I woke more times than I can count last night with those words swirling through my head. Literally every time I awoke, my mind was clinging to those words.
I am in a battle. And here I am, needing Jesus to come through in a mighty way. I need him to make a way where there is no way.
And, oh, how he is!
After months of anticipation, the hour is almost here. For months, my Lord has brought before me words of how he will fight for me. Words of how he will expose my enemy; I don’t need to try. He’s made it clear that I do not need to mount a counter-attack. Instead, I need to be patient and watch him move.
My head has listened, and my heart is trying to. My Jesus has seen me through before, and I know he will do so again.
But it’s been difficult to convince all of me that this is true. My blood pressure has spiked several times, even when I was trying to be at peace. The way he’s created us is so interesting and intricate, how an emotional situation can affect the physical body in such profound ways. Perhaps you know just what I mean.
And yet, here I am, almost to the eve of my battle.
Oh, how God has been revealing himself to me! His plan is becoming more clear, and it has been incredible to watch. He has brought others to my cause that seem to have no business being here. They have pursued me, desiring to come to my aid…for free. This should not happen. But God.
Oh, how he loves his Bride. How he cares for his own!
I spoke with a sweet sister the other day. She shared with me her own trial, describing how Jesus led her every step of the way. Literally. She described it as walking through the dark, unable to see where to go, but holding Jesus’ hand tightly as he led her.
I can relate to that so closely. The past few months have felt like walking in the dark. I’ve had peace and comfort knowing that Jesus was holding my hand. And I’ve trusted him to lead me. But it is still disconcerting to be unable to see where we’re going. Just walking in complete and utter darkness without a hint of light.
Only just now…at almost the 11th hour, the sky is beginning to take on a grayish cast. I think I can make out some shapes in front of me, but I can’t be certain.
And I am fighting the urge to run forward thinking there will be light there.
No, I must keep clinging to Jesus’ hand lest he turn this way or that and I get lost.
So for now, I worship in the twilight, willing my heart and mind to focus on just praising my Jesus. I force my eyes to look only at him, rather than trying to see where he is leading me.
And I remember how he has led and even carried me before. And I trust that he will lead me through again.
Then I think of more lyrics to the song that has been occupying my mind. And I keep clinging to Jesus’ hand as the waters swirl around me, and we walk right on top of the waves.
Parenting can feel like a rush from one activity to the next. Sure, we have conversations with our kids and try to guide them in a desired direction, but sometimes it feels like we’re just surviving it, doesn’t it?
Parenting should be about more than just surviving.
Have you ever met someone truly exceptional? Such people are few and far between, and if you meet one, it sticks with you. I had the privilege a few years ago to meet a family that had several (really all) children meet that criteria. Had I just met them briefly or had only a few interactions with them, I probably wouldn’t have had any idea how this came to be. I’d likely have chalked it up to DNA or God’s plan that was specific for them. And sure, those things play a role. But I was able to get to know their parents well.
It immediately became clear that they were the most intentional parents I’d ever met. Parenting was their passion. It was a huge part of their purpose. And they didn’t just let their kids grow up. They molded their kids. They molded the opportunities presented to their kids. They had thoughtful and intentional discussions with their kids. They had firmly established family routines. They parented on purpose seemingly at all times.
I started to think about my kids and who they would become. I thought about my parenting practices. Was I intentional? Did I view each day as an opportunity to mold them into who God wanted them to be?
I found that my parenting was much more reactionary than I wanted it to be. Perhaps you’ve noticed that about your own parenting.
In education, we talk about beginning with the end. We start with what we want our kids to know or be able to do, and work backwards from there. Once we know what our students should know or be able to do, we think about what topics or skills we must cover in order to reach the end goal.
This same principle can be applied to raising our children, whether that’s through homeschooling as I am now doing or through our parenting in general. If we begin by thinking about who we want our children to be and what we want them to do as adults, we can work backwards and become much more intentional about our parenting practices.
We can choose the few most important things and go deep in those areas rather than “spraying” our kids with a million different techniques and experiences and hoping the results we want will stick.
The 3 Cs of Intentional Parenting are based on this thinking.
Casting Vision
Crafting a Family Mission Statement
Creating a Parenting Plan based on the Vision and Mission
In this post, we’ll share how to cast vision for your kids, craft a Family Mission Statement, then create a Parenting Plan that addresses the vision and mission you developed to help you parent more intentionally. First, I’ll share what this looked like for me. Then, I’ll share a free download we created that you can use to make your parenting more intentional, too.
Casting Vision
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18, KJV
Casting Vision: The Big Picture
To become more intentional in your parenting, the first thing to consider is who you want your children to become. What is your vision for the future? Thinking through your vision for the future and working backwards to what you must do today to reach that vision are important parts of intentional parenting.
Here is how this process looked for me.
One of the first things that came to mind for me as I tried to parent more intentionally is the idea that I want my children to have a disciplined lifestyle. I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying leadership and the practices and traits of successful people, and discipline is a regular theme. Laziness is not a trait of a successful person! In fact, the most successful people rarely binge-watch shows, fritter away their hours on social media, or sleep in till 10am (though wouldn’t that be wonderful!?!). Instead, successful people have typically spent their lives learning to deny themselves of their vices, focusing instead on their larger and more important goals. They are responsible and driven.
It was also important to me that my children grow up to be adults that act responsibly in terms of God’s creation. I want my children to take care of the earth. I want them to recycle and use the materials God has given us responsibly. If they eat animals, I want them to care about how the animals have been treated and raised. I want them to avoid pesticides and toxins as much as possible, and I want them to learn how to treat the earth and environment with respect. I want them to honor their Creator in their approach to his Creation.
I desire for my children to grow up with a love of learning. I want them to read lots and lots (and lots) of books. I want them to empathize with people of vastly different life experiences, across cultural and ethnic lines. I want them to learn the many ways humans have harmed each other and broken outside of God’s design so that they may not repeat some of the horrible aspects of our history. I want them to recognize the importance of minority voices. My desire is that my boys will grow up to value women, and I want my girls to know their worth. I want my daughters to be strong and independent, while also enjoying rich and deep, meaningful relationships with their future husbands.
My goal is for my children to be adults with varied interests and hobbies. My children will Lord-willing grow up to be interesting people who can engage with others and find areas of commonalities even in cases where it would be much easier to find differences. If they develop a love of learning, they’ll continue to grow as spouses and parents. They’ll be able to build meaningful and lasting relationships based on strong emotional intelligence. They’ll be good employees who grow in their respective fields as they continue to learn new best practices and research related to their work.
