Zultan/Yunich enlighten freshman student!

As a college freshman, there were two particular authors that intrigued me. Here they will be referred to as Zultan and Yunich. As a professing Christian myself, I am amazed and pleased at the strength, tremendous faith, and overt praise of God Yunich’s writings convey.

However, as the eccentric person that you may have come to or will soon recognize me as, I found Zultan’s ability to say things bluntly and provoke people to thought for a cause, to say the least, compelling.

The philosophies of Yunich and Zultan are definitely juxtaposed, and one can reasonably observe that they are of opposing camps. However, I dare propose that I am not alone in having my own character dually magnetized to such charismatic writers.

Do we not all have striving tendencies and tastes that wage within? Christians would call this a battle between being enslaved to sin or enslaved to righteousness.

One can even view my somewhat double-minded inclinations from a Freudian perspective. With no offense to Yunich, Zultan, or myself, I can see the way these three names, at least in regards to how the ideologies they represent interacted in my mind, could be interpreted to correspond with the id, the superego, and the ego. Of course the analogy is not perfect, and the following few paragraphs are somewhat of a dramatization, but bear with me.

As a young 17-year old, I took my first steps on the ominous PITT campus. A timid minor from the state of California, I was overcome by freedom, new responsibility, and culture shock. Though never losing a theocentric focus and sight of the hope and light I had within me, it would only be a matter of time before external influences vied to mold my perspective on life.

Zultan represented strength and boldness. Oddly enough, Yunich represented the same qualities. It is both admirable to point out the ludicrously expressed elitism, presumed authority, and lack of loving acceptance of different religions, as Zultan does, as it is to stand firm on solid Rock and not be moved though many are shooting arrows at you, as Yunich does.

As time passed, I continued to read Zultan and Yunich. In my role as ego, I recall discriminatingly accepting or rejecting tenets of the points Zultan and Yunich communicated. I pondered over the pretentious and ridiculous claims of both just as I assessed the truth and credibility in both.

Who is to say that the ego ever successfully balances the input of the id and the superego? Even though my writing is ultimately meant to glorify the Lord, this article, in part, is a tribute to the way God allowed me to have been provoked and enlightened by my engaging with Zultan’s and Yunich’s articles. It is my hope that the same blessing is allowed to come upon you as you read, and perhaps contribute to, the Pittsburgh Standard.

Whenever I shirked or shrunk back at the attacks Zultan made on Christians and Christianity, whether legitimate or not, I later cringed in disdain. How could I let the words of mere man, if only but for a few seconds, cause me to question the words of truth from the living God? The man who doubts is unstable in all he does.

Admittedly I doubted if it was prudent to join the Pittsburgh Standard family. For one, I hesitate being associated with what is referred to as a conservative paper. The word "conservative" has a bad connotation as I take it to be too politically charged.

I am neither conservative or liberal, I am a sinful weirdo that has been forgiven by God and adopted as child of God through God’s grace in Christ.

Furthermore, I wondered about the motto reading: "Bringing You the Best of On-campus and World News."

However, this is an indication of the high vision the Pittsburgh Standard has and the desire to, by the grace of God, positively impact the college community. Indeed, it should not utterly surprise the reader that part of the vision is to at least to some extent be the feet of those who bring the good news of peace with God through Jesus Christ.

Though we possibly will place ourselves in precarious positions in doing so, Christians need overtly profess their faith accompanied by works that validate such professions. We are in much more danger, and frankly place others in a similar or even direr situation, when we fail to convey the hope that we have in Christ with others. Remember, God’s name is blasphemed among non-believers because of the hypocrisy of us "Christians". We are definitely putting our lights under a bowl when we live in the world and, sadly but often the case, are of the world as well.

So CMU and PITT Christians, and those otherwise, I encourage you to join the Pittsburgh Standard, and ultimately the body of Christ as a whole, in an effort to light it up this year. Light up this campus as you increase in solidarity with the body and develop your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As always, the harvest is great and the workers are few. Get off your behinds and respond appropriately to the ailing world around you. I certainly know that the ego needs to.

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