God Spot: What should we take pride in?

Just a quick word to say that these “God Spot” notes are to be shared with Christians. My hope is that they encourage, challenge and, with the humble possibility, inspire. More than that, I hope that they encourage thought and discussion. I don’t expect that those who are not Christians to understand or respond to these notes, but they are most welcome to read them. These notes are an extension of my desire to practice my writing, so please do feel free to add constructive criticism, but please also be kind. I don’t get to do a lot of creative or structured writing in my line of work.

A couple of days ago, from a student for whom I have invested a fair amount time in extra tuition, I received the kind of amazingly touching and heartfelt thank you note that every teacher dreams of. In it she expresses, not just a transformation in her attitude to my subject and enjoyment of my lessons, but realisation of life changing lessons. This is what makes the long hours, the overbearing and demanding parents, the students’ rudeness, stubbornness and ingratitude all fade into the background; it makes it all worthwhile.

My first instinct was to post the letter (minus the name) on Facebook, run round and show all my colleagues, frame it and put in next to my desk so that everyone could see; in effect to show off to the world what a great teacher I am (and I am aware that in writing this, I fall foul of the same dangers).

PRIDE! The great deceit! 

I have learnt, through harsh lessons, that it only brings pain.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” – Psalm 51:17

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:8-11

Should I consider this letter rubbish?

A few years ago I learnt the danger and folly of making professionalism and pride in my work an idol, but we are still told to work for the Lord. 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" - Colossian 3:23 Not the praise of man, but for the glory of God. In effect, our hard work is our witness to the change God has made in our lives.

Whilst I take joy that I can help this hard working student (I am wary not to say “well deserved” for as Christians we know that we deserve nothing) to enjoy the beauty of God’s ordered universe (as we mathematicians understand that we just have a small glimpse of that which is divine), but I am saddened that it is meaningless if she cannot enjoy it in eternity.

The life lesson learnt is even worse! She has learnt that by small regular steps, by hard work and perseverance, no obstacle is too great. As Christians, the truth we know is that until we admit that we are weak and helpless, until we humble ourselves to admit that we can do nothing to earn our salvation, we cannot accept the love and salvation God has to offer. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation or God’s love. That is not an obstacle or achievement that can be gained through hard work. How does my teaching of one complement the other more godly and eternal lesson?

I have invited this student to the Christian Forum before, and no doubt she has heard some of my talk about my faith; she even showed interest in coming to a Christian Easter revision camp when I was talking to another student about it. My job prevents me from going any further, and it would be wrong to abuse my position as a teacher, so what more can I do?

My conclusion is that I can do no more. In fact, I should have known that I could do nothing in the first place. It is all God. It is always God. I have resolved to pray.

Perhaps when she leaves, I will remain in contact with her (as I have done with a few ex-students) and the opportunity to share my faith will arise then. Even then, my role as former teacher will make that line difficult to cross.

With God and prayer there is always hope, but I am left confused.

These are the questions:

What joy should I take from this note?

What life lessons should I be teaching students, if not that with hard work and perseverance, they can achieve great things?

Those who know me will know that I will not be a “Ned Flanders”, to flagellate myself over some tiny self-perceived sin. I put the questions to you and move on. Knowing God is pure joy, but any of the blessings we share with the lost must be bittersweet.

P.S. I am being extremely careful of the real possibility that she might have a little infatuation.

Comment on Education/ God Spot – The Teaching of Creationism

Undoubtedly this topic will have a bit of a cross-over with my Christian faith, and so I ask my secular audience to bear with me. I will not hide that this drives my thinking in life, but I hope that I can present a sound and reasoned view on this.

I apologise to those media snobs among you, but I receive most of my news through either the television, or via my BBC newsfeed. Yesterday it was reported that 60% of adults thought that evolutionary theories should be taught alongside creationism in school science lessons (Darwin teaching ‘divide opinion’).

I would like to start by saying that I consider myself to be, first and foremost an Evangelical Christian: that is, I take the bible, the Word of God, to be God inspired, infallible and the whole truth. I did not always think this, but have come to believe this over many years of study, listening and research of my own. There are now only a couple of passages that I continue to struggle with, but compared to the book as a whole, I am willing to bow to the bible’s authority rather than my own wisdom (so don’t get me started on Liberalism).

Genesis chapter 1 is written in as poetic language as you will find in the bible, and certainly we do not take the Psalms, the prophecies, or Revelation as literal truth. This being the case, many respected evangelicals fall into both the evolutionist or creationist camps without a lot of friction between them. Creationism is not a doctrine that is central to our faith – that would be the death of a real and historical Jesus, who was fully man and fully God, and died in substitutionary sacrifice for the evil that we commit (I’d love to answer any further questions about that if you have them). Over the years, my own view has not fallen strongly into either camp, but has certainly swung from one to the other. My current position is somewhat like that of an informed Agnostic, but probably sides more with those who believe that creation was initiated by God in short bursts that fit in with some of the evolutionist time-lines.