As I parent intentionally, I desire that strong and lasting friendships will be in my children’s future because they will be good friends. I desire for them to be loyal, faithful friends who have clear boundaries that allow them to be healthy adults. I want them to be secure in who they are and were created to be so that they don’t lower themselves to engage with those who will ultimately hurt them or lead them down paths that aren’t for their overall good.
It is extremely important to me that my children grow up to be men and women of integrity. Again, the theme of knowing themselves and who they were created to be arises. I want them to be secure in themselves and know from whence their true value comes. If they know that their worth isn’t found in their perfection or accomplishments, they’ll be more inclined to admit their mistakes. They’ll be men and women of their word, people others can rely upon and trust.
I want my children to grow up to be service-minded. I want them to be servant-leaders. They should recognize the many blessings in their lives and share their wealth- whether monetary or otherwise- with those around them. I want them to be generous with their time and resources. If they see a need they can meet, I hope they will act upon that ability.
Finally, and most importantly, I want them to have a genuine and life-long love for and awe of God. By exposing my children to high-quality curriculum and literature that points them to Christ, I hope to make faith a thing of permanence in their lives.
Casting Vision: The Specifics
With the context for the vision thoroughly thought out, I boiled it down to a series of important points to incorporate into my intentional parenting. I desired for my children to have or value:
A disciplined lifestyle
A strong work ethic
Responsible, green living
A love of learning
Empathy
Knowledge of diverse perspectives
Friendship
A strong knowledge of self/healthy boundaries
Integrity
Service
Generosity
A sincere love for and awe of God
Crafting a Family Mission Statement
Once you’ve cast vision for the future, crafting a family mission statement can help bring lifestyle implications into clearer focus for you.
Again, I’ll share my process so you can see what it might look like for you.
I had the vision for who I wanted my children to grow into as they became adults. The limited amount of time I truly had with them was not lost on me. (If you’re not keeping tabs on how much time you have to influence your kids, this app is a great help!) I knew if I wanted to parent intentionally, I needed to craft a mission statement that was kept right in front of me daily so I wouldn’t get caught up in life’s twists and turns and forget the desired destination.
With this in mind, I reviewed the vision for my kids and pulled out themes or broader categories that I could capture in a Family Mission Statement.
I wanted my kids to Learn, Serve, Live, Give, and Love.
A disciplined lifestyle (Live/Learn)
A strong work ethic (Live/Serve)
Responsible, green living (Live)
A love of learning (Learn)
Empathy (Learn/Love/Live)
Knowledge of diverse perspectives (Learn/Love)
Friendship (Love/Serve)
A strong knowledge of self/healthy boundaries (Love/Live/Learn)
Integrity (Live)
Service (Serve)
Generosity (Serve)
A sincere love for and awe of God (Love/Learn/Serve/Give)
Can you sense how these categories worked with the vision?
Next I thought about the how- or what adverbs I’d want to describe the key words. These adverbs helped to solidify the vision and capture it succinctly in a Family Mission Statement that I could glance at quickly.
Learn enthusiastically– about God, his world, other people/cultures/beliefs
Serve faithfully– the Lord, other people, their communities and circles
Live responsibly– with strong work ethic and sense of teamwork, with regards to creation and crunchy/green/holistic living
Give generously– of their time, talents, and resources
Love freely– God, others, themselves
Now it was just a matter of putting it together in a simple statement.
Our Family Will:
Learn enthusiastically
Serve faithfully
Live responsibly
Give generously
Love freely
Creating an Intentional Parenting Plan based on the Vision and Mission
The final step in intentional parenting is creating your parenting plan for the day-to-day. This is where the hard work comes in of living out your vision and mission.
Parenting is a complex and multi-faceted thing. Creating a plan does not mean you are creating a lesson plan of sorts, with steps 1, 2, and 3. Parenting is about putting out fires as they crop up. It’s about long conversations and quick responses. It’s about word choice. It’s about choosing activities. Bedtime routines. Meal choices. Education. Friendships. Dating. And a million other little (and big) things.
With that in mind, here is what creating a parenting plan looked like for me.
I clearly couldn’t create a plan for every possibility or eventuality. But I could create a plan for my approach to whatever life throws at us. I could create a funnel through which decisions could be filtered.
I found that there were five areas that needed to be filtered through our vision and mission in order to have a parenting plan that would be successful.
Our activities, discussions, educationalchoices, mornings, and bedtimeroutines needed to be carefully thought out.
Activities
I’ve learned to be much more intentional about my family’s activities. Therefore, our Family Mission Statement became the funnel through which potential activities are evaluated. As an opportunity is presented to us, I look to see if it fits within one of the categories I identified.
Does this activity help us learn more enthusiastically? Serve more faithfully? Live more responsibly? Give more generously? Love more freely?
Not only must the activity fit within one of those categories, but it should give us quite a bit of “bang for the buck”, so to speak. I don’t want to overload our calendar or lives with a ton of activities. I’ve seen the benefits of a more simple and slower lifestyle, and I want to protect it. I want to choose the activities that I feel best help us fulfill our Family Mission Statement. I can do this by asking a few simple questions:
Under which category of the Family Mission Statement does this activity fall?
How closely does it fit with our family goals?
What discussions might I be able to have with my kids based on this activity?
What life lessons might my kids learn?
How important are those lessons?
Can they learn those lessons elsewhere in a better way?
If an activity seems to fit well with our goals, then I add it to the calendar.
A note of warning/ encouragement- this isn’t a perfect system, and your calendar doesn’t have to be perfect either. Make the best choice you can as an opportunity presents itself to you, then learn from it. Don’t hold yourself to an impossible standard or place too much pressure on yourself to make the most of every moment. This is just a guide to help shift your mindset about activities.
Parenting intentionally doesn’t mean parenting perfectly.
Discussions
Discussions with my children are also impacted by the Family Mission Statement. By keeping my goals for them at the forefront, I can use discussions with my kids to parent them more intentionally. I try to use my words to point back to the mission and vision I’ve established.
I think: What can we learn through this discussion? Can I tie it into being more service-minded? More generous? More responsible? Can I use this discussion to help my children learn how to love someone better or more freely?
Of course we’re always doing this as parents, but having these more narrow categories can lend more direction for conversations with my kids. Open communication with my kids is really important to me, so I try to make sure I don’t sound too much like a lecture during these discussions.
I am also honest and open with my kids about my own failures and life experiences as much as is appropriate and pertinent. My hope is that my being open with them will encourage them to be open with me, even when life gets more complicated and messy for them.
Educational Choices
I always thought my kids would go to public school. It never occurred to me that they’d be homeschooled, and I thought I’d die before I sent them to a Christian school. Turns out they’ve never gone to a public school, spent several years in a Christian school, and are now homeschooled. Sometimes I think God must get a chuckle out of our “certainties”, knowing the ways in which we’d veer so widely from them!
