Steve Pettit’s Resignation, "The Issues Nearly Everyone Would be Familiar With."

We are considering a series of articles addressing the Resignation of Steve Pettit from BJU. See also, "We Deserve our Troubles, But He Deserves NONE..."

Yesterday evening Dr. Mark Minnick brought a message in which he addresses the current controversy at BJU.  The message title, "Unity Around the Lord's Table." His text was,

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread," (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

At the outset I want to note that Dr. Minnick's message covers a wide swath of issues revolving around Dr. Pettit’s resignation. He wants all persons to understand, "it is Christlike to [where we can] acknowledge the good." That, "the people who are involved in these issues that brought about the break are themselves good people. We also know very good people can have very pronounced differences." I encourage readers to listen to his message in its entirety. There is something there for all persons no matter where their loyalty is or how they feel about the controversy.

That said early on (9:30 mark) he discusses information and leadership.

"We might know some of the issues, but probably none of us know all of the issues. And even the ones we may be aware of certainly none of us would know all the details of those issues because we're not part of that inner circle of leadership... The fact that you don't have all the details leaves you really insecure about how to respond.... It really needs to be said at the outset it isn't going to be possible for all of us, perhaps none of us to have all of that information."

He discusses the necessity of privacy and confidentiality for leadership. "Much of what leadership talks about deals with has to be confidential to that leadership."1

At the 20:25 minute mark he begins "to speak very personally" about Steve Pettit. He noted that he was "fully supportive" of Steve Pettit and "the very best choice...would have been my choice" as BJU president. He went on to say,

"...but he [Pettit] knows we have had increasing differences.... The last time we talked, about two years ago, I had to tell him that nearly any time I go anywhere...if they have children coming into college years that I know where the conversation is going to go.... They're going to want to know whether they should still send their children to Bob Jones University."

Dr. Minnick went on to say,

"The issues there I think nearly everyone would be familiar with...tend to fall in the area of the Christians relationship to the bad part of the culture that the Bible calls, 'the world,' and the way that that viewpoint of the relationship displays itself in various matters [at BJU]. And the other big category would be affiliations."

Dr. Minnick continued, 

"I shared with him [Pettit], in all honesty, 'you need to know, I need to say, what I feel I have to tell people now.' I've never told people not to go to Bob Jones University. In most cases I usually end up saying, 'I hope that you're able to do that and if you can I want to encourage you.' But I had to tell Dr. Pettit that, 'parents are going to have to be far more vigilant, they're not going to receive the same kind of reinforcement if they've come from conservative homes, the same kind of reinforcement in many, many of the situations'."

The controversial issues with Steve Pettit’s presidency are widely recognized. The controversial changes Steve Pettit engineered and/or encouraged are common knowledge.  Most had been published on the BJU website, Facebook and Twitter pages. They have been out in the open for any objective observer to recognize. Steve Pettit moved the college closer to, "the bad part of the culture that the Bible calls, 'the world'," and disconcerting "affiliations." Of those things there is no doubt.

Before moving on to discussing the board (27:35) Dr. Minnick acknowledges some of the good things Dr. Pettit set out to do, "holding the line...to really help us on some important issues of the day."

Again, I encourage readers to carve out some time to listen to Dr. Minnick's message in its entirety. At 40:10 he lays out seven take away scriptural counsels. You will come away with a deeper appreciation for what God is doing. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right, (Genesis 18:25)?

Closing with Dr. Minnick's final remarks, 

"One thing we do know and can be assured of and that is we can really leave it with the Lord in prayer. We don't have to fight our way through a whole series of courts to finally come to the supreme Judge.... We have access to the supreme court immediately.... We're all concerned that the school be preserved.... If God opens a door no man can shut it. On the other hand, if God closes a door nobody can open it."

Yours faithfully,

LM

Continue to- Steve Pettit Breaks with the "Conservative" Base

Footnotes:
1) Certain groups received, from unscrupulous actors, confidential documents and communications, which they published. Those things represent one side of a story. Sensitive, incomplete information can be misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused for political purposes.

Related Reading:

No One Wins Unless the Cause Wins

When a Ministry is Being Maligned: A Right Response to Rancor in the Ranks