Three things I've learned by being a teacher

Or, rather, three things from God’s Word that I am learning how to do by being a teacher.

The pastor of the church my father-in-law attended before he went into the nursing home asked me to speak on a Wednesday evening (August 17) about being a Christian and a teacher in a public school.

This is an edited version of that talk.

Introduction:
About the high school I teach at:
• very good school academically
• very friendly for Christians
• we have a range of teachers politically.
• our children went to a Christian private school for the first few years, but have been in this school system since then.
• we have many “interesting” conversations at dinner, about students, about what the teachers are saying. One teacher is a liberal Mennonite, another is a "progressive." They always have some interesting things to say.
• Always talk to your children. About everything.
• There are two active bible study groups at the high school. One of them is an on-campus, student led bible study. It meets 2-4 times per week. The other is off campus, run by a teacher, and is connected with, I think, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

I. We are all made in God image.

Genesis 1:24-31 NASB95
24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so.
25 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

“Very good.” What was different about this day, the sixth day, that was “very good?” It was the day that He made something in His own image.

I have two ways of looking at this.

The first is that everyone we meet, everyone we know, everyone we hear about, everyone on earth is made in God’s image. Everyone reflects God in some way. That image may be badly damaged for one reason or another or it may be as good as our sinfulness and fallen nature can let it be. But we are all made in God’s image.

The other is that we as believers are being remade into His image.

Romans 8:29 NASB95
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

We all know some people seem to reflect God, and to be specific, Jesus, better than others, even among our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We need to remember that we all began at different starting points. Some, by virtue of a good upbringing, start by reflecting Jesus earlier than others.

However, I want to talk about what this means for me in a classroom. When children walk into the class room they are all images of God. Somehow, each reflects Him. Each is His creation. Each is formed in the womb by His hands.

And wouldn’t it be wonderful if they all reflected the risen Lord Jesus. But they don’t. Though many do.

Psalm 8:4-6 NASB95
4 What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

God has crowned each child that walks into my classroom with glory and majesty (or “honor” in the KJV). Most of us have been in high school. We know what fallen human beings are like at that age. I have been there, I teach there, I have children there who will tell me all about it in detail. It is hard to apply this period-by-period, day-by-day. And yet, God calls me to love, cherish, and honor those images.

Remembering that they are formed in God’s image is tough when they are determined to reflect the enemy more. I have to regularly remind myself that each child deserves respect; firm respect sometimes, but respect. Each needs prayer.

It has recently struck me that not every one of these children are prayed for. Not every one are “loved over” in prayer. One of the reasons that I enjoyed being a cafeteria monitor was that I got a chance to pray for students, and especially those students who are the most difficult in class.

I have a God-given responsibility to cherish these images as best I can. And the best way to do it is to keep my mind set, not on the images themselves, not on the children, but on the One they are images of. Jesus. I set my mind on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:6)

II. I am there to serve

I am a servant. A servant of the public school system, and a servant of Jesus.

Ephesians 6:5-8 NASB95
5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;
6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

What does this mean for me in the classroom?

I am called by Jesus into this work. I could go into my story a bit. I do believe that I was called by God into teaching in general, and to my school district specifically. But just as an aside, all of us have a calling on our lives, and that is to love and serve Jesus. That is the most important calling. After that, they are all lesser callings.

I am there to serve by teaching God’s images; by working to be the best teacher I can be; and by serving my administration in what ways I can.

But I am also a Christian in a public school. I also serve by prayer: praying for my administrators; for my fellow teachers; for the aides and cafeteria workers and secretaries; and most importantly praying for my students. I also serve by loving others. Everyone there is my neighbor. And everyone there is made in God’s image.

But I am not serving them; I am serving Jesus. I do not do what I do for them, but for Jesus. I do not do what I do to gain the approval of men, but the approval of Jesus. So my focus, even in serving at a public school must be on Jesus.

Can I do this? Perfectly? All the time? No I can not. I see these goals, these ideals, and I know that the only way I get to them is by Jesus’s cross. And every time I fail, I need the cross, too.

III. Take joy

What some people call “taking joy in the journey.”

James 1:2,3 NASB95
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

I am going to encounter trials. They may come in the form of a student in one class, or the entire class. They may come in the form of school board directive, or a federal program. Am I going to receive them with joy? Or with grumbling? I need to chose joy.

Deuteronomy 12:18b NASB95
18 ...And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. [KJV “in all that thou puttest thine hands unto”]

I am called to be a teacher. I will rejoice in all that I put my hands to (even when I would prefer to grumble in the faculty room).

Romans 14:17
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Ready for a hard concept? The kingdom of God is where God is king. Where God rules. Where His will is done. Joy is one of the evidences of the kingdom of God being present in a person’s life.

Am I serving with joy? Here is a trick question: Can I serve Jesus and not serve Him with joy? Or rather, can I serve Him without joy? I do not think so. If a sign the kingdom of God is joy; joy has to be a part of serving Him.

Am I serving with joy? I try.

We call Jesus, “Teacher.” Ever think about what that means? Is He going to give me a “pop quiz” today about serving with joy? You bet He may. Am I going to be ready for it? Am I going to pass it? And He is a thorough teacher, and He will teach it until I get it.

He does not have to worry about the rest of the class getting restless, or falling behind. He is perfectly willing to work with me until I get it right. However long that may take, as long as I am willing to learn.

So, three things that I am learning how to do by being a teacher:
How to teach knowing that we all are made in God’s image.
How to serve Jesus by serving children.
And how to serve Jesus with joy.