Come and Drink

I meant to post this back in May during the season of graduations... It is a joy to celebrate these accomplishments, especially when we look back at how each one has grown in many ways. But it also makes us wonder what God has next for them and where they will invest their life and the blessings God has given them. What is worth our time and energy? What are the goals, desires and commitments that drive us and motivate us? How will we be successful and how do we even define success? I'm thinking even more about these questions and the process of transition as our oldest son moves through his Senior year of high school and considers moving to the US for college.

These are the questions that set the course of our life and either provide a stable foundation or an endless search for identity and purpose. Education can contribute positively to this in many ways:

1. A good education is one that points us to the glory of God. The glory of God is seen all around us in creation. We enjoy beauty, design, contrast, emotion, relationships, creativity, order and so much more because of who God is, how He created the world and how He has enabled us to understand and appreciate it.
2. A good education is one that models and teaches us humility. Our place in God's world is that of stewardship, not ownership. This means we do not have all the answers but work as His agents to restore, to care for, to guide, to forgive, to heal as an extension of God's character and activity. 
3. A good education is one that identifies the source of our problems. Conflict continues to escalate all around us. How is this possible when we have so much knowledge, wealth and power available to us? We must address the basic problem of humanity which is the sin condition of my own heart.
4. A good education is one that recognizes and implements the only real solution. Our search for happiness and comfort leads often to anxiety and distress. Our preoccupation with wealth and position leaves many lonely and empty. Through repentance and faith in Christ we abandon our self-will and self-worship in a restored relationship with our Creator and Redeemer who is the source of life. That is Good News!

 

Christian school leaders and Christian school teachers, while being responsible to teach Christianly, are also in the process of growth and learning themselves. We remind ourselves of the real source of our problems each day, our own sin. We remind ourselves of the actual solution each day, a surrender and a commitment to Christ and His purposes in the world. The hope of Christ-centered education is not in education as the solution, but rather in Christ as the solution and in education as a process to knowing Him and engaging effectively in His world.

I'm reminded of Christ's words in John 7:37-38.

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'"

We will never be satisfied with education that does not lead us to Christ. He is the only One who can satisfy our longing and actually provide for our most desperate and deepest need.

Inspiring biblical leadership

It is interesting that each community usually takes on the personality of its leadership and its leadership is also a reflection of the values of that same community. Depending on the values of the community, this could produce very different types of leaders, leaders who only serve themselves or leaders who serve others.One approach would be to identify what biblical leadership means and then develop leaders who will embody those ideals, leading to a community that reflects those same characteristics. This could provide leaders truly concerned about others and who work to empower their community to flourish.

So, what is biblical leadership? First, it is clear that leaders must value truth. When leaders paint a picture that is inaccurate or purposefully misleads people, they destroy trust between people and hope for a better future. Lying leaders are rejecting their God-given responsibility to act wisely and effectively for the good of their community. Lying leaders almost never take responsibility for their own actions but often blame others. This further divides and establishes negative control over the community. Biblical leaders always communicate truthfully in order to demonstrate responsibility and call others to be accountable and responsible as well.

We also see that real leaders place a high value on forgiveness and reconciliation. In fact, this was the purpose of Jesus' incarnation and death, bringing us back into relationship with God and providing a means of reconciling our earthy relationships as well. When leaders provide an environment for reconciliation, real community is possible and the distinctive perspectives of groups within that society can contribute to the flourishing of the whole community.

There is much more to biblical leadership but the point here is that real leaders are desperately lacking in our world. The only means of developing good leaders is to know what biblical leadership is and to live it out in our own lives. This is an integral role of the Christian family, the church and, of course, the Christian school.

In 1999, ACSI Europe began a program for our member schools called the Student Leadership Conference. Originally this brought together small groups of secondary students from many of our local schools in Hungary, Romania and Germany with some of the international English speaking schools in our region. The purpose was to provide a setting for these youth to learn about biblical leadership and develop a simple plan for serving their schools and their peers in their own communities. It also challenged the chaperones and teachers coming with each group to consider how they could further train and develop some type of leadership development program in their own school settings. All of this took place in an English speaking environment with times set aside for worship and learning, games, workshops on biblical topics and small group discussions.

Over the years, we learned that schools really depended on this program to help them think through the challenges they were facing in their own communities. They saw that many students who left home after graduation were also leaving behind their faith because they had not made the essential connections between their faith and their own life purpose. This meant they did not remain faithful to God. Some schools began to realize that they needed to give their students more voice in the culture of the school and provide meaningful ways for their students to contribute to that culture. Students must learn to lead themselves and challenge each other spiritually and not always be led by adults. This involves an intentional commitment on the part of school leadership.

