Baylor’s brilliant move

David Garland is an inspired—and inspiring—choice as interim president of Baylor University.

Garland has been an asset to Baylor since he joined the George W. Truett Theological Seminary faculty 11 years ago. As a professor of New Testament, then associate dean for academic affairs and most recently as dean, he has provided exemplary leadership.

Garland embodies multiple characteristics that commend him to lead Baylor during the coming months:

Teaching & research

• David Garland is the perfect blend of teaching mastery and research excellence.

He is one of the foremost scholars of the Gospel of Mark in the world, and his books—particularly commentaries—have been praised by academics and ministers for years. He's a world-class scholar whose research is respected by his peers. But he's also a scintillating lecturer and a sensitive mentor-teacher.

A personal note: He was my teacher when I attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the early ’80s. Time and time again, I left his classroom yearning to study the New Testament, amazed at how he mined truths from ancient words that set hearts on fire today. He revealed such wonderful truth in the Bible that he made me want to go out to preach, and I wasn't even called to the pastorate. I loved going to his class every day.

For several years, Baylor has been divided between those who revere its legacy as a great teaching school and those who want to see it rise in the ranks of research institutions. Garland can speak authentically—and listen empathetically—to both "sides." He demonstrates that passion for forming lives in the classroom and zeal for exploring worlds of ideas in the library and lab can reside together, in harmony.

Honor & integrity

• To paraphrase Jesus' description of the Apostle Nathanael: "Behold, a Baylorite indeed, in whom is no guile" (John 1:47, sort of).

Baylor's problem with disharmony and division the past decade or so has developed because too many people have been working too many agendas. Suspicion and distrust have infused dysfunction in the "Baylor family." They may call themselves Bear kin, but they simply haven't trusted each other, often wondering about motives and agendas, to say nothing of what's going on behind each other's backs.

But David Garland is not like that. He is honest and sincere and full of integrity. His word is plain and true. He's up-front and transparent. Baylor will be able to know that what they see is what they get. And they can begin to trust again.

Garland can do this because (a) he understands that biblical ethics, starting with truth-telling and trustworthiness, is at the heart of the Christian gospel, (b) his life is patterned after that gospel, and (c) he is true with God, with himself and with others.

Beyond that, his actions and demeanor exemplify truthfulness. Anyone who has worked with him or known him well or for long instinctively understands his inherent honesty. And his honesty instills honesty in others.

Smart & experienced

• OK, a corollary. He's no fool; he wasn't born in the Bear Pit yesterday.

I can imagine some of you who read the previous section were saying to yourselves, "Yeah, then (fill in the blank—the regents, the faculty, the alumni) will eat his lunch."

He's smarter than that. He's been involved in two top-flight academic institutions for more than 30 years, and he knows how people behave, at their best and their worst. He's not naive. But I believe he's an integrity evangelist; he can convert bad actors to better behavior.

Open & inclusive

• David Garland is a role model of openness and inclusion.

One of the beautiful aspects of Truett Seminary is that it has become a place where people from many backgrounds and perspectives have come to learn togther. And a vital part of what they have learned is to trust and accept one another.

I can't overstate how remarkable that is, given the context of conflict out of which Truett Seminary was born. Truett began when the six Southern Baptist seminaries were dying—at least as many of us had known them. I don't want to belabor the point, but ultra-conservatives (sometimes called fundamentalists) had gained control of the SBC schools, and only one type of thinking was welcomed. Some so-called moderate Baptists wanted their schools to be not quite the opposite—bastions for their kind of thinking. But Truett has become the true opposite—a place of learning and preparation for ministry where people who hold the range of theological perspectives are respected. A fundamentalist and a moderate can both feel at home at Truett, not because the faculty and other students all think as they do, but because their right to think for themselves and search and learn is honored. Because the Baptist principle of the priesthood of all believers truely is affirmed.

This spirit can help restore unity at Baylor. Baylorites need to see that they can disagree, still love Baylor and even respect each other. David Garland leads by example, and the "Baylor family" can learn from him during this interim.

Diana

• Despite his enormous gifts and abilities, he wed over his head.

He is married to Diana Garland, dean of Baylor's School of Social Work. Like her husband, Diana Garland embodies the perfect blend of teacher and scholar. She's world-renowned for her research and practice in church-based social work. She's a gifted author. And she's the kind of beloved teacher whose students would follow to the ends of the earth but, better yet, follow her example into the poorest homes and neediest neighborhoods and most sensitive congregations, wherever the people whom Jesus called "the least of these" reside.

She's a strong, funny, energetic, passionate and compassionate, faithful and inspiring teacher, dean, minister and friend.

David and Diana Garland are an exemplary couple who make Baylor proud.

Great job, regents

All of us who love Baylor can and should expect great things from Baylor. The board of regents have done well to choose David Garland, and we can pray with confidence that Baylor will grow in unity in the coming months.