I was pro-public school. I taught in public schools, I loved public schools. I loved the diversity of the students. I loved the needs that were found there and the ability to make a difference in my small corner of the world.
Then I became involved in Christian schooling and fell in love with the opportunity to integrate my faith into my interactions with my students as a school administrator. As a parent, I loved that my kids got exposure to believers with different doctrinal stances than I had. We were blessed to be in a very diverse setting, so they encountered people of many different ethnicities and experiences. My children had access to a variety of mentors whose interests could appeal to them. Most importantly, my kids got to learn from people who were dedicating their lives to serving Jesus.
As my kids were moving through their elementary school years, I began to think about how to parent them more intentionally. Time was going so incredibly fast, and I realized my years of influencing them were passing much more quickly than I wanted them to.
Around that same time, I met some homeschooled adults that were influential in my thinking about intentional parenting. First of all, they were brilliant. I mean, so obviously very smart. They were knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics. They weren’t any more unusual than the average person, and I found the ways in which they may have been a little odd to be desirable and engaging. These individuals seemed to really know who they were. They were articulate and knowledgeable. They could listen and debate in productive ways. They knew God’s Word exceptionally well.
I was intrigued.
I never thought I’d be a homeschool mom. To be honest, prior to these encounters, I’d met a lot of *odd* homeschool kids, and I knew I didn’t want to be party to making my kids that way. I loved school as a child (and as an adult, too!). Learning is probably my favorite activity. I love lecture-style presentations from an expert and feel like I could drink up just about any wisdom they’d care to throw my way. I didn’t want my kids to miss out on that experience.
But I began to feel the homeschool itch.
As I’d send my bigs off to school, I realized how much I missed them. Even though they were going to a Christian school and I was so grateful for the lessons and exposures they had there, it felt like too much of their life was spent being influenced by others. Not that I wanted them to be in a bubble. I just wanted to have more control over their eventual exposures, at least while they were younger.
This is really what prompted me to first articulate my vision for my children and then craft the Family Mission Statement.
As I thought of my desire to raise kids that will
Learn enthusiastically;
Serve faithfully;
Live responsibly;
Give generously; and
Love freely;
I realized that homeschooling was the best decision for this season. By homeschooling, I could choose every piece of their instructional materials. I could expose them to perspectives and people groups that I thought were important. I could work to develop and hone the skills that were most important for them to have the kind of future I desired for them. I could build in opportunities for them to serve others and love freely. It just made sense.
Homeschooling makes sense for my family as I try to parent them intentionally. I recognize that it might not make sense for you, though! The point here, again, is to use your Family Mission Statement to choose the best method of education for your family. What type of schooling will help you reach the end goals you have for your kids? What must they learn? To whom and what should they be exposed?
Mornings
One of the best things that has come out of this Family Mission Statement is an intentional morning routine. Let me back up and say that I am not a morning person. But having these goals so clearly outlined and prevalent in my mind has helped me focus my mornings better. It’s helped me make time for myself before everyone else wakes up.
On the best days, I wake up at least an hour before my kids do and I have time with God’s Word and my coffee all by myself. BLISS! But even on the days when that doesn’t happen, I still have a morning routine with my kids that I have been able to faithfully stick with.
I’m going to venture outside of conventional wisdom a little bit and say that in my experience, while it is best to have my alone time first, it is not necessary for a good day with your kids. I used to feel discouraged or defeated if I didn’t mom “right” by waking before my kids. In practice, I’ve actually found that the most important thing is making sure I start my kids’ day right. Even if my morning didn’t start the way I wanted it to, I can “fake it till I make it” with regards to my kids’ morning. Even if that means our morning routine starts later than I’d like. Even if that means I’m drinking my coffee during our morning routine time. Even if it means I’m not yet dressed for the day.
It seems to me that the most important thing is that it happens.
What’s been working for me is what I call “Family Bible Class.” We homeschool, so this works well for us. If you don’t homeschool, you’ll likely need to tweak this. That’s ok. This isn’t about you replicating what we do exactly. This is about you developing something that fits your values and priorities based on your vision and mission statement.
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Here’s what we do.
We do some little kid worship because I have littles and bigs right now. I recently discovered “Listener Kids” and have really loved what they produce. They have a YouTube channel that has a playlist that I can just let run for a few minutes. We ended up enjoying their music so much that we purchased the album. Sometimes we do this worship first thing. Lately I’ve been moving it to the end of Bible Class so that my bigs can get started on other school work. They don’t get a ton out of the baby Bible songs anymore, so I think this is ok.
We read a Bible lesson from one of two books- TheJesus Storybook Bibleor Leading Little Ones to God. These books are great because there’s a short reading selection that fits pretty well with my littles’ attention spans yet they are written in engaging enough ways that my bigs enjoy them too. Plus it gives my bigs the opportunity to demonstrate some leadership and help the littles. It’s important to me that my bigs can help mentor my littles because I believe it will help everyone grow.
We pray together as a family. Right now my husband is working from home, so he joins us for this each day. For the first maybe five weeks of this school year, we’ve added about four index cards with names or topics for prayer requests to our list so that now we have a pretty thick stack. We pass them out (this is one of the littles’ jobs to do) so that each person has one or two cards. We get through the entire stack in a week. We’ve been working through our prayer order as either ACTS or CATS. I debate back and forth about which order is best, but I think it’s important that all happen regardless. For those unfamiliar, ACTS stands for:
Adoration- a time of verbal worship, praising God for who he is
Confession- confessing our sins. My husband and I try to model specific confession rather than blanket statements. Our hope is that this will help our kids learn to be vulnerable with the Lord and also feel less shame over their mistakes and not try to hide their imperfections from God or others.
Thanksgiving- thanking God for who he is and what he’s done
Supplication- asking God for our needs (or really the needs on the index cards of the day)
Many days we also read from a book that will help us grow in a particular area. So far this year we’ve been reading Kisses from Katie which has been great for my bigs. The littles typically leave to go play before we read this book because it is way over their heads. Another book we’ve read from and will definitely finish is Make Your Bed. This is especially good for boys.
Again, mornings are not my jam. But having my goals clearly outlined has given me greater passion for and discipline in the mornings than I ever would have thought possible. I now look forward to getting our day going.
Bedtime Routines
It is pretty much undisputed that a bedtime routine is good for kids, especially when they’re little. Thankfully, my husband is a rockstar bedtime routine guy.
In addition to the typical things- bath, pjs, brush teeth- my husband does a quick devotion with the kids. Right now he uses this one. It’s quick and simple for our littles. Whereas the topics it covers look more like discussions and real life applications for our bigs, this book helps facilitate such things at an appropriate level for our toddlers.