There are many stories of success over the years of SLC. In one case a crazy fundraising idea from students who attended SLC led to the purchase of a new school that was desperately needed. Students designed posters for their hallways that helped their classmates focus on the values their school promoted. Students who attended SLC realized they needed to design a way to support students who were struggling socially or academically in order to help them succeed. Other students started a prayer group that prayed for the needs and spiritual growth of their teachers. These action plans were designed by students attending SLC to meet the needs that God was revealing to them because of their willingness to follow Him. In one sense, the adults were just along for the ride but they provided the support and accountability needed for those plans to be carried out. God was working in the students to live out biblical leadership now, not just to prepare to lead at some point in the future.

This is the purpose of the Student Leadership Conference. Our calling is to create a space where students can understand what biblical leadership looks like and respond to God's call to lead now where He has placed them. If they are willing to step out in faith, God will continue to use them in each new setting to meet the real needs of their communities. Sometimes those needs are spiritual in nature. Sometimes we are unable to meet spiritual needs until we address other basic needs. But we are God's hands and feet and we are the ones who live out God's love and care for those around us in our communities.

In what ways do you encourage and enable student leadership in your context? Do you ask your youth to identify the needs they see in your community? Do you give them a clear vision of what biblical leadership should be? Do you provide the space and the tools for them to meet the needs of others? These are important questions to ask if we are serious about growing Christian leaders within our communities.

Society - 11 years later

A few days ago I found my notes on "A Healthy Society" which was the basis for many of the posts I wrote on this blog in 2010. You might read the original post titled Society part 1. But now, after 11 years, I see a much deeper application of these ideas which addresses the current trends in our society, the dangers of an unhealthy society and the potential for healing in broken societies.

The current challenges are very complex, but at the root it is essentially a breakdown in both the family and the church which has left the government (or the secular, non-familial community) as the primary building block for all of society. We can dig into this more and recognize that the family was the first to be attacked by our society, destroying the role of the father, then the mother and even the role of gender as a defining element of being human. So, for some, this means that the traditional family is only "a relic of an oppressive construct" even as studies show that children with both a mother and father have the highest potential for emotional, social and economic stability. Our deepest human desires center on fathers who are present and engaged at meaningful levels with our mothers and with us. And we know, looking at the spiritual impact of this shift, that our experience with our own fathers is one of the greatest influencers of our view of a heavenly Father. Does my father value me or not and why? This, above everything else, provides me with my identity as a person.

Of course the impact of these realities regarding the family have metastasized into a social and political nightmare that is not just unhealthy but incredibly destructive. In fact, now we are even encouraged to ignore the science which identifies the human distinctions between male and female and applaud those who have challenged and "overcome" these distinctions to become "something new". Those who are unwilling to recognize the "power and beauty of these transformations" are viewed as oppressive and unloving while those who suffer severely from these transformations (against all wisdom) are ignored.

In my original post, I noted that "there is no circle/community in a healthy society which primarily honors SELF. The individual is very important in a healthy society but he or she always exists in a community where God, parents/family and others are honored." The trend that is resulting in the destruction of the family and the church as primary building blocks of society seems to place self at the center, the place of utmost honor. However, it does this in a way which is quite deceptive because it provides no context for the individual apart from political connections. There are no meaningful relationships which give the self identity except those relationships outside the family or the church. This is furthered by new fissures and fractures within the church that serve to promote a new concept of the self outside the identity that God has given us or our shared identity in Christ.

Now, not only is honoring our parents (by honoring their role and responsibility) and honoring God (through the worship and service of the church) minimized, but also the societal and political constructs no longer protect the value of the individual and his or her foundational relationships which provide each one with identity and purpose. This essentially leaves us with no purpose at all except for trying to define ourselves or redefine ourselves and demanding that everyone recognize this self-imposed identity. Self has truly become the center but is now the center of an empty and meaningless universe because there are no meaningful connections.

But, there is always hope! Our first hope is forever in Christ, who is our peace. He is able and willing to address the deep needs of our heart for identity and purpose. He is able to heal the hurt that seems to consume us, even when no one else is willing to identify that hurt. The next step, however, is to restore the role of the family in our own relationships. How am I honoring my own parents, even with their faults, and recognizing the life and value they have given me? This can be very painful, but it is the first step to forgiveness and healing in my own life. How am I taking responsibility as a father for the spiritual and emotional health of my wife and my children? Am I doing this with the understanding that I am under the authority of Christ and must submit to Him in my own heart in order to care for those around me? Am I willing to do what is right and do I have the courage to stand for truth and address with grace the lies of the world in my own life, in my work and all my conversations? It is only when we address these issues that the church will have any hope of restoring its influence for good in our broken society. It can then defend and support the values of the family because the families within the church understand and live out the values that honor God and truly value others. When the family and church take again their proper role, society is transformed and government takes its proper place and influence for the good of every individual. It is at that point that society can again honor others, giving the individual the value that God has given them as made in His image, responsible to care for others and accountable to our Creator and the purpose He has given us.

