Perhaps one may mistakenly assume Bible professors don’t have a problem with integrating faith and learning. After all, Bible professors are not pressured to teach the theory of evolution like biology professors but teach the Bible and discuss matters of faith all the time. I recently attended a 2016 Faculty Fusion session entitled “Teaching Like a Christian” by David Kneip. He shared various strategies our faculty utilize to integrate faith and learning in their courses. Those strategies were nothing new to me because I’ve used all of them in my classes, except two – quoting Bible verses in my syllabi and emailing all my students before the semester begins. Should I then feel good about my practice of integrating faith and learning? In reality, Bible professors also have to be intentional in their integration of faith and learning just as those professors in other disciplines.
Teaching Bible encompasses two ends of the spectrum – confessional and academic. There is no one perfect balance between the two, but the extremes on both ends of the spectrum must be avoided. A confessional teaching of the Bible at the expense of academic study of the Bible has no place at Christian universities. On the other hand, biblical studies and related studies as a pure academic endeavor that edifies neither synagogue nor church can be “parasitic,” to use the harsh criticism made by a Harvard Professor and a practicing Jew, Jon D. Levenson (The Bible: Unexamined Commitments of Criticism, 33). After all, as Jesus has already warned us, it is possible for anyone to claim to know God but in actuality to not know God (John 8:55). It is a warning that I take seriously as I teach the Bible day in and day out. What brings authenticity and life to my teaching of the Bible?
I love teaching undergraduate level Bible courses, especially general education courses, where my teaching has to be relevant to their lives. Pure academic study of the Bible without praxis has no place in undergraduate general education Bible courses at Christian universities. Of course, one can put on false pretenses, but students are perceptive and observant enough that they can tell whether or not we are authentic. After all, we are professors. We profess our commitment to God in everything we do. It shows in how I treat my students, how I carry my conversation with them, and how I treat biblical texts. We are called to participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We are to do everything in a Christ-like manner.
So what do I do to integrate faith and learning myself? How do I model that for my students? Integration of faith and learning can take many forms, but first of all, I have to be intentional in cultivating the discipline of integrating faith and learning for myself, then for my students. I must constantly remind myself that whatever I say and do in and outside of class is to declare my faith in God. It is who I am that takes priority over what I do and overflows into what I do. So I must be authentic if I want to be more effective in teaching the Bible. I must continually remind myself of who I am – I am only a servant of God, who is privileged to participate in what he does – creation and re-creation of this world. God is at work, repairing this broken world, and I am his apprentice and “partner” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
To be authentic I practice what I teach. Decades ago another Harvard Professor Krister Stendahl in his seminal IDB article “Biblical Theology, Contemporary” made the currently well-known normative and descriptive distinction and argued biblical scholars are to focus on descriptive task, i.e., what a biblical text meant to its original recipients, and systematic theologians and preachers on normative task, i.e., what it means for us now. Canonical hermeneutics practiced by the biblical authors, however, embraces both descriptive and normative tasks. These two tasks are inseparable. That is the approach I take to integrate faith and learning in my Bible classes. In other words, my teaching is both confessional and academic that takes both the descriptive and the normative task seriously.
How do I practice what I teach? I am active in my service to the Church, locally and globally. I served as minister for three ethnically Korean churches in the past with little or almost no pay. I served as an elder at Newberg Church of Christ in Newberg, Oregon, during my tenure at Cascade College in Portland, Oregon. Currently, I serve as a deacon at Hillcrest and work as a member of Adult Education, Missions, and Preacher Search Committee. On the global side I actively participate in mission work, both domestic and foreign. Participating in foreign missions, specifically China mission, is a humbling and honoring experience for me. God is a God on the move, traveling to places where He is wanted and actively transforming lives in many amazing and unbelievable ways. To witness that and participate in what God is doing invigorates my commitment to God and teaching the Bible in class. Just like my students I have to raise funds for mission work, and thankfully my home church Hillcrest supports one half of the flight cost. I pay for the other half and other expenses on my own, but every penny I spend is worth it when I see my students being refined in their faith and making a difference on the other side of the world and Chinese students accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Etymologically, scholar essentially means serious student. I need to be the best biblical scholar I can be, and scholarship is a journey that never ends. While professing who I am is utterly important in teaching the Bible, what and how I teach is also essential and can only be perfected with continual scholarship, such as yearly participation in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Christian Scholars Conference. That is how I integrate faith and learning for myself and how I model it for my students.
See below for my students’ reflections on how I integrate faith and learning.
2014 Mission Team with Chinese Students at Ark Underground Church in Harbin, China
“Dr. Cha became not only a tour guide (at least in South Korea) on our mission trip, but also a mentor who challenged us to question our understandings of ourselves, our faith and the new environment in which we found ourselves. I am grateful for the opportunity to travel with Dr. Cha to China and South Korea to see Christianity in a new and different context, as we had spent so long discussing in our Abrahamic Faiths class in Spring 2014. Learning about global religions is something most university students do, but very few have the opportunity to extend that classroom abroad on a mission trip. ACU is blessed to have professors such as Dr. Kilnam Cha, not only because of his academic excellence and Christ-like character, but also for the opportunities and connections he brings to ACU and its students.” by Richie Elmore
Our Mission Team with Ark Underground Bible Institute Students in Harbin, China
“Taking Cha’s Abrahamic Faiths class helped prepare our minds for the work we were to do in China. Prayer, numerous meetings, and discussion about the context of our evangelism in China were also essential to our preparation for our mission. I believe this preparation positively enhanced my experience in China and enabled me to learn so much more while I was there. God is awesome, and I pray that all I have learned is relevant to his kingdom. by Will Head
Bobbie-Jean West and Janie Smiley on the Great Wall in Beijing, China
“We were also prepared for this trip because of the class, Abrahamic Faiths; we took this class taught by Dr. Cha. In this class we learned about Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and how these different religions relate to each other. In class we discussed why each religion is considered a religion on its own and what components each one consists of. Throughout these discussions and assigned readings I personally learned what makes Christianity so different, but most importantly how to respect different religions because now I can understand them. These lessons learned and spiritual growth resulted in our team ready to minister to people by loving the way Jesus loved, even with those whom we didn’t share a common language with… In fact, I wish the trip were longer and now believe that mission trips should be required for every student. The insight one gains, the meaningful relationships one builds, and the spiritual growth someone is blessed with is immeasurable. The class prepared me for the business aspect of the mission trip, and Dr. Cha bravely led us through the hardships we faced. I am forever grateful for the opportunity, the life lessons I learned, and the professor who made it all happen. by Bobbie-Jean West
As my students indicated, our mission trip to Korea and China was not only to participate in God’s mission but also to continue what we learned in my Abrahamic Faiths course and to experience the global Christianity as we worshipped at Yeoido Church, the largest church in the world, and also at Chinese house churches, perhaps the smallest but most vibrant churches in the world. This is yet another avenue for me to integrate faith and learning in my own way.
Below is what one student in my Cornerstone wrote in his/her evaluation. I chose this from my Cornerstone class because this is indicative of how I integrate faith and learning in all of my classes not just in Bible classes: “I thoroughly enjoyed taking this class from Dr. Cha. He always made a point to relate what we learned in class to our own lives and challenged us to live out our beliefs. He made a true effort to get to know us as individuals and was always welcoming and friendly.” It is not just in Bible classes, but I believe there are ample opportunities in any class to integrate faith and learning creatively.
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