Another thing he does that is so important and beneficial is that he spends a few minutes intentionally praying with and over our kids. If he’s sinned against them in any way during the day, he genuinely apologizes for it. He makes sure they know without doubt that they are loved and accepted as they are, and he prays for who they will become.
I think this is probably the most important thing about the bedtime routine- using it to clear up any junk from the day and help our kids feel really secure in our love.
Sometimes it’s hard to do because let’s be honest- our days have had some junk in them too! Sometimes we just want the day to be over. Ooooover. It’d be so easy to just brush teeth and get the kids in bed so we can have a few minutes to ourselves.
But this stuff is important. I think the bedtime routine is some of the most important work that we can do as parents if we approach it in the right way.
My hope is that this is a routine the kids will continue in their own lives, working out the “junk” of their day with their Heavenly Father so they can feel completely secure in his love.
The Benefits of Intentional Parenting
Parenting intentionally of course benefits our kids. By casting vision for their lives, crafting a Family Mission Statement, and then making choices that align with our parenting plan, we can set our kids up with a better future. But the benefits don’t end there. Intentional parenting requires great discipline of us. We have to lay our own desires aside as we choose what is best over what feels good in the moment. Intentional parenting also requires us to rely more heavily on our Heavenly Father. We can’t do it alone. Striving to parent intentionally makes us need him more, for it is too big of a task to do on our own.
Putting it All Together
One of the most important parts of living out your Family Mission Statement and truly intentionally parenting is to make sure you don’t forget about it all! Life gets so busy, and if we’re not careful, we’ll find ourselves completing exercises like this every few years without any follow through.
I knew I didn’t want this to happen to me this time around. I bought a large chalkboard to hang in my kitchen, and I wrote the Family Mission Statement on it. It’s right in the hub of all our family activity. I see it while I drink my coffee. I see it while we homeschool. I see it at dinner time. There is no escaping it!
To make sure it doesn’t just become a meaningless piece of decoration, I remind myself regularly to revisit it. I read it line by line to help me remember those things that are most important to me as I parent, and I try to live out the mission statement with intentionality each day.
Intentional Parenting is not easy, but it is worth it!
Would you like to start parenting more intentionally? Download this free resource to start working through what matters to your family.
How do you focus on intentionally parenting? We’d love to hear about it below!
It’s anybody’s guess whether or not my ice maker is going to make ice. The anticipation builds every time I place my glass under the dispenser. Will it work as intended today?
You see, I loooove ice. A glass full of ice with soda is a highlight of my day (yes, I know, gross). And my ice maker sometimes obliges, but other times it just grinds and grinds and nothing comes out. Opening the freezer door reveals a completely empty ice compartment. For some reason, it isn’t making ice cubes, and I’ve gone through the entire reserve.
Sure, I could make my own ice in ice cube trays- and I do now that my ice maker has become so finicky. But that’s just not nearly as satisfying for some reason. The ice isn’t quite the right shape. I always spill a little bit of the water on my trip from the sink to the freezer when refilling them. Frankly, I’m a little bit lazy.
I want my ice the right way without any effort on my part. I want my ice maker to work as it was designed to (daggonit).
You might be wondering why I’m writing about my ice maker. You might also be wondering how a person can go on so much about such a dumb topic. (Trust me: there’s more where that came from! I could probably write quite a bit more about my love of ice, but for your sake, I won’t.)
You see, what I want to focus on is the ice maker’s function as designed. Some engineer thought about the various mechanisms involved in forming ice and getting it into my glass. Sure, she knew I could get ice another way (fill my own tray, buy from the store), but she wanted her ice maker to be the method through which my glass was filled.
As I visited my ice maker earlier today, I thought about the lessons I could learn from it. Lessons about functioning as I was created to as a child of God and the things I would do if I functioned as I was designed to. Because, sure, our God is the God of the universe. He could find myriad other ways to accomplish his goals, but he’s chosen me. He wants me to be the method through which his plan is accomplished.
Romans 12 provides some great biblical context for this thinking.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your a faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Functioning as We were Designed to within the Church
Did you catch verse 5 where it says, “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (emphasis mine)? Our gifts- our functioning as we were designed to- are for the benefit of the body. The verse goes so far as to say that we actually belong to the other members.
This mindset perhaps helps us understand the end of Acts 2, where the first believers “had everything in common”, sharing their belongings and meals so that none went without. Acts 2 goes on to say that the early church added to their number daily because of their love. I know we’ve all heard that a million times, but let’s just really think about it for a minute. They loved each other in such an obvious way that it garnered attention from those around them.
Life in the Roman Empire was harsh. Think Gladiators. Think desperate and poor parents abandoning their newborns and selling their children as slaves. Think very cruel public executions. What must the love shown by the early church have looked like to those around them? While society discarded others as without value, the early church sold their possessions to provide for the poor amongst themselves. That alone must have been shocking to their neighbors.
They also spent significant amounts of time together, meeting daily to worship, and enjoying joyful meals together. And they saw- and participated in- God moving in their midst in supernatural ways.
The early church epitomized lives completely transformed by the love of Jesus and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
But let’s not pretend that the early church was full of perfect people. They were real people, just like us, with personality flaws, broken pasts, and annoying traits. Yet they sincerely loved each other in spite of and through these things.
I wonder if that was actually what most impressed those around them? Whereas our natural tendency is to gravitate towards the few, these people included all.
Christ had loved them so perfectly and completely; how could they exclude others or harbor resentment? By that same token, how can we?
What a difficult thing this must have been for them. It certainly is hard for me! But if we can love others- ALL others- wouldn’t that show that our love is being supernaturally empowered and not just something of our own creation?
Does the way we love other believers inspire the unsaved around us?
Do we collectively show that we’ve been transformed by the Gospel? How often do we go without to ensure our Brothers’ and Sisters’ needs are met? How often do we get together for fellowship because we genuinely love being together with other believers? Do we break bread in our homes with the Church as the Acts 2 believers did? Do we pursue connection literally daily as the early church did? Or does busyness and the pressure to keep up with our society prevent us from doing so?
Functioning as We were Designed to in the World
If we functioned today as the church was created to when it comes to loving those who are not yet Christians, what might our influence be? So often now, instead of living such that “they’ll know we’re Christians by our love”, American Christianity looks more like, “they’ll know we’re Christians by our political posts on social media.” Or, “they’ll know we’re Christians by our boycotts.” As the Casting Crowns song so eloquently states:
“Nobody knows what we’re for, only what we’re against when we judge the wounded. What if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like You did?”
Of course, there are pockets of Christians demonstrating Christ’s love in real and tangible ways, but we should each pause and take stock of how we express our faith. Do we look kind and loving in a cruel world, or do we look like we’re the ones bringing the cruelty? I am not saying we should embrace sin. Jesus certainly never did. But he didn’t view the sinner as something to be despised or mocked.
