it is crucial to also embrace a journey-share mindset that recognizes fellow travelers as part of God’s providential design. It is for this reason we believe that true cultural engagement is much more than a recognition of the