A lengthy discussion with an Atheist colleague a few years ago covered a range of topics, the creation/ evolution debate amongst them. I would like to think that we both gained a certain amount of respect for the other person’s opinion, and one thing that I did take away from the wrangling was that I had to admit that creationism was not a logic first step for any Agnostic. I will readily admit that coming from a purely scientific standpoint, to start with no theory, and jump to the conclusion of a higher power creating life is not a logical theory. That is not to say that intelligent design is not now a valid theory; and from what I understand, one which is gathering evidence and increasingly held by prominent scientists; but it is not a sensible first step for a logical reasoned human (nor ape).

Whilst I do think that it is wrong that schools at present teach “evolution fact”, rather than “evolution theory”, my bigger fear is that if the governing bodies open the door to school being allowed to teach alternative theories, creationism will either be taught with scorn and derision, but more damaging is that creation will be taught without the logic and reason that underpins the teaching of science. Regulation within teaching comes with both the good and bad, but if creation is to be taught as an alternate theory, then good education materials (fact sheets, videos, etc...) must be provided. I make the emphasis on “good” education materials, because far too much damage has been done in the past with poor materials. I have had testimonies about scary/ boring/ poor lessons on sex and drugs, in which those important issues are made into a joke amongst the students.

Unfortunately, more damaging to the Christian viewpoint has not been the attacks from without (in this case the aforementioned scorn and derision from secular science teachers), but irrational and poorly thought through steps from amongst the Christian community. There is no other reason to teach Christian values and beliefs except that it is the truth, and the truth will withstand both the slings and arrows of its critics, and the test of time.

***** Addition Note *****

In a private critique of this piece, I have been made aware that there is a factor that I haven’t taken into account (quite a big one in fact). That would be that if I trust that God is the creator god, and not only the Cartesian view of a god who created a clock-like perfection and set everything off running (I think that’s what Descartes’ view of God was – I’m sure someone helpful will correct me if I’m wrong), but a loving and interceding God, then surely I should trust that if creationism is allowed to be taught alongside evolution, then he can use even the worst of bumbling teachers to convey the beauty and majesty of what he has done. In essence, I should trust him more. That doesn’t mean however, that we shouldn’t be a wiser in the way we teach these issues, nor in our desire (and if we are in a position, campaigning or actions) to create better resources and materials for the teaching of creationism. God gave us minds and other skills that we might use them.

Comment on Education - Private / Comprehensive Divide

Still getting pilloried by many (especially some Christians) for working in an independent school, having worked in both sectors, been a relatively successful teacher in both, and having enjoyed my time in both, I present a rarer view on the subject than most.

It is rare that I get to read the delights the Metro now that I enjoy a beautiful walk to work in the mornings. When I do get a chance to sit and wade through the poor grammar and popularist items, I can occasionally find at least one article that gets my attention.Today it took until page 18 before I found something interesting. “Top jobs ‘are kept for rich students’” – an article that claims that more than half of top professional jobs are taken by those who have had an independent education, despite this only accounting for only seven per cent of the population. The reason for this was the useful contacts that independent students make at school, and that this could be counteracted somewhat by professionals and university students mentoring young people. There are a few reactions I have to the claims in this article.

Firstly, if only seven percent of the population are independently educated, and apparently about 20% of adults hold a university degree, then should we not get the independently educated university students to mentor these young people (since they are the ones more likely to gain the top jobs)?

Secondly, there seems to be no mention in this article of the government’s abolition of university grants. Surely this contributes more to students from a poorer background being unable to afford to go to university (incidentally, I went through the private system on the assisted place scheme before anyone accuses me of speaking from my wealthy high horse).

What struck me most about this article was the part ignorance, part arrogance and part sweeping generalisation of its comments. As far as I know, the “old school ties” mentality in high powered firms has almost vanished. Certainly, so I am told, an incompetent holding a position of serious responsibility is either very rare, or very quickly found out nowadays (I have no doubt I will get some response from that statement). I am sure that nepotism or “giving a leg up” to a friend is still very common place, but I doubt that the “contacts” network is not as prevalent as the author of this article might think. Whilst I do think that contacts do help, there are a number of other factors. Chiefly amongst these is my observation that the best private schools breed confidence (the worst breed arrogance, but that can be expanded on another day), and this carries people through interviews, social gatherings, and making first impressions in many other arenas. When helping a friend apply for the position of finance officer in a large social society, she was surprised when I told her to thank me when she got herself a top city job. It was not the request (which was clearly made flippantly), it was that she had not thought that the excellent degree course she was taking would lead to a top city job. From a state school background, she had not thought that far ahead. A privately educated student would not just have thought of this eventuality, but expected it.
Debatably, other things that private schools breed into students, on the whole, better than state schools (and this is a generalisation) are things like public speaking, expectations, manners, posture, dress, interview technique, extra-curricular diversity, and a number of other small touches that add to the marketability of a young adult making their way in the big world... but that’s just the opinion of a public school snob from a poor family.