Jesus was always honest with people. He didn’t gloss over sin, but he was so genuine and loving that people were drawn to him.
Have you ever met a believer like that? They can break your heart to your own sin with such kindness that you just love them all the more for it. It’s been such a rare thing in my life and experience, but it is real. These people embody Romans 12:9. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
What is preventing me from living and loving in such a way? What is preventing you? Is it pride and arrogance? Plain old annoyance? Do I get too focused on how others’ sin negatively impacts me, forgetting that their sin evidences their need for healing? By the same token, do I overlook my own sin and its impact on others? Am I content to hurt a few along the way because they hurt me, too, or aren’t among the “important ones” that I’m trying to impress?
Ouch. These questions cut deep. But aren’t they important to really think about if we want to live according to our Designer’s intentions? It’s so important that we pray, as David did, for God to search our hearts and our intentions and reveal to us ways we’re operating outside of his design and expectation.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
In order to function in the world as God created us to, we must carefully inspect our hearts and reflect upon our motivations, even if it feels uncomfortable to do so.
I suspect that the more often we do this with complete honesty, the easier it will become. We’ll hopefully begin to really internalize the idea that God doesn’t turn his back on us because of our sin. Whereas a person might judge us harshly for our hidden thoughts and motivations, God doesn’t. He already knows them. Speaking to him openly about our sin doesn’t push him away from us; it actually brings us closer to him as we rest in the total security of his love and acceptance.
Final Thoughts about Our Design
Just like the engineer who designed my ice maker knows that I could get my ice in a variety of other ways, God is clearly capable of getting the job done any way he wants. But he chose me. He chose you.
I’m reminded of a theme I keep encountering in Christian writing. The idea is simple: Every believer is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do supernatural things, but we act as if only a few can. The few serve at church, in the world, or as missionaries, and we watch them go and cheer them on, thinking we’re not as gifted or needed as they are. But every believer has the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living inside himself. Every believer is called to do good works for God’s glory. Every believer has an important role to play.
Romans 12:6-8 speaks really well to this.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your a faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
We must each play our part, using the gifts God has given us to benefit those around us. When I function as I was designed to, I don’t hide away and let others do the work God has for me. I’m not talking about laziness here. I’m talking about insecurity. Do I fail to act in ways God is calling me to because I don’t think I can do it well enough? Am I too embarrassed to try? Does shame hold me back?
When I have this mindset, I overlook a really important fact: it is the Holy Spirit who empowers me. I don’t empower myself. The God of the universe who is capable of doing literally anything he wants to, wants me and will give me exactly what I need the moment I need it so that I can fulfill his plans. The same is true for you.
What a privilege it is to be called as one of God’s own! He has given us the Holy Spirit as a seal, showing that we belong to him. And in his wisdom and grace, he’s chosen to use us as his agents of change in the world. When we function as he created us to- individually and collectively- we can literally change the world, much like the early church did.
As believers, when we function as we were created to, the world notices.
That was written on a little chalkboard stand on my desk for a year, and now it sits on my kitchen table as a reminder. I’m not sure where I first heard that phrase, nor can I find to whom it should be attributed. It is a powerful statement and reminder, though.
Maybe you’re like me. I’m a task person. I see what needs to be done, and I do it. The goal is always right there in sight if I just work hard enough; and I push, push, push until I reach it. My laser-focus on the goal can sometimes blur the things between my current place and the end-line…even if those “things” are people.
If you’re like me, you need that reminder that the person- not the task- is the ministry.
And your ministry is not just to the person who benefits from the completed task. It’s the person you encounter on the way to completion. The person who may feel like an interruption or a nuisance. The person who is needy or overbearing. The person who pops up just when you most want a break.
Recently, I read about the woman at the well in John 4 and was reminded of my chalkboard. I’ve heard that story since I was a little girl. Perhaps it’s just as familiar to you. Something about it always rubbed me a little wrong, but I never dove more deeply into that feeling. Instead I just listened to whatever the sermon was about and moved along.
You see, everyone I ever heard speak on the woman at the well focused on her many marriages- “You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband”- believing this was indicative of major sin in her life.
With COVID and self-isolating, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to different pastors as we worship from home. For the first time in my life- almost 40 years of sitting in church services- I heard a pastor speak on this topic and not discuss what a sinful woman she was. He instead spoke of the culture at that time. He spoke about how few rights and agency women had, and how if she’d been divorced five times, it almost certainly wouldn’t have been her choice. Further, given the life expectancies at that time, it was very likely that she had been widowed multiple times.
So, she wasn’t necessarily a sinful woman. She was more likely a very broken woman. Either cast off by a man multiple times or left to fend for herself following an untimely death. And yes, perhaps now she was engaging in sin with a man to whom she wasn’t married, but then again, maybe marriage wasn’t an option for her. Maybe no one would have her given her history. Or maybe she no longer trusted the institution. Maybe now she was jaded.
Broken. Distrustful. Jaded. Abandoned. Hurt. Sinful. Any one of these words, and probably more than one could have described the Samaritan woman. Any one of these words, and probably more than one could describe me. They could describe any one of us at various points in our lives if we’re honest.
This begs the question…how often do we see the person standing in front of us, whether it’s the one in the mirror or the difficult student or staff member, and choose one word to describe them- “the sinful Samaritan woman”- when another word would be more appropriate? How often do we jump to conclusions about a person’s character based on too narrow a view of them?
How often do we view the person in front of us as the interruption, not the ministry opportunity of the moment?
Your ministry is the person in front of you.
Maybe that overly chatty person is actually really lonely. Maybe the irritable one is having problems at home. Maybe the one cracking inappropriate jokes is trying to mask his depression. Maybe the needy person who is too dependent upon you just can’t face the possibility of one more failure.
May we see the person in front of us as Jesus does, and may we be his method of ministering to their needs.
And, maybe, it will be in that moment that Jesus ministers to us today, too.
As we think of Christian school leadership, let’s turn our minds to Nehemiah. He’s likely a familiar biblical leader, known for his work to restore the wall around Jerusalem after it had been destroyed and its people exiled. A city’s walls were a sign of its strength and security, so their destruction revealed the mighty loss the Jewish people had taken. Further, it left them vulnerable to future attack.
Upon hearing of the wall’s destruction and the embarrassing and vulnerable position of Jerusalem and the remnant there, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, petitioned for the ability to return to his homeland and oversee the rebuilding of the wall and its gates.
Nehemiah’s work, much like ours, was not without opposition. Just as some call Christian education ineffective and a lesser version of a secular school’s program, enemies mocked Nehemiah and the workers, calling them feeble and ill-equipped for the work at hand.
