Torch, Spring 2004

Spring 2004 / TORCH 9 T he word “engagement” has often been one of my favorites when describing the various networking opportunities that we’re involved with daily as career professionals in the Cedarville University Career Services Office. In light of Dr. Brown’s emphasis on engagement as part of a Christian worldview, I thought it prudent to research both the entomological and dictionary definitions of “engagement” and couple them with a biblical perspective of our work in connecting our students to jobs, careers, and life ministries. Most dictionaries offer four or five senses of the word “engage” as follows: To pledge oneself; to occupy or involve oneself, take part, be active; to encounter, to enter into conflict, to begin to fight; to articulate, interlock, mesh; to touch and cross swords or blades. It would be appropriate to discuss the role of the Cedarville University Career Services Office according to each of these definitions. To pledge oneself We are responsible before a sovereign God to be the best at whatever He has designed us to do, because that is the way we fulfill His plan for doing Kingdom things, His plan for being Christlike. We should desire to be the best at what He has designed us to be, because it is the way we most effectively utilize and honor the resources He has given us. We should desire to be the best at what He designed us to be so that we can answer others when they ask for a reason for the hope that is within us. We should want to be the best at what we do to benefit others in our workplace, in our neighborhood, and on the planet. One way for us to remain engaged in the world around us and with our fellow sojourners is to work with and among them. To that end, career services is dedicated to encouraging Cedarville students and graduates to understand their role in preparing for and attaining meaningful, rewarding engagement in the wide range of opportunities that fulfill Great Commission objectives. To occupy or involve oneself, take part, be active We seek to encourage students to involve themselves in a breadth of roles, ranging from Bible teachers to board members, from computer scientists to counselors, from engineers to evangelists, from pastors to principals, all in order to be involved in Kingdom- building. Martin Luther said, “… the works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone. Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fastings and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.” 1 William Tyndale likewise offered, “There is no work better than another to please God: to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a souter [cobbler], or an apostle, all is one; to wash dishes and to preach is all one, as touching the deed, to please God.” 2 We are involved in helping our students attain a life ministry role which is holy, pleasing, and acceptable to God as a “thank offering” for the way He has designed them. Engagement: derivative of the French engarde ; the opening positioning through which the fencer prepares to either attack or defend.