Soulforce’s arrival to campus Monday has produced mixed feelings among students, faculty and administrators, which, no matter the outcome of the visit, will be one of the best things to happen to the university in years.

A university is an institution of higher learning whose members strive to study, research and learn about their society and world, from politics to art to economics to philosophy. By learning about different ideas, societies and belief systems, we ultimately learn more about ourselves and develop an educated worldview. The on-campus arrival of Soulforce, a group that espouses views different than the core views of this university, can contribute to the learning process of our community and help prepare students for life outside of school.

As a private university, ACU can prohibit the formation of various groups on campus or outside groups entering campus that demonstrate beliefs that are different from those established by the university. Unlike most state schools, our students do not necessarily have to confront more secular worldviews and those who advocate them, which is a blessing and a curse.

We come to private Christian universities to be in community with others who share our core values and beliefs, as well as to experience a top-notch and more personal education. However, by forming our own communities, we separate ourselves from the outside world and are not forced to consider differing opinions, potentially leaving us ill prepared for a life where we will work and worship alongside others who disagree with us.

We can become sheltered, assuming the secular worldviews or the sin we see outside of the community doesn’t occur within it, which is an egregious error. An us-versus-them mentality does nothing to promote unity among our fellow Christians and, ultimately, our fellow human beings. We are no better than the members of Soulforce, even though we disagree.

Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, said in a March 9 article in Christianity Today that ACU is a university that is able to talk about all sides of issues and teach students how to respond.

“One of the good things it has done was to make us realize that we had not done a good job in informing our students to deal with a variety of cultural forces that they will face after college,” Money said. “So this has encouraged us to do a better job.”

Money is right to allow Soulforce on campus and the administration is to be commended for welcoming the 34 Equality Ride members in the name of Christ. Students should not fear this interaction but see it as an opportunity to learn about different cultural values and what it means to follow Christ with one’s actions.

The call to ‘love others as Christ did’ is thrown about quite easily on campus, but all members of the community must realize that being like Christ means loving everyone: those who agree with us and those who don’t, those who are kind to us and those who aren’t, those who approach us and those we approach.

Soulforce’s visit could prove to be a historic moment for the university, a day when students stopped to consider the lives and values of people different from them, learning what it means to love. Take this opportunity to do what is at the center of a university: learn.