When mockery didn’t stop the project, the enemies plotted an attack. Meanwhile, his workers had grown discouraged and tired. Nevertheless, Nehemiah learned of the planned attack and set half the men as a guard while the other half continued the work on the wall. Those carrying materials carried a sword in one hand and the supplies in the other. The workers also wore a sword, ready to defend their work when necessary.
Nehemiah’s people were spread out far away from each other as they worked around the city. Perhaps we could say they were spread thin, much like the Christian educator. Though it was difficult to defend themselves, Nehemiah knew God would fight for them (Nehemiah 4:20b) and encouraged his people saying,
“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”Nehemiah 4:14b
When the work was nearly completed, the opposition tried a new approach. They attempted to lure Nehemiah away from the work with plans to harm him. In wisdom, Nehemiah responded,
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3b.
Finally, just fifty-two days later, due to God’s sovereignty, the workers’ dedication and effort, and Nehemiah’s leadership, the wall was completed. Nehemiah 6:16 states, “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.”
Like Nehemiah, Christian educators are surrounded by brokenness as families fracture and our society increasingly consists of people who are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power” 2 Timothy 3:2-4a.
This work of fortifying our children against the views and lifestyle of the world and empowering them to impact it for Christ is daunting and not without opposition. We, too, are mocked. We, too, are increasingly under attack through regulations and threats to funding. And we, too, could easily become distracted from the important things or discouraged with the work and leave it for something easier or just plod along towards retirement.
This is where our inspiration from Nehemiah comes in, and why I think of Christian educators as Wall Warriors. Whether administrators or teachers, we, too, can adopt the mindset of “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down!” as we fight for the next generation of believers.
Let’s do this work together as we look at the latest trends in education and evaluate their appropriateness for our school settings. Let’s work together as we live out our faith through Christian education- to God’s glory!
As Christian School Administrators and Teachers, let’s stand together like Nehemiah did to raise up a generation of leaders!
Through Christian Education- at School or at Home- We Can Help Our Students Grow Deep Roots of Faith
Colossians 2:5-7
For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Is this passage not great for both teaching in general and also the distance learning that may be necessary due to COVID? The 2020-2021 school year brings a first to many educators: they must launch the school year without physically being in the presence of some or all of their students. But, like Paul, though absent from their students in the body, they are certainly present in spirit, praying for the young lives they will interact with and, Lord willing, impact permanently for the Kingdom.
Whether together in person, or learning together from a distance, the Christian educator’s desire is the same: that students would be rooted and built up in Christ, their faith strengthened as a result of the instruction they receive.
This idea of being rooted in Christ seemed to be very simplistic to me at first glance. We all know roots anchor a tree to the ground and help it “drink” the water it needs to survive. Those ideas alone hold many correlations to a Christian’s being rooted in Christ. He is our anchor, the One who holds us through all of life’s ups and downs. Similarly, his Living Water is the drink that sustains us and allows us to walk through life faithfully.
I suspected that there may be more to this idea of being rooted in Christ, though, because as I continue to mature in my faith, I find that many of the ideas found in Scripture that seem simplistic actually hold beautiful depth and interesting implications for the believer’s walk. So, I dug a little deeper and learned a few interesting things about roots that can perhaps help us grow even more in our faith.
One of the first interesting facts I found is that an oak tree can take in up to 50 gallons of water through its roots each day. Fifty gallons sounds like a lot, but really, I have no idea what that means, so I looked for a few comparisons. I can sort of picture 50 gallon jugs of milk. That seems more than I can see at one time in my grocery store’s milk cooler. A 55-gallon fish tank is roughly 50”x23”x15”. 50” is the size of an average 8 year old. 50 gallons can also be converted to 417 pounds. 400 pounds! Ok, that is a number I understand. 50 gallons is a LOT of water to take in each day!
How does that apply to us? If we think about Jesus being our Living Water, we can use the root analogy to indicate just how much of Jesus we need each day. Not a little swig. 50 gallons of Living Water. It reminds me of the quote from Kisses from Katie that says, “All I need today is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.” Like 417 pounds worth.
A whole LOT of Jesus! And maybe some coffee, too. We are educators, after all.
Interestingly, although some plants can take in a lot of water like the oak tree, others like tomato plants need a quite specific amount of water. In fact, overwatering a tomato plant will lead to problems like stunted growth, lots of leaves but no fruit, and even yellow or brown and dry leaves. In other words, when you overwater a tomato plant, you’ll have what looks like growth (lots of leaves), but no fruit, which is the purpose of growing a tomato plant.
Bearing fruit is likewise one of the believer’s main purposes. Galatians 5:22-25 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
I find it interesting to think about what bearing leaves but not fruit might look like in a person’s life. What comes to mind for me is the believer with lots of head knowledge of the Bible. They know all their points of doctrine, and they can “win” a debate, but this may be done without the fruit that is the true evidence of the Spirit’s work in his or her life.
It’s only through transformative relationship with the Savior that the believer is changed from the inside out, demonstrating true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Let’s face it: a person with lots of “leaves” of head knowledge, but with little or none of the “fruit” that shares the love of Christ, is not a fun person to spend time with. Further, bearing leaves but no fruit is detrimental to that believer because they may think they have an effective Christian life, but in reality they are missing out on the wonderful benefits and beauty of a vibrant relationship with Jesus.
Perennial plants actually store energy in their roots. We reap the benefits of this process when we eat vegetables like carrots, turnips and beets. Storing energy (think food) in their roots allows these plants to survive a long winter and grow year after year. Anyone who has walked with the Lord for a while will likely tell you that they have gone through spiritual dry spells in their life. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, writes about dry spells in his walk with the Lord. Psalm 63:1 says, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
In order to survive these dry spells or periods when God feels far away or the Christian walk feels long and difficult, the believer must have stored up energy, or spiritual “food”, in his or her roots. One way we can do this is by reminding ourselves of God’s faithfulness in our lives and the times in which we knew without a doubt that he was moving in our midst, much like the Israelites did when stacking stones of remembrance as found in Joshua 4.
These ideas about roots certainly have implications for us as believers, but as educators, I know we’re also always thinking about ways what we’ve learned can apply to our students. In addition to sharing the principles above with our students and keeping them in mind while attempting to impart biblical wisdom to them, there are a few more facts about roots we should keep in mind.
When a seed is first planted, there is not much growth happening that you can see. If you’re planting a tree, it actually takes a few years for you to see much of any growth above the ground. The main growth takes place in the roots, anchoring the new plant and beginning to take in the water and nutrients necessary for growth. And at this point, we’re just talking about growth period.
If we’re thinking about bearing fruit, we’ll have to wait even longer.
