Jesus chose twelve to be with Him for three years. 

As an educator, I’ve often considered our methods in higher education and thought about this model the Master set before us. 

When Jesus chose twelve disciples to be with Him, they really were with Him. All the time. In between the healings and the teachings and the miracles, there were long journeys together on the road, shared meals, restless nights, funerals, weddings, and the mundane rhythms of everyday life. At Excel College, we call this the “with” principle. 

What Jesus taught was revolutionary—but the way He lived out those teachings is what led twelve men from a backwater Roman province to turn the world upside down. 

He didn’t just talk about being a servant, He washed His disciples' feet. He didn’t just talk about seeking first the Kingdom, He roamed and preached the Kingdom everywhere He went. He didn’t just talk about loving your enemies, He forgave the ones who crucified Him.

What Jesus understood is that true education is caught as much as it’s taught. 

True education is an impartation of a way of life. It’s a transformative experience. Jesus didn’t just teach men, He forged them. He didn’t just train them intellectually, He showed them how to live. If St. Irenaeus was right and “the glory of God is man fully alive," then true education should be an invitation into a flourishing life. 

I believe the “with” principle is the secret to this invitation. 

Although all may not be able to put this into words, I believe that every family has this desire - for their children to live well, to flourish. As parents, of course you want your student to be excelling academically, preparing for a job, learning to stand on their own feet, and to be a part of a thriving community. But you want more than these things, too. You want them to become virtuous. To mature socially. To become marked by a generosity of spirit. To learn to be a benefit and a blessing to their community.

In short, as a Christian parent, you don’t just want your children to excel academically - you want them to become wise, mature, and productive adults who flourish at home and in their communities. And again, what Jesus has mapped out for us is that this flourishing is caught as well as it is taught. 

That’s one of the (many) reasons that the homeschooling co-op movement has gained such momentum over the past few years, as more and more Christian parents are starting to recognize the need for a space to practice the “with” principle - one that plants their children within a community of like-minded people whose number one priority is the flourishing of the child. 

Higher education should have the same priority. It should continue the work that parents began.

So what does it mean to flourish as an adult? 

And how can higher education invite our students into this life of flourishing? 

First, we must realize that flourishing is about becoming wise, mature, and productive—healthy and whole in your body, soul, and spirit. 

Flourishing as an adult has as much (or more) to do with the health of your faith, family, and friendships as it does with your net worth. 

If that’s the case, then institutions of higher education (specifically Christian ones) should take responsibility for much more than a student’s intellectual or professional development. They should also educate (or impart a way of life) in the areas of spiritual, emotional, practical, and missional development. 

If a healthy marriage and family really holds as much value to us as a good job, then students should be exposed to healthy marriages and families in college. 

If being able to maintain a home, cook, clean, and financial stability is really important, then students should be mentored in these areas while in school.

If our desire for our children is for them to grow in their faith and become more like Jesus, then they should be discipled while at school. 

And if our goal for students is that they would be productive, contributing members of a local community, they should go to a college that’s highly concerned with its local community. 

You may be thinking, “This sounds great, but impossible.” 

It’s not impossible. It’s what we do here at Excel College. The key is the “with” principle. 

If our students are to be exposed to healthy marriages and families, the faculty and staff of the college should be ready to share their lives with their students—not just with the occasional coffee, but by actually inviting them into their life. On a crisp Saturday morning in the fall, 30 students made up over half the crowd at a local soccer game starring children of some of our faculty members. (We won 6-2, by the way). A few weeks ago, a young dating couple needing to work through some things knocked on my wife and I’s door later in the evening and said, “We need to talk to you.” Students frequent our house on Saturday evenings for college football and board games or join me to take our boys to cinnamon rolls on Tuesday mornings before preschool. Ever had a diaper tossed at you while you were at a faculty member's house? Now that’s discipleship. 

If we are to mentor students in maintaining a home, cooking, cleaning, and financial responsibility, then they should live in actual homes with real kitchens and actual expectations to keep up the home. The RA should be more than just a hall policeman, but someone intent on helping students come of age in all these areas. Our students deep clean every week and have FIERCE competitions to see who has the cleanest home. Every night of the week is a shared meal in student homes or the community center—all prepared by students. You can always tell when a new class gets in because the rice is underdone and you have to throw the chicken back in the oven, but three months in and the meals would make any mama proud. Now that’s real education! 

If discipling students is important to us, then they must have consistent exposure to the ways and Words of Jesus. They should be steeped in the scriptures and solid teaching, have access to mentors close to their age and generations above them, and be able to worship together. 

And if a college is to show students how to be contributing members of the local community, it must be willing to be an example to them. Students should work in local businesses, volunteer at local ministries, show up for festivals and events, and frequent its coffee shops and restaurants. In our charming town of Black Mountain, there are only a handful of businesses you can visit that don’t employ an Excel student—and we know almost all the restaurant and coffee shop workers by name. We show up to the farmer’s market and play at the parks. We basically staff out the volunteers for two of the local non-profits. We are integrally involved and highly invested in the success of our community—and our students are as well. Last week, Dr. Dan from Radius Chiropractic told an Excel graduate he recently promoted to office manager, “We only want to hire Excel students from now on.” That’s what you call impact!

It doesn’t have to look exactly like it does here at Excel, but I firmly believe that Christian higher education should do more than just touch our student’s intellect. It should invite them into a life of flourishing. 

Jesus chose twelve to be with Him and those twelve turned the world upside down. If we as Christian parents, educators, and leaders invited students to be with us, we just might have the same effect He did in our communities and our nation.