Cedars, April 27, 2006

Thursday, April 27, 2006 12 | C EDARS VIEWPOINTS Elliv: What to do with a Failing Favorite I’ve always been proud to be a Cedarville student. Over my nearly four years here I have sought to con- vey to those outside our community how impressed I am with this university’s commitment to biblical truth, quality education, and cultural engagement. To such ends, I have al- ways done my best to seek out impressive, all be they unofficial, promotional materials for the school. Cedars, Inspire, Miracle, Chapel highlights, and even SGA videos have pro- vided me with examples of how well we do things at CU. With this in mind, I walked into Elliv last Saturday night thinking “Man, I hope they make DVDs of this so I can show everyone at home.” By the time it was over, I was having second thoughts. Something needs to be made clear before I go any farther. This is not a stab at Holly Luiken or any oth- er single person who was involved with Elliv. Holly is a wonderful person who took on an amazing re- sponsibility and obviously worked hard, as did so many other people associ- ated with the festivities. I mean no individuals harm. My goal is to provide hon- est, critical evaluation, along with possible solu- tions for problems. With that said, I’ll begin my critique with positives. The Elliv atmosphere was as strong as ever, despite problems during the pro- gram. Everyone loves to dress up, get out, and have fun with their friends in the waning days of the spring semester. Also, hosts Daron Day and Terry Schenk were very good, both individually and as a team. Working within the script provided (another subject worthy of discus- sion), they did a great job smoothing out the various bumps within the show. The China song was rath- er clever and having Ben Waddell and Katie Fickes perform it made it all the better. Dr. Brown is al- ways a favorite, whether he’s a Beatle or solemn an- nouncer of problems at the Key Office. Abi Cook was wonderful in commemo- rating members of the CU family that have recently gone home to be with the Lord. Unfortunately, this year’s festivities are gen- erally marked more by dis- appointment than satisfac- tion. Aside from the fact that the catwalk donning the DMC stage during the show spent its youth in some type of Vegas “club,” (thank you Ebay) there are some serious concerns that need to be addressed by fu- ture Elliv planners to make the venue a success. Problems exist with the number and types of award categories. The “Best Campus Entertain- ment” category makes very little sense. There is no part of such entertain- ment that does not fit into one of the other categories of art, writing, music, act- ing, or video production. Subsequently, all of the nominees in this category fit into one of those groups as well. Second is nominee se- lections. If we as a body are expected to vote for one of five nominees, we should have a say in who those nominees are. Such a consideration is especially important in areas such as art and writing, where the best choices are not always the most obvious. The largest problems, however, involved the show itself. The projec- tor and screen setup was seriously flawed. Such a system is meant to ben- efit those who are farther from the stage by making the action both larger and clearer. This year’s bowed and downward angled set- up, however, did neither of those things. Lighting and audio were also hap- hazard. Half of the time, people on stage could not be seen. The other half, they couldn’t be heard. The largest problems with the show, however, concerned the acts them- selves, particularly vocals. Indeed, there are very few people that can play in- struments well, and those who planned the acts chose such musicians very well. Strings, piano/keyboards, and percussion were all very well done. The sing- ing, however, left much to be desired. Enough said. It’s not polite to point out problems without of- fering suggestions for so- lution. My first two would be to lose the “Campus Entertainment” category and make the public re- sponsible for nominations in the various categories (like homecoming). Con- cerning the show itself, the acts could be made better by having open auditions for vocal and other per- formance slots. Finally, for technical difficulties, I only see one feasible solu- tion: losing the secretive nature of the event. I re- alize this is a tall order. I love to be surprised, and I wish Elliv had gone flaw- lessly while keeping ev- erything under wraps, but it didn’t. It’s not like be- ing more open about the show would ruin it. When I heard that the play “Ro- meo and Juliet” was being performed, I knew what it was about. I still went and thought it was great. Along these same lines, I’d rather know what was going to happen at Elliv and leave saying “That was done so well!” then not know and leave saying, “Wow, that was surprising...ly bad.” · Ryan Stalker · Managing Editor God’s Love: A Response From the moment God said, “Let there be light,” He omnisciently knew that His love would be abused by humanity (Gen. 1:3). It is for this reason that Christ is re- vealed as “The Lamb slain before the foun- dation of the world” (Rev 13:8). Christ’s sacrificial act of love was assumed when the Trinity embarked on creation. The moment God said, “Let there be light,” He knew His son would have to utter, “It is finished.” God understood this, and so should we. Love has been abused. In his recent letter to the editor entitled “Stop Abusing Love,” Keith Rice describes what he calls the “true gospel.” Rice is cor- rect in saying that love is not always “nice, unifying, or tolerant.” Sometimes the best things for us are not what we like or want to hear. He is also correct in stating that the truest act of love was