Jesus' words in Matthew 22:37-39 again take a deeper meaning, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... Love your neighbor as yourself." These commands free us from the emptiness and slavery of self-definitions and establish meaningful relationships which give us both identity and purpose.

Discrimination and gender identity

Ok, I know this is not in line with my usual topics! But it is an important issue because it is central to human rights, education and especially to viewing others with compassion and love. Everyone bears the Imago Dei whether they realize it or not. So, in that sense, it is very important to talk about.

In the US there is debate in 2021 about new proposed legislation, commonly termed the "Equality Act". You may or may not agree with the premise and I don't dismiss your opinion. But it is also important to think and discuss such things beyond the political or economic implications in order to think more deeply about how such ideas are good (in the deepest sense) and how they contribute to or detract from human flourishing in a global and timeless, universal sense.

I read recently a piece by the Washington Post titled "Dozens of LGBTQ students at Christian colleges sue the U.S. Education Dept., hoping to pressure Equality Act negotiations". You can find it here. This article provides a perspective on a situation where those outside of a biblical worldview might respond with “How can Christians possibly think that discrimination against those in the LGBT community is right or acceptable?” And, speaking from a biblical worldview, I completely agree. But there are at least 2 serious incoherencies that the article is unable to identify.

The first is that the so-called Equality Act ("equality" is another topic for another day) is purported to be the best solution because it would restrict or terminate state funding for any universities which hold to a biblical and historical view of marriage and sexuality. But in fact it is not the best solution. No law will terminate discrimination nor will it give people new values or motivation for caring for others or valuing people for who they are. Laws do not change beliefs, they simply reflect the beliefs of those who vote for them. (They may not even do this well because people may be uninformed or deceived regarding the intent or outcome of the law.) Of course this does not excuse those who have been cruel or uncaring to these students who felt discriminated against in these universities! Very few will nor have excused their unkind words or unhelpful actions. But we have to ask ourselves, “Are there individuals who have been discriminated against because of their views on gender or sexuality at non-Christian universities? Was that discrimination a result of government funding or the written policies on behavior or dress codes at those universities? Would limiting or terminating state funding at state institutions solve these cases of discrimination?” The answers are obvious. So, the only possible and logical conclusion is that financial or legal punishment of a university for its standards of behavior and stated views on marriage and sexuality does not benefit anyone who claims to be discriminated against because of their sexual views.

The second is that the Equality Act creates new victims of those who are trying to be a blessing and support to current victims of a destructive social narrative and furthers the damage to those currently victimized by this destructive narrative. Is it true that a man can be a woman? Is it true that the very nature of my identity can and should be changed by social constructs or by how I feel about myself today? If so, then we are living in a social mirage where nothing is real or as it seems. Is it fair that those most vulnerable in our society, those suffering from gender dysphoria, children and teenagers, those suffering from sexual or emotional abuse resulting from dysfunctional family contexts should be lied to about the value and the nature of being human? Our value does not lie in our sexual orientation, what we do or how we think. Our value lies completely in being made by our Creator who loves us and made us for a purpose. When we attempt to destroy or redefine our identity, the image of God in us, it only results in tragedy, unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others and, eventually, self-loathing. It also promotes a society which does not value human life, does not value the mothers and fathers responsible for creating human life or value the children who are best able to flourish in a home with both a mother and a father who love them most and know them best.

There is another issue that is less important but no less valid. Consider for a moment my options when choosing a university or a coffee shop or an online vender. It might be wise for me to do some investigation to see if their values agree with mine or if they don't. If I plan to spend money, especially several thousand dollars at a university, I would want to know who is benefiting from my investment and the educational philosophy that guides their teachers and course content. If I don't agree with their values or don't want to advance their values with my hard-earned dollars, then I will choose somewhere else to spend my money. There is always another option! Let me be clear that I still am not condoning anyone's unkind or discriminatory actions or attitudes as individuals. But I am always discriminating against certain businesses or organizations because either I refuse to read their material, promote their ideas or buy their products. Is this wrong? Absolutely not. Did these students have a choice about where to go to school? They are free to choose just as they might choose to go to McDonalds or to Chick-fil-A. So I am a bit confused as to why, when they knew the values of their chosen institution, they are not abiding by the agreements they signed to honor those values before they spent their money there. This is similar to nearly every other case of supposed gender identity discrimination when trying to place blame on institutions and not on individuals.

