One of the most colossal failures in American Christianity is the collapse of the Christian school movement. At one point in the 1970's, a new Christian school opened every seven hours. With better discipline and better academics, Christian schools were a major embarrassment to the jealous public school system.
And the churches got a side benefit, as the teachers also served in church ministries, teaching Sunday School, running bus routes, and volunteering in other areas. Plus, the spouses and families of the teachers were an asset to the church. It is no wonder that the Christian school movement thrived.
But today, most of them are gone, and most of the teachers don't even attend church. Time and again, enraged parents would get a teacher fired for making their child behave. Wanting the tuition money, Christian schools would get rid of Godly teachers and keep ungodly students (along with their ungodly parents). In my ten years of teaching, I observed that less than half of all Christian school teachers entered their third year. A Christian school teacher with twenty or thirty years of experience was unheard of.
"Wisdom is the principal thing" the Bible tells us; "Therefor, get wisdom." The consistent lack of wisdom of Christian school leaders destroyed what was once a mighty work of God.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
APPLYING WISDOM TO SIN
One of the more puzzling parts of the four Gospels occurs when a person who was blind or had leprosy would approach Jesus for help, because Jesus would ask him what he wanted. Didn't Jesus know? And besides, wasn't it obvious? But what Jesus wanted was for the person to acknowledge what was wrong.
When I was in college, several students with large church bus routes organized violent gangs, with the encouragement of the college vice-president (a former Green Beret). When it came time for them to be expelled, they didn't understand why. They felt that they were the victims of a practical joke gone bad, and that their victims were partly to blame. The fact that none of them, including the vice-president, were disciples, nor that none of them feared the Lord, did not appear to be a problem for them.
A compromise was worked out: they would be suspended for one year, and the vice-president would be allowed to attach slanders to the records of the students who had opposed them. To the best of my knowledge, not one of them has ever obeyed the Biblical commands to get things right with their victims. And the result?
Despite their large bus routes, only one of them is pastoring today. One pastored for decades before his wife left him for another man. And as far as I know, none of them has ever figured out what the problem was. "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefor get wisdom" is a command they rejected.
When I was in college, several students with large church bus routes organized violent gangs, with the encouragement of the college vice-president (a former Green Beret). When it came time for them to be expelled, they didn't understand why. They felt that they were the victims of a practical joke gone bad, and that their victims were partly to blame. The fact that none of them, including the vice-president, were disciples, nor that none of them feared the Lord, did not appear to be a problem for them.
A compromise was worked out: they would be suspended for one year, and the vice-president would be allowed to attach slanders to the records of the students who had opposed them. To the best of my knowledge, not one of them has ever obeyed the Biblical commands to get things right with their victims. And the result?
Despite their large bus routes, only one of them is pastoring today. One pastored for decades before his wife left him for another man. And as far as I know, none of them has ever figured out what the problem was. "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefor get wisdom" is a command they rejected.
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