Christ’s work. However, I struggle to read Rice’s over- simplification presenting the Gospel as a mere historical truth. Though I do not deny any aspect of the historicity of Christ’s death, burial, or resurrection, these events are not mere history. I do not think Rice was asserting this directly, but he describes the gospel as merely a list of facts with which we should agree. I wanted to see what the gospel writers thought about this, so I started with John. I noticed that those closest to the events never saw the life situation they were entangled in as mere facts. Actually, John the beloved dis- ciple addresses this meta-narrative theme in John 15, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friend.” Ob- viously, he did not view Christ’s death as a simple historical event, but a sacrificial act of love that restores the relationship lost due to sin and that calls disciples to love one an- other. As a Bible major, when I study the Gos- pel I am continually fascinated by its beauty, depth, and richness. These ancient events call to our heart, offer redemption, restore that relationship we lost so long ago, and convict us of sin. I don’t like being convicted. It makes me feel bad. I know I need it, but I am a Christian. I honestly cannot imagine the depth of emotions that must go through non- Christians when they experience conviction with no secure hope. I have hope, and still don’t like to be told I am wrong even though I know it is what is best for me. To me, it makes sense that Christians will be “perse- cuted,” because nobody wants to be told that the sum total of all their desires and passions is in direct opposition to God or, more sim- ply, is just plain wrong. As I continued to look into John 15 and then on into 16, I noticed it states that the “world” will hate Christians because of Christ and the Gospel. Rice alludes to this when he notes that “we are to humbly and faithfully preach it despite persecution […]” Obviously, opposition to this beautiful gos- pel should be expected. Sin, righteousness, and judgment are the very things of which the Spirit is convicting the world. (16:8). However, this opposition does not negate love. This persecution does not give us license to bat- ten down the hatches of Christendom and fire up our cannons of truth in order to blow away the enemy of the “world.” These are hurting, lost people headed to hell, not navy seals seeking to de- stroy. They are doing what is natural to their sinful natures. We should expect no less. I applaud Rice’s boldness in stating that he wants to be judgmental just like Christ. However, there is a big dif- ference between judging the heresy of those who claim the truth, and judging the lives of those who do not know the truth. Christ’s redemptive judgment of the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collectors or numerous other “sinners” was not void of lovingkindness. In fact, He actually spoke lovingly to the deeper need of these indi- viduals. Their sin was only a manifestation of this need: namely, redemption. In fact, He went out to eat with them, and was caught in public with them, hardly the “separation” Rice called for. As Romans 2:4 clearly states, it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance. This is clearly visible in Christ’s dealings with sinners. I was reading these events in the life of Christ the other day, and I noticed something about all of them. Christ is not calling them to clean up their acts before He will deal with them. He goes to the root cause: they need “living water,” not some- one with sin to “cast the first stone.” I think that too often we really expect non-Christians to act like Christians. Where did we get this crazy idea? How can we expect non-regenerated, sin-filled people to act “Christlike?” (Heck, we do not even act that way.) That is one reason why we should have no problem with Chad Al- len portraying Nate Saint in the film End of the Spear . We ought not piously stand up and make him behave contrary to his sin na- ture in order to act in a film. Our goal, as Christians, should be to love him to Christ (thanks Dr. Couser). In fact, I cannot think of a better place for any non-Christian than immersed in a group of people who have been changed by the kindness of Christ that prompted repentance and who are willing to point others to that same kindness. This type of discernment, tempered by kindness, love, and grace, is the essence of the Gospel. This type of interaction is neither tolerant nor compromising; it is redemptive. However, I think we are oftentimes afraid Chad Allen, or any non-Christian, is going to convert us . God is bigger than that (1 Cor.10:13). Keith Rice was exactly right when he said we should “only humbly obey [Christ’s] word.” I agree; we should obey Christ’s words and the commands within. This senti- ment echoes Jesus’ words about the greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Oops, there’s that “love” word again. Love is not antithetical to the kind of judgment Christ displayed. The most loving thing anyone of us can do is to offer some- one what they need most: Christ. Any true doctrine must be infused with love. God is a holy, righteous, sovereign, compassionate, and yes, loving God. He is all of these at the same time. He cannot be divided. He judges lovingly just as He loves righteously. Since the beginning, He has been loving creation back into a relationship with Him. His love for us should prompt us to redemptively love sinners to Him. · Rob Marcello · Contributing Writer “ Unfortunately, this year’s festivities are generally marked more by disappointment than satisfaction ... there are some serious concerns that need to be addressed by future Elliv planners to make the venue a success.