Mean Teachers

Recently I heard a young student say to a teacher, “Kids say that you are mean.”   Thankfully this teacher was mature enough to not even be upset.

This student was using “mean” in the terms of “causing trouble or being a bother” as if this teacher gets joy out of harassing and giving students a difficult time.

What this student did not realize is that the teacher recognizes their responsibility to educate and that to fulfill their responsibility of education the students need to be disciplined.  Therefore, when a child is acting in such a way as to disrupt their own education and the education of the other children in the classroom a loving and concerned teacher will deal with this and bring consequences into the life of that student so that they hopefully learn to be disciplined in their life so that they and those around them can receive an education.

Whether or not they realize it teachers with this view of discipline are actually reflecting the loving character of Jesus Christ.  In Rev. 3:19 in speaking to the Laodiceans Jesus said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.”  (cf. Hebrews 12:5-6)

Parents are given many challenges in Proverbs in how to discipline their children.

-      Prov. 29:17 “Correct thy son, and he shall give you rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

-      Prov. 23:13 “Withhold not correction from the child”

-      Prov. 29:15 “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

-      Prov. 29:18 “Discipline your son while there is hope, and do not desire his death.”

-      Proverbs 13:24 (NKJV) ²⁴He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Unfortunately, if children like the one above are allowed to be the focus of the home and they are seldom if ever disciplined they will not realize their teachers’ actions as loving.  (Note: Discipline is giving loving consequences to an action to bring about God honoring behavior.  This differs from punishment – which is simply “payback” for a behavior.)  Therefore, if we as parents choose to hand over our God given right and responsibility to the government and our local schools, we must realize that we are asking these teachers to act “in loco parentis” that is “in the place of the parents”.  We should then expect them to be disciplining and training our children so that they can receive the best education possible.

In recognizing this we as parents out of love for our children, the other children in our community, and our teachers would do great help if besides just teaching numbers and the ABC’s to our children before they enter school we will also discipline and build character in their lives.   Every young person entering preschool should understand terms such as lie and obey and they should be disciplined and trained to consistently respond the first time they are told to do something.  When we get back to these ideals we will have a bunch of teachers who are less stressed and who can do a better job of teaching our children because they will spend less time training and disciplining our children what we should have already taught them.

In closing let me say thank you to the many teachers who are “mean” in the manner explained above.  Thank you for coming along side of us as parents to help educate our children, because no matter how good of job we do as parents we recognize that all people, including our kids, are sinners and will occasionally need a “mean” teacher!

The Just Shall Live By Faith - Habbakuk and Romans

Paul’s theme to the book of Romans is stated in 1:17 in the line, “The Just shall live by faith.”  Today this line resonates in the hearts of evangelical believers some nearly 500 years after the Spirit regenerated Martin Luther while he was in the privy and studying the book of Romans.  Indeed this short line rocked the world some nearly 1500 years after Paul wrote it in his epistle to the Romans.  But the fact of the matter is that Paul was merely quoting words penned some nearly 500 years before he was even born.  He was quoting Habakkuk 2:4 which is evident when he wrote, “As it is written.”  In order to understand better what Paul was trying to convey in the book of Romans we would do well to have some understanding of the book of Habakkuk. 

Habakkuk lived in that perilous time after Israel had fallen, and Judah was a weak nation far from the Lord.  Indeed, he was a contemporary of Jeremiah; however, whereas Jeremiah focused more on the people repenting Habakkuk focused more God’s apparent reluctance to judge his people.   He pleads in chapter 1 for God to intervene and stop the destruction, violence, and complete disregard of godliness, and God answers that Habakkuk will not be waiting long for his answer.  The Babylonians (Chaldeans) would soon charge through as the chastening hand of God.  The idea of the Babylonians, an even more vile nation than Judah, being the chastening hand of God was utterly repugnant to Habakkuk who stated such in the rest of chapter 1.   After he had made his case to God in 2:1 Habakkuk says, “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what he will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved.” (NASB). 

Well answer God did, and part of the answer was in 2:4 when he said to Habakkuk “The just shall live by faith” or “his faithfulness.”   The victory of the wicked would be short lived, to be sure.  One may argue that this doesn’t seem like much of an answer, but indeed Habakkuk’s perspective changed dramatically.  We get to see his answer in chapter 3, and the final verses are some of the most encouraging of all verses in scripture.  Habakkuk 3:16-19 (NASB)

¹⁶ I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

   For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

To be sure, the whole world could fall apart and Habakkuk’s resolve to serve the Lord had only been steeled. 

 May we all show the faith of Habakkuk.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/users/churchoflittleton FW # 65

Acknowledge God's Discipline

Proverbs 3:11–12 (NKJV) ¹¹My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; ¹²For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

The fourth principle we see in Proverbs 3 as we begin this New Year is “Acknowledge God’s Discipline.”  The writer begins verse 11 saying “do not despise the chastening of the Lord.”  God’s chastening was part of the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:14 (NKJV) ¹⁴I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. For those he loved if they departed from God’s ways and walked in iniquity they would be chastened even the king.  The challenge goes on to not “detest correction.”  It may be important here to remember the difference between discipline and punishment.  Discipline or correction desires to bring back to the proper behavior and fellowship.  Punishment on the other hand is payback for what was done wrong. 

Discipline or correction is a sign of God’s love just as it is a sign of a Father’s love.   Proverbs 13:24 (ESV) ²⁴Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. So rather than despising God’s discipline and correction we can be thankful for it rather than like a fool who “despises his father’s instruction” (Prov. 15:5; cf. Prov. 12:1; 13:18; Prov. 29:17).

Just as some children foolishly resist parental discipline, we are warned not to ‘reject the discipline of the Lord, or loathe his reproof’ (v. 11). Some professing Christians become bitter and even angry with God when they endure physical and emotional pain. Others are tempted to despair, wallowing in their misery. Instead, we should remember that we are children in whom our heavenly Father delights (v. 12b) and that he is sovereignly allowing us to suffer because he loves us (13:24). Thank God that he cares enough about us to discipline us as a father and doesn’t let us get away with much for long. Unlike that of our earthly fathers, God’s discipline is perfect (Heb. 12:9–10), which means that you can be sure that every trial that comes into your life is perfectly designed by your heavenly Father for your benefit. It has been said, ‘He will melt you in his furnace that he may stamp you with his image.’ The psalmist states, ‘Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word’ (Ps. 119:67).^[1]

The promise that comes with this principle is that God’s love brings maturity.  We are promised that we are being conformed to the image of Christ! (Rom. 8:29)

  May we all respond quickly and correctly to God’s discipline and correction.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton  FW # 60

---

^[1] Jim Newheiser, Opening Up Proverbs (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2008), 64-65.