Editor's Note
Derek J. Keenan, EdD
Vice President, Academic Affairs, ACSI
What could you do if you had children in your presence for 10,000 hours? K–12 schools have more than 10,000 hours with students. During those hours, there will be many teachable moments of the heart! They happen in every school. A teachable moment of the heart is an occasion when a student opens the door to being taught, mentored, or affirmed regarding a belief. These moments may come out of a question such as, “How do we know that is true?” They may come from a question that arises out of a family issue or a circumstance at school. These are discipleship moments, and as Christian school educators we should see these as opportunities to deepen our students’ faith commitments.
We have opportunities for great impact on the lives of students. In the Christian school, that impact, in a global sense, should always include our heeding the responsibility to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The instilling of love for God and love for others is inherent in authentic Christian schooling. This statement is not at all a diminution of sound academics and the development of intellectually skilled youngsters. Quite the opposite, in fact! If we truly grasp the Great Commandment (see Greg Carmer’s article in this issue), we understand that study—all study—can and should be done to the glory of God. Carl Henry addressed this issue: “Training the mind is an essential responsibility of the home, the church, and the school. Unless evangelicals prod young people to disciplined thinking, they waste—even undermine one of Christianity’s most precious resources” (1984).
When a young person presents a teachable moment of the heart, teachers’ own hearts need to be prepared to respond. Morning devotional times for staff should help prepare the staff for the day’s discipleship opportunities, which show up at any time and in any class or activity. It is easy in the press of the classroom schedule, the curriculum, the activities, the content, and the interruptions to miss or dismiss these opportunities.
For those in the world of co-curricular activities, the relational context often provides for both incidental and intentional mentoring. A golf coach who demonstrated that to me had the spirit of a discipler. On road trips to matches, back in the days when a nine-passenger station wagon was legal student transportation, he would rotate who sat in the front seat with him. He used that time to just talk, and at times to probe and to build relationships. Many of us as parents have discovered that traveling in a vehicle provides a great communicative setting with young people. There is no required eye contact, and yet there is proximity. Dialogue can easily build from the superficial and inconsequential to serious, thought-provoking topics—heart-level topics. This is the opportunity for what Francis Schaeffer called “honest answers, observable love” (1970, 16).
Observable love is an essential ingredient of building relational capital. Relational capital is that value between people that carries deep communication. Students are attracted to acceptance and the absence of rejection. Young children, in general, have an inherent level of trust and respect for their teachers, but as they mature they are typically more reserved and often fickle in their level of confidence in adults. The teacher who is committed to discipleship is a master builder of relationships.
As Christian school educators, we have lives marked by much sacrificial investment. We expend great amounts of time in and out of the classroom to invest in students. In many cases, we sacrifice financially for the good of the school and its families. We often expend our personal resources to grow professionally. These are God-honoring investments, and only in glory will we see the rich rewards.
Yet in all these investments, we must let God lead us, and, in turn, we must actively engage in leading others. Oh yes, we can lead students in literature and mathematics, and we can lead them in science and social studies, but our leadership in the academic disciplines is of little value unless we do all that academic and intellectual leading within the framework of loving God with heart, soul, and mind and loving others as we love ourselves. Here is the great 10,000-hour question: has the time these children spent in my presence furthered their heart education?
References
Henry, Carl. 1984. The Christian mindset in a secular culture. Portland, OR: Multnomah:145–46. Quoted in J. P. Moreland, Love your God with all your mind: The role of reason in the life of the soul (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1997), 28.
Schaeffer, Francis A. 1970. The mark of the Christian. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Editor's Note 12.3