Monday, April 1, 2013

Using Wisdom to Ask the Right People

During the 1970's, a new Christian school opened every seven hours. As they began closing at an alarming rate, Bob Jones University, which had heavily promoted Christian education, tried to find out why. They asked the churches, the students, the leaders, etc., and were unable to find the answer.

God forbid that they should ask the teachers, who would have told them that the school and church leadership routinely sided with lying parents who wanted revenge on teachers who made their children behave. Christian schools became a death trap for their teachers, most of whom no longer attend church. There were few teachers with more than a few years' experience.

So why didn't they ask the teachers? Perhaps the teachers would have told them that their Christian colleges did not prepare them for the real problems of teaching (the parents), and that the teachers were trained to always have a good, loyal attitude towards leaders who did not deserve it.

It takes wisdom and humility to acknowledge that your methods and beliefs don't work, but it does get problems solved.