Tenure and the Gospel

A couple of my colleagues (congratulations) were just awarded tenure. I recall the feeling of receiving that letter. You are expecting good news, everyone tells you not to worry, but you still worry until you see it in writing. Then a cool wave of relief washes over you. 

By the way, there are arguments for and against the tenure system, but one argument against, namely that professors don’t have to do anything (i.e., research) after tenure, because they can’t be fired, is nothing but a stereotype.  It is not to say that it never happens, that a prof decides to do the bare minimum after tenure, but true deadwood cases are outliers. First of all, most academics who are awarded tenure are quite driven, or they wouldn’t have made it that far in the first place. They tend not to turn off that drive. And on a more pragmatic level, you will be competing for merit pay raises and promotion to full professor (at tenure,  in the US system, you are typically promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor), which has a nice salary bump. If you go into a cocoon after tenure you will get the minimum cost of living increases (and no merit increases) and you’ll never get promoted. Integrated over your career, that is a significant monetary hit.

But I’m not here to discuss tenure per se. Rather, I want to draw an analogy between tenure and the gospel.

Both are good news. Both represent something you can’t lose. Both give you an unparalleled sense of security. In both cases, relaxing, enjoying, and basking in that security is good, but slipping into inactivity as a result of the security should be avoided at all costs.

But the analogy is far from perfect. Tenure is based your works. The Gospel is based on someone else’s works. 

I recently heard sad news (arrest and jail) about a man I like very much and who used to attend my former church. He was a man who, sadly, never understood the Gospel, even as he could recite it. He constantly tried to merit his salvation, and every time there came the inevitable crash and burn, he'd sink deeper into the “I am not deserving” pit, and would have a harder time extricating himself. I pray that God uses someone to reach him. I pray for him to grasp, finally, that the Gospel is joy, not condemnation. I pray for him to be tenured.