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JACKSON, Tenn. — July 27, 2026 — Graduates should honor their families, use their talents for God’s glory and honor God in every part of their lives, retired �鶹��Ƶ University art professor Christopher Nadaskay told �鶹��Ƶ graduates in his keynote address at the university’s summer commencement ceremony July 25.

Ninety-eight students received their degrees during the ceremony at West Jackson Baptist Church, which marked the end of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Nadaskay, who retired this year after 33 years on �鶹��Ƶ's faculty and was named professor emeritus, drew from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and urged graduates to use the gifts they have been given rather than burying them, comparing the call to any vocation — art, music, mechanics or education.

“Whatever it is that you do or are doing, make disciples,” he said. “We, in fact, are God’s highest creation. Every artist knows this. Our gifts and talents are for the building up of the body and to reach others.”

He opened his address with an extended metaphor drawn from his own work as a painter, describing an abstract piece he created depicting the aftermath of a tornado in Bolivar, Tennessee. He used the image of a painting as a framework for his own life story and his charge to graduates.

Nadaskay traced his family’s history from his grandmother’s escape from Hungary as a child to his own path toward a career in art after an early interest in physics gave way to his love of beauty and, later, his faith in Christ. He said the sacrifices of his family and the sacrifices of graduates’ families were reason to express gratitude on graduation day.

“To whom much is given, much is required,” Nadaskay said, citing Luke 12:48. “So when you leave this place in a couple of hours, take them to lunch, thank them.”

Nadaskay closed his address by returning to his painting metaphor, telling graduates that Christ is the foundation on which their lives are built.

“He is the canvas upon which your life is painted,” he said. “Without a substrate to put it on, paint is just blobs of colored goo, useless and purposeless.”