Banana trees, for instance, take 10-15 months to bear fruit. Avocado trees typically take five years. And oak trees don’t bear fruit until they’re approximately 20 years old. In other words, it can take a very long time for a tree to bear fruit.
As educators we should recognize that the seeds we’re planting may be growing roots for a long time without any visible evidence of growth.
And seeing spiritual fruit may even take much longer.
In Luke 4, Jesus quotes Isaiah 61. Interestingly, though he doesn’t quote this part of the passage, the section Jesus quotes goes on to say that those impacted by his ministry “will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” If we think of our students becoming mighty “oaks of righteousness”, we should recognize that it takes a very long time- as much as 20 years- to bear fruit.
This brings to mind Galatians 6:9. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Let’s remind ourselves and each other that the “proper time” in which we’ll see a harvest may be a long time from now! Let’s not become discouraged, but instead persist in this great work to which we’ve been called.
Through Christian Schooling- Homeschooling or Private Education- We Can Help Instill Lasting Faith in Our Kids
How the Stories of Daniel and Esther Can Influence Christian Education
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. Daniel 1:17a
The inspiring stories of Daniel and Esther are familiar to most Christians, but I’m hoping you’ll revisit them with me in a new way to see how they might influence our thinking as Christian educators.
First, let’s look at their similarities. Although these two lived roughly 130 years apart, they had a lot in common. Both were Jews living in foreign territory. At roughly the same age of 15-20 years old, both were chosen by the authority to a place of prominence, though neither had a choice in the matter (Daniel 1:3; Esther 2:8). Daniel, a member of Jewish royalty, was chosen because he was healthy, handsome, intelligent, and well educated (Daniel 1:4). Esther was selected for her beauty to become a member of the king’s court with a chance at becoming his new wife (Esther 2:3, 8).
These young people immediately found favor with those in authority (Daniel 1:9, 19-20; Esther 2:9), and ultimately both were chosen to a special place of honor by the king. In Daniel’s case, we see a handsome young man of superior intellect and education, fit and strong, so it’s perhaps easier to see why he was so highly favored when looking through our 21st Century lens.
I’d like to suggest that we shouldn’t quickly dismiss Esther as just a pretty girl, though. First, we see that she was humble, accepting the advice of the king’s eunuch before meeting the king for the first time (Esther 2:9). The fact that this was mentioned seems to indicate that not all the young women behaved the same way.
Next we learn that out of all the beautiful women in the kingdom chosen for a chance with the king, Esther stood out to him (Esther 2:17). I find it hard to believe that her beauty alone surpassed the countless other women from whom he could choose. In my experience beauty will catch a man’s eye, but there is some other quality that usually intrigues him enough to keep him interested. Something about Esther drew the king to her in a way the other girls did not. Thus I imagine that Esther, like Daniel, had significant intellect, or maybe a quick wit (were women allowed to have a sense of humor then?) or some other quality that stood out from the crowd. Whatever it may have been, I don’t think we should dismiss Esther as just a pretty face.
In Daniel 1:8, we learn that Daniel was brave. He was unwilling to defile himself with the foreign food, and he approached the chief official in such a way that convinced him to grant Daniel’s request. In addition to showing his bravery, this request also demonstrated Daniel’s commitment to God and his unwillingness to compromise his faith in the new land.
Esther also displayed great bravery when it was required of her. Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews forced her to approach the king without being summoned, an action that could have led to her death (Esther 4:11). Daniel found himself in a similarly-precarious position when he was set to be killed with all the king’s wise men (Daniel 2:12-13).
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When both Daniel and Esther faced near-certain destruction, they spoke in wisdom and tact to influence a king’s decision (Daniel 2:14; Esther 7:3-4). However neither did this before spending time praying and fasting (Daniel 2:16; Esther 4:16). They were patient, not rushing to act, but instead relied on God for success (Daniel 2:16; Esther 5:4,7).
Thinking of Daniel and Esther and how they skillfully navigated the conversations with those in authority brings to mind the book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. This is a book that I’ve been trying to get through for a while now….perhaps this summer I will do it! According to Scott, “Fierce conversations are about moral courage, clear requests, and taking action.” If the conversations held by Daniel and Esther were not fierce, I don’t know what would be!
Encouraging Moral Courage through Christian Education
Isn’t that what we want for our students, too? We want them, when faced with difficult decisions, conversations, or interpersonal issues, to display moral courage, clear requests, and the ability to take action.
We want to be able to say of them, as was said of Daniel and his friends, that “God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning” (Daniel 1:17a). We want our students to positively impact their circles in such a way that makes them a voice of reason, compassion, and justice. We want them to have a reputation for intelligence, level-headedness, and leadership that stands out from the crowd. This will give them a platform to shout God’s glory as they win influence through excellence. Because these are characteristics we want our students to display, they should be goals of our educational programs and instruction.
We can strive to raise up leaders- develop Daniels and establish Esthers, if you will- remarkable young people able to stand up for their faith and other people, intelligent and well educated, humble and able to speak in tact and wisdom. Our students, like Daniel and Esther, can gain influence through excellence without succumbing to arrogance. They can maintain their reliance on God.
Christian Education Should Prepare our Students to Stand Out from the Crowd
Let’s work to educate our students well so that when they leave our classrooms and go on to the workforce or college, they can positively influence others. Let’s help them stand out from their peers because of how well they’ve been prepared for the next stage of their lives.
Perhaps you’re nodding at this point but also wondering, “How??” We want our students to be grounded in their faith, dependent on their Savior and seeking to give glory to him alone, but this is not an easy task, nor is it one we should enter into lightly. With God’s grace and wisdom, I believe it can be done.
Let’s start first with ourselves and lead by example.
How about a humility check? A good friend defines ego this way- EGO is either Exalting God Only or it’s Edging God Out. I think of this often and try to ask myself, “Am I exalting God only, or am I edging him out?” This simple quiz really helps me align myself. Dying to my flesh is hard work, and I won’t say I always enjoy the process (!!), but the phrase helps me gut it out when needed.
How about our reliance on the Savior? I don’t know about you, but I easily get caught up in “do, do, do” mode and can jump right into work ahead of my quiet time. This is something I’m working on; maybe you’d join me in that effort? Let’s not place our To Do List ahead of the most important relationship in our lives.
How are our instructional practices? Our educational programs? Are we gaining influence through excellence? My desire is for the lost to come banging on our doors asking for us to educate their kids because our reputation is so good. Yes, we can teach your kids with amazingly high quality, but we can do so much more than that! We can introduce your family to the King of kings and Lord of lords! Let’s really engage in professional development. Let’s dig into the research and find the very best methods with which to educate this generation, and let’s never stop learning as teachers and school leaders.
