I must clarify that by attempting to answer this question I am not insinuating that Spring Arbor University is not a Christian campus. Rather, I am simply bringing to light an issue I feel is a hindrance to the atmosphere that we so greatly value.
That being said, when a bike is stolen or intentionally ruined on this campus, we as a student body are making a statement: we do not take the call of being a Christian campus seriously. You may think that this is a harsh statement, but being a disciple of Christ can be harsh at times. If we cannot even practice one of the most basic commandments that God gives us: do not steal, how can we have spiritual growth as a campus? It would be as if a mathematician claimed to be a genius but failed to add and subtract successfully.
We talk about community and our responsibility to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, yet at the same time we steal from our neighbor. How can we claim to be living for the name of Jesus and not live by His commandments? I will give you the answer: we cannot.
I realize what most of you are thinking at this point, that this does not apply to you—after all, you have never stolen a bike, right? While some of you maybe have not, there are plenty who have. How do I know this? Right now, as you are reading this, people are missing their bikes (and it is not because they misplaced them). Kailie Heim, a sophomore, had her bike locked by someone else during the “House of Heroes” concert at the beginning of the school year; the next day it was gone and has been missing ever since.
“My bike was a gift, one that has a lot of memories attached to it; it’s been gone for about a month now, and I would just like to get it back so I can bring it home where it’s safe. I’m certainly frustrated about how careless people have become about others’ property,” said Heim.
Kristen Larson, another SAU student, recently had her bike stolen from the Poling Center bike rack. It was later found in front of University Hall with a bent rim, making it unusable. We can all guess what happened in this situation, right? Someone did not want to walk all the way back to University Hall, so they decided to “borrow” another person’s bike to get there.
This is perhaps the most frustrating element of bike thefts on campus: people who consider “borrowing” other people’s property without permission to be acceptable. This could not be farther from the truth, and I am irritated that I even have to explain why that is.
People seem to be under the impression that borrowing without permission is not stealing. If you needed to go to the bank and you noticed a running car in temporary parking, you would not think to yourself, “I’m just going to borrow this car for a few minutes to go to the bank.” That is simply absurd! The owner would immediately realize that their car had been stolen! Yet we continue to view bicycles on campus as “community property,” free for everyone to use at his or her convenience.
Of course, the most obvious solution to this problem is for students to lock their bikes. While this is a viable solution, should it be necessary? Should we, in the wonderful Christian community that we claim to be in, feel the need to protect our property with locks? Will security cameras help to improve the safety of our campus? Many of you will have different answers to these questions, but I wish to leave you with one final thought.
I live in an extremely rural area; I know every person within a five mile radius of my house (and perhaps more). For as long as I can remember, we have never locked our house or our vehicles. We feel comfortable doing so because we trust and love our neighbors, many of whom are not Christians (sound familiar?).
I would like to challenge the students of Spring Arbor University to begin earning back the trust of our fellow neighbors. Stop stealing, destroying, and “borrowing” other people’s bikes! Perhaps then our campus will regain the atmosphere it once had as a place of love, comfort and trust.
