Saturday, October 4, 2008

Christian School Teaching

I taught Christian school for over 20 years. I would have to say I tried my best to teach the truth of God's Word most of the time. I can't absolutely say always because I'm sure there must have been times when I didn't teach everything correctly...but I tried.

I taught students that we are all sinners and have no hope of Heaven except through the love of Christ as expressed in His death on the cross. We are all equal as sinners and cannot save ourselves. This means we are equal whether we lie, are proud, take God's name in vain, participate in sexual deviation, murder or steal a dime out of a purse. No one has a claim to righteousness on his own account.

I know that some people think that if a person hates a certain sin, then he also must hate the person who is involved in the sin. Now, because we are fallible humans, that may end up being the case for some people. They cannot separate loving a person from hating his sin. And yet parents have to do this very thing all the time. They love their children no matter what, but they they still punish their children for disobedience, lying, backtalk, etc. God tells us to love people but not to love sin...ours or anyone else's.

Through the Scripture that we memorized in class, I taught that we should be humble (not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought), to be submissive to one another (think on the things of others), to be kind and tenderhearted, to put God first (in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths).

I taught students to have the mind of Christ, to obey the laws, to be happy and joyful in the Lord, to follow God's will, to be involved in Church (the whole New Testament was written to and about churches or church members), to judge not lest we be judged, to respect other people, to witness and be a testimony for Christ.

I taught students that God's word says not to lie, steal, commit adultery, take the Lord's name in vain and to love God with the whole heart and the other commandments. Does these mean that I taught students to live and gain salvation by their works? Never! I taught that Scripture said that all our righteousness was as dirty rags. We are saved by grace and we are to live by grace, following the directions of God's Word for righteous, daily living.

From some of the things I've heard from various students, they claim to have been taught to hate others for their sins, to be judgmental, to live a list with nothing being taught about abiding and living by grace. I say those claims are NOT true at least from my perspective.

I personally do have trouble with pride and being judgmental at times. God still has to work on me all the time. Sometimes I think I would rather live as a hermit. It seems like that would be easier. But God does not have that plan for me. I wouldn't like it anyway.

I know I have been haranguing this morning. Please forgive. Remember God is always good and never makes mistakes. He always loves us in spite of our sin and problems. He is a wonder.

6 comments:

Julie said...

I enjoyed this post.
I think kids listen to what you say, but hear something else sometimes. I think that something gets lost between the ears and the brain. I think that this is a human condition...no matter the age. I remember hearing all of that at school, and yet it seemed that only parts sunk in at a time. Too much to take in at once? I don't know, but I do know that everything else seemed much more important to me. Immature. But I heard it and it's still in there, and once in a while things pop up that have been buried for years! God is good.

Momstheword said...

Yes, I agree with Julie. Those things are there, we learned them, God stuck them in there somewhere, and He tends to pull that information out at just the right time, and at the right age, when we most need it. Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it..... You're your mother's pride and joy. Mine too.

Kay Day said...

I didn't have you for a teacher, but I don't think you ever came across as legalistic or list oriented. I never got that impression from you, Gail, or your mom. But I did hear it. I think it had more to do with sermons I heard than things learned at school. So, just because kids say they feel like that's what they were taught, doesn't mean they heard it from you.

You influenced me in serving, laughing and taking life as it comes.

Paula said...

Your comments are too good. Thanks for the encouragement.

Robin said...

I wish I would have had you for a teacher. The kids who did received a true blessing.

Julie's comments make sense about kids hearing something different than we say sometimes or being too caught up in their own stuff to "get it" - my paraphrase.

Thank you and Christian teachers everywhere for the godly example you give/gave.

Jessican said...

I thought you were legalistic because you never ever returned an essay without all sorts of red mark ups! I mean, come on, not even once!

j/k.

You were, by far, the best teacher I ever had at Park Hill.