Liberty faculty honored, encouraged in their roles as spiritual mentors during special Convocation

Members of Liberty University’s faculty gathered in the Center for Music and the Worship Arts, Concert Hall on Monday morning to hear from renowned speaker and author Dr. Erwin Lutzer, who spoke into their roles as educators and mentors to students who are living in a world of increasing compromise and decreasing truth.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer is an evangelical speaker, radio broadcaster, and author. He served as senior pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years.

The final Faculty Convocation of the school year began with a time of worship led by LU Praise, Liberty’s gospel choir. Liberty President Jerry Prevo opened with a message of thankfulness to the faculty, who he called “the heart of the university.”

“What does our heart do? Our heart pumps the blood to our limbs and our mind, and without that, we would not have a healthy body,” Prevo said. “I’m looking at the heart of Liberty University, because you are in that classroom pumping academically into our students and doing it in a biblical, spiritual way. Without you, we would not have what we have here.”

“Before me today are the people who will determine whether Liberty University stays a biblically based academic institution,” he added. “We need men and women who will stand up for Jesus.”

Before introducing Lutzer, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Scott Hicks also expressed his admiration for the faculty.

“I am always blown away by this team, every one of our faculty members and staff, from the president all the way to a janitor,” Hicks said. “We get to work and serve at an amazing place, we get to use education to deliver the Gospel to every part of the world. You come every day and you serve with great humility.”

Lutzer began by sharing about his ties to Liberty co-founder Dr. Elmer Towns, who in 1960 spurred him to attend Dallas Theological Seminary and begin writing books — two decisions he said shaped his career.

“I had never heard of Dallas (Theological) Seminary, I was just a farm boy from Saskatchewan (Canada), but it was through that decision and a series of events that God led me,” Lutzer said.

His message for Liberty’s faculty was one of both warning and encouragement, citing Revelation 3 in which a church in Sardis (modern-day Turkey) is deemed spiritually dead while putting on the appearance of being alive in the community. Lutzer made frequent comparisons to modern culture, both in and out of the Church, where people have become less Christ-focused with each compromise to accommodate secular views.

“We are living in a time in America when the country we once knew is gone,” Lutzer said. “The overreach of government and all of these other things have happened. But God has not left us without witness. God is sovereign, and Jesus has brought us to this hour.”

As Christians, Lutzer explained, we need to hold on to the truth while also loving others, not letting either part take over. Knowing his audience, Lutzer said that Liberty’s faculty members ought to teach students about establishing that boundary and balance. He cited Jesus’ words in John 14:15: “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

“You as a faculty have to help your students understand that love and truth are not enemies,” Lutzer said. “You don’t have to choose one or the other. We must help this generation to say that our doctrine is not based on a worldly view of love; it must always be based on the Word of God but in a loving way.

“You faculty members have a huge responsibility in helping your students see this and draw lines in the sand of discipline in a world that has clearly lost its way,” he added.

He emphasized that students need to be taught on multiple levels, academically and spiritually, to become Champions for Christ.

“In your classrooms, in your teaching, if you think you can change people only intellectually because of your knowledge … it will not be transforming because people listen not only with their minds, but they also listen with their hearts,” he said. “As faculty members, you need to win the hearts of your students through your friendships and relationships because, if not, they will not hear what you are saying.”

In closing, Lutzer reminded the faculty of the eternal impact they can have on students.

“Each day that you live is either a positive or a negative regarding eternity,” he said. “Every day that you live is significant, and the question you have to ask is, ‘How effective am I today for the sake of eternity? What investments have I made in the lives of others? You as faculty have an impact greater than you will ever realize.”

Liberty Campus Pastor Jonathan Falwell then dismissed the faculty with a final word of encouragement to carry the morning’s theme into the fall semester, when over 5,000 freshmen will be arriving on campus for the first time.

“God can and will do amazing things through each and every one of us if we will commit and remember the things that Dr. Lutzer shared today,” Falwell said. “I believe that (the incoming class) is 5,000 more individuals that today, as we sit in this room, are having God work in their hearts and open their eyes and ears to allow us to pour into them. That’s why we’re here.”