Is it right to deny valid funding or accreditation status for those universities whose values and programs are in line with and serving the needs of thousands of students and American citizens? I don't believe so. All organizations have values and they are entitled to those values when they are not purposefully destructive, promoting hatred or violence against a group of people. When we assume that value statements promote hatred, we are actually doing ourselves a disservice by intentionally or unintentionally interpreting beliefs as aggressive when they simply define boundaries. When I say "You are not my wife" I mean this as a boundary which defines reality, not as an aggression against anyone who is not my wife. If they misinterpret this as hatred, the problem lies with them and not with me. Of course, truth can be communicated in unloving or harsh ways, but truth is always the most loving and helpful for us because it helps us truly understand ourselves and the world around us.

I am currently on the board of an international organization and helped to develop recent additions to their Statement of Values. All board members, staff and volunteers must sign off on this every year, which is a normal procedure to ensure that the values of the organization are understood and will guide beliefs and actions within the organization. I should also mention that this is an organization that serves the educational needs of Christian families in a global context, so everyone involved already has an understanding of these truths. Here are the 2 statements:

• The Bible upholds the value of the individual as well as biological gender, both male and female, as stewards of the image of God. We hold to the biblical and historical definitions of gender as essential to a healthy understanding of our God-given identity (Genesis 1:27).
• The biblical definition of marriage, exclusively between one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong relationship, is the only relationship within which the gift of sexual intimacy is properly expressed and where children are best nurtured and prepared for life (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 6:1-4).

If you want a statement from me, I will provide it here. But I warn you that taking it out of context is lying to yourself and lying to others about what I have said. Here it is:

• I am unwilling to sign any document or knowingly support any project or organization that promotes the fallacy that men can be women or women can be men. I will not lie to myself, our society, our children or further complicate the suffering of those with true gender dysphoria by claiming otherwise.

One more thought for us. Relationships can be difficult, irregardless of our values. Christians are called to the 'ministry of reconciliation' as described in II Corinthians 5:17-20. This is not an easy calling but it is essential for me to understand this as it relates both to those within the church and outside of it. Sometimes reconciliation is really hard in my own house between my wife and me because we are so different but have most of the same values. Sometimes reconciliation is really hard with those who have no idea of their value in God's eyes because our values are so different. But working in both these settings and everything in between is a moment by moment task that brings glory to God and a deeper purpose to my life as a follower of Christ. "We love because He first loved us." (I John 4:19)

If you are interested, you can find a good article on other potential impacts of the Equality Act here.

Time as a resource

An evaluation of resources: I plan to discuss, in the next 4 or 5 posts, the concept of what some might call 'stewardship' but really it is just using well what each of us have at our disposal. Stewardship concepts that deal only with finances are sorely missing out on the true richness of the resources available to us. I will save environmental issues for another time, but 'stewardship' also refers to our care and management of creation, which is God's very first command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28.

There are really only 3 resources available to us – Time, Energy and Money. I suppose that education or experience could be considered resources, but time and energy and sometimes money must be spent in the process of getting them so I won't consider them here. So, which is the most valuable of the three?

I believe that time is our most valuable resource and should be used with the most care simply because it is not renewable. When a day or even a minute is used, it can never be retrieved again. All of us only have a certain number of days and they seem to go faster as each year passes. I am not promoting a life of endless work nor of endless amusement, but we must carefully consider how we use our time. Some might promote a 'tithing' of our time so that we give an appropriate amount to God or the church, but this is a very weak and inconsistent view of stewardship. All of our time must belong to God or none of it is really His at all. God set aside one day in seven to rest and commands us to keep that day holy or 'set apart' as a special day for worship, but I do not believe that other days should be unholy or void of worship! All our days are a special gift from God. All days are ordained by Him to worship and live out our calling of service to Him and others.

So how should we divide our time? I believe that God has first called us to care for our parents, spouses, children and ourselves and this demands the greater part of our time and our financial resources. I Timothy 5:8 says that those who do not care for their families have “denied the faith”. Between 6 and 8 hours of every day is needed just for our personal rest. Of course all of us must eat and work so that we can buy food and provide a place to sleep every night. All this takes time – probably 70-80% of most days for the rest of our lives. And the time spent here is blessed by God as a part of His original plan for us. Even before the Fall, Adam and Eve were to care for the Garden and the animals in it as well as for each other while being fruitful, bearing and raising children to do the same after them. Work and providing for our household is the very first commandment in Scripture (Genesis 1:28) and implies a blessing from God. There is a warning, however, that “those who want to get rich fall into temptation” (I Tim. 6:9) and “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (vs. 8) So caring for yourself and your family must be balanced with contentment in an attitude of humility, not a constant striving for more or better or bigger, which characterizes our materialistic society.