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JACKSON, Tenn. — May 19, 2018 — Graduates of 51���� should pursue “Christian magnanimity” as they seek to walk in a manner that is worthy of God, Daniel Dreisbach said May 19 in his commencement address.

“Take the talents you have refined and the skills you have acquired here at Union and build on them, to expand, deepen and improve your spiritual and intellectual gifts for a life of service to the kingdom and your community,” Dreisbach said. “Make this day not the culmination of your education but rather a day you commit to learning for life and a life of learning.”

Dreisbach, a professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C., spoke to more than 650 graduates in two services at Oman Arena for Union’s 193rd annual spring commencement. Dreisbach’s daughter Moriah was one of the graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Union President Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver said ceremonies like commencement have marked significant passages for as long as communities have existed.

“Commencement is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates,” Oliver said. “It is a time to reflect upon the power of the relationships that have had such a transformative effect during their time here. And it is a time to look with hope to the future.”

Janey Berends, a Spanish and applied linguistics major from Hudsonville, Michigan, received the 107th Tigrett Medal, which is awarded to an outstanding senior in each graduating class.

In his keynote address, Dreisbach said that Union, since its founding almost 200 years ago, has been transforming lives through Christ-centered education.

“I celebrate this institution’s commitment to Christian education, an education that promotes academic excellence, character development and spiritual improvement in service to church and society,” he said.

A historian, Dreisbach said commencement exercises have long been a feature of American life, since Harvard held the first commencement in North American in 1642, with nine students who graduated after a lengthy day of ceremony, public debates and orations.

“Graduates, you and your family today rightly celebrate your hard work and your academic achievements, but this should also be a day for celebrating 51����’s contributions to your life and the life of this community,” Dreisbach said.

Dreisbach used a commencement address from John Witherspoon, president of Princeton University, in 1775 as the inspiration for his challenge to graduates. One of the most influential teachers in American history and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon urged his graduates living in perilous times to exhibit Christian magnanimity.

Dreisbach described magnanimity as “greatness of soul” or “greatness of thought or purpose” and said it is characterized by courage and fortitude in the pursuit of bold enterprises. The word can also mean a nobility or generosity of spirit and conduct and the ability to rise above petty resentments and insults.

The biblical text that Witherspoon – and Dreisbach – used was 1 Thessalonians 2:12: “We exhorted and charged you to walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory.”

“The times in which you live, and the challenges you will face, are very different from those of the Princeton class of 1775,” Dreisbach told Union graduates. “Nonetheless, this theme is similarly appropriate for the 51���� class of 2018, because you too live in challenging times, especially for those who are bold and unapologetic in exhibiting their commitment to the Christian faith.

“You will face a society that is increasingly intolerant, even hostile, to those who follow Christ,” he continued. “Christian values, biblical standards are mocked in the media and the secular academy. If you hold fast to those values and those standards, you will almost certainly bear a cost for doing so. You will be derided if you adhere to biblical principles as historically understood and practiced by Christians.

“To withstand these challenges, you will be called on to exhibit Christian magnanimity.”

Dreisbach listed four characteristics of Christian magnanimity to which graduates should aspire: to attempt great and difficult things, to confront challenges and dangers with courage and resolution, to struggle against difficulties with perseverance and to bear sufferings with fortitude and patience.

“In the pursuit of great things, you will meet with difficulties,” he said. “You will meet with challenges. Confront the opposition with courage and resolution, and do so fortified by the fear of God – because the fear of God is the only effectual means to deliver us from the fear of man.”

Magnanimity is transformed into a Christian virtue, Dreisbach said, when the object of ambition is not only great, but just and righteous and oriented to the glory of God and not personal gain.

“We are not called to build an altar to our own vanity,” he said. “Rather, we are obliged to employ our talents and to hazard our lives in the service of God and our fellow man.”