Next, let’s work on being fierce communicators. Let’s really listen, let’s seek to understand, and let’s do our best to see the person as Jesus does. This is not always a strength for me, but it’s an area in which I want to improve. Maybe you want to join me here as well? Let’s use our summers to read up on how to have Fierce Conversations or Crucial Conversations or even Crucial Accountability and come back to the next school year as better versions of ourselves.
And finally, let’s seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). This will require bravery, and sometimes it will mean going against the flow of our culture, but Christian voices should be among the loudest speaking out for the disenfranchised and lost, especially when it comes to a child’s access to a highly effective education. Let’s think about how we can get creative with tuition assistance or our admissions policies and work to diversify our student body (and faculty!). Is it possible to enroll some foster kids in our schools? If not, is there another way we can support their families? How are we doing in supporting our adopted students? Does our faculty need specific training on ways to help these students thrive? Where does our scholarship money go? Can we use it differently in a way that will have a greater impact on the kingdom? We’ve got the best news in the world. Let’s not keep it to ourselves!
I’m praying for you in this work ahead, and I hope you’re praying for me, too!
Using Biblical Integration in the Academic Subjects to Point Kids to Christ
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ- to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11
Philippians 1:9-11 are verses that I used to pray over our academic program and students as an administrator. They speak directly to my heart for Christian education and its purpose, so they became my theme verses.
Let’s break them down and see how they might apply to Christian education.
The Heart of Christian Education
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…
Isn’t that the heart of Christian education in a nutshell?
Our desire is that our students’ love- for God, for each other, for the lost, for his creation, for knowledge and learning- will abound more and more. Let’s look more closely at that word- abound.
ABOUND (verb)
to be present in large numbers or in great quantity
Imagine our students’ hearts and minds being filled to the brim or bursting with their love of Jesus and their love of learning. Can you sense the excitement they’d feel? How it would radiate out of them? Or think of them buzzing with a love that swarms those around them as they go out into the world and represent Christ. They’d embrace the lost and hurting and gain influence through excellence. Isn’t that exactly what we want for them?
Towards that end, we integrate the Bible and biblical themes throughout our conversations- not as awkward add-ons, but because they are integral to who we are. We can’t help it! The Holy Spirit’s work in our lives has given us a worldview that permeates all we do. It is our identity.
So we don’t just teach the academic subjects. We teach students how the academics point to Christ.
When we teach LITERATURE, we see the conflicts and characters with an eye to Scripture. We see depravity and grace, people lost and found, problems that could have been tackled with biblical wisdom and imagine different outcomes if the characters knew Jesus.
SCIENCE becomes the study of creation where we find God’s intelligent and intricate design. We’re amazed at the details he’s fashioned and the creativity that emanated from words in Genesis like, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds,” as we look around and see beautiful flowers, delicious fruits and vegetables, and the giant redwood tree that towers over us. Laminin amazes us and we’re fascinated by the expansive universe whose intricacies we don’t yet know.
WRITING instruction is pursued with excellence so our students become champions of the faith, able to clearly articulate and defend a Christian worldview. We desire for our students to be the very best communicators as a means of gaining influence through excellence. Learning the craft of writing also helps them identify propaganda and cleverly-written articles that contradict Scripture.
HISTORY is approached as the story of what God has done in the world and how man’s decisions have influenced societies and cultures. We see his blessing over those who follow him, and we see the destruction that surrounds those who do not, whether through divine judgment or man’s folly. We learn to value human life and see when men have not, and we tackle tough topics like equity and race through a biblical lens. Studying history helps make us better people.
MATH demonstrates the order and pattern in God’s design. We learn to persevere through challenges, and we see how he has infused mathematics our world. We see how math, done correctly, leads to strength through engineering projects, and we use it to create things, a reflection of the God in whose image we’re made.
The ARTS allow us to express ourselves in the ways we’re made in his image, and they give us new mediums through which to show our love of our Savior. We see and create beauty, and we learn skills necessary to be lifelong worshippers.
ATHLETICS allow us to compete and train, providing important lessons in persistence and growth mindset. We learn to push our physical limits for a collaborative good as we practice teamwork. Athletics also give us an area in which to demonstrate excellence and win influence that will be used to point others to Christ.
In Christian education, all subjects are pursued with vigor so that we can send our students out into the world like Daniels, standouts from their peers in such a way that they positively impact the world for God’s glory.
Using Biblical Integration and Best Practices to Increase Knowledge, Depth of Insight, and Discernment
…in knowledge and depth of insight…
To help them abound in knowledge and depth of insight, we teach like our lives depend on it. We use the very best methods we know, and we continuously work to grow in our craft. We ourselves are perpetual students, researching the latest trends and methods so that our instruction can have the biggest impact on our students. We attend professional development conferences and seminars, read professional literature, and join Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) online to learn from and collaborate with others. We desire to be the very best we can be in our field for God’s glory.
Then we take the best of what we’ve learned, and we use it to fuel our passion for instructing our students so that they, too, fall in love with learning. Our students feed off our zeal and grow in knowledge at exciting rates as God strengthens our hands and multiplies our effectiveness.
…so that you may be able to discern what is best…
We integrate our worldview into all we do, and this helps our students develop discernment and insight. More, we intentionally teach them God’s Word as well as how to identify prevalent worldviews in our culture. This helps them discern truth and recognize when something they see, or read, or hear doesn’t line up with Scripture. We desire for them to be wise and not easily swayed by the trends and beliefs of the world, instead growing like “mighty oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor” (Isaiah 61:3b).
This is the good stuff. The exciting part of what we do. We are called and gifted to share all we know about God and his creation with the next generation. What a tremendous gift and responsibility! The God of the universe chose us, and he promises to use us to his glory and fame!
Through Christian Education, We Fill Our Kids up with God’s Word and Model Relationship with Jesus
…pure and blameless for the day of Christ…
Of course we are not responsible for the decisions our students make, but by filling them up with God’s Word and working hard to model relationship over religion, we can strive to raise up a generation of believers who faithfully serve our Savior. It is our desire and goal to be able to, like Paul, say,
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-9.
The WHY of Christian Education: Using Biblical Integration to Glorify God
…to the glory and praise of God…
Here we find our big WHY.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
This is why we’re in Christian education- whether in a traditional school setting or at home, oftentimes making less than our peers with more responsibility (and preps!!!)…because of our love for Jesus. This love is what compels us to show up each day with a smile on our face so we can lead our students not for the paycheck or the praise, but for God’s glory.
As you do this important work, my prayer is that you- and your students- will ABOUND in your love for God, for each other, for the lost, for his creation, for knowledge and learning, and for the blessed calling of Christian education.
By integrating a biblical worldview, we point students to Christ and help them abound in love and knowledge as we teach the academic subjects.
