On Friday, I was officially done with my first year of teaching. One of the benefits of being a teacher is, when students are on break, teachers are too. Am I happy about that? Foorr sure. Since I went through the school system for most of my life, I'd say that I'm pretty accustomed to having 1-3 week long breaks scattered in the year. Anyways, during grad school, I took this class called Fostering Spiritual Growth, and I'll never forget the experience I had when the teacher required us to go on a personal retreat with God. No phone. No computer. Just a Bible, a devotional book, some food and personal hygiene items.
1) Know yourself before you try to lead others to know themselves I have had countless opportunities every day to help a teenager know themselves better, and I realized that I can only do this effectively if I am able to be honest with how I came to this knowledge myself. There were moments when I would be talking, and a personal story would pop up in my mind. In that moment, I would always have the choice as to whether I was comfortable enough to be real with my class. The answer at the time is a no brainer, of course, I should be vulnerable (to a certain extent) with my students. But I didn't really think about the impact it had until now, meaning, I wonder how different my class would be if I neglected to show that the subject-matter was not only relevant to them, but also to me as well.
What if the experts helped young people become the experts themselves? And not always treating them as the ones who need help (while recognizing that they actually do need our help)? I remember scoping out, at the beginning of the school year, who had the most influence among the student body. I noticed that the spiritual life of our school was completely de-prioritized, for instance, several students often told me that they were used to showing up Friday morning for chapel and plan a program right then and there! After hearing this, I began organizing a school praise team, and asked every person who wanted to be a part of the team to practice with me every week for approximately an hour. What difference did it make? A lot. Trust me. By mid-year, I couldn't believe how in-sync our praise team sounded, and by the end of the year, we had churches asking us to come lead worship. The members of the praise team were becoming more and more confident singing and playing up front, and they began to cherish the moments when they experienced the Holy Spirit move during our worship sessions. I know that I love worship music (this is a fact), and it's when I embraced the calling to train others to also do worship well, I then became effective in helping see that they, too, had the same passion in them. I think too often, spiritual leaders spoon feed youth, rather than provide them with the tools to be strong leaders. 2) You have to be a good follower before being a good leader The superintendent of our conference came to one of our faculty meetings towards the end of the year, and said to all the teachers, "You are all youth pastors." That stuck with me because I really resonated with that statement. It was the biggest reason, in my opinion, that differentiated Christian schools from the public school system. Every day when we (teachers and staff) walked into the school, it was more than a 8-5 job. In my class, each morning, I randomly allow the students to choose someone to pray (using popsicle sticks with their names on them). Before doing that, I ask them if they have any special prayer requests. Somedays, there are only a couple of requests on the board, but other days, I run out of space because there are too many prayer requests! When I ask myself why I took the time to do that, I realize that it doesn't only convey that God cares about what's going on in their lives, but that I, their Chaplain, also care enough to ask what they're worried about. See, when I was in high school, the teachers and staff who had the most impact on me were the ones who thought it was important enough to take the time to ask me how I was really doing. I knew, even at a young age, that it wasn't about how much you made, or how many people you knew, but in the end, it all came down to what you do with what you've been given, and how much you care about those around you. The love that I am able to show my students is a direct result of the love that I've been shown by my family, friends, and those who have influenced me in a positive way. 3) People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care There was this one time after I had just finished teaching Sophomore Religion class, and my Junior Religion class was about to start soon. I was sitting in front of the classroom, on my phone, as the students starting piling into their seats. I was on my phone either texting or checking social media, and in my peripheral, I noticed a student doing something that I have told him not to do before. I then realized it's time to get off my phone, start class, so I address the issue immediately by telling the student to stop what he was doing. I waited there for a second and saw that he didn't do it yet, so I got his attention again (which escalated the situation). When I asked him why he wasn't doing what I asked, his response was, "I was going to stop, but since you said something again right after, I don't want to." Why was I so annoyed by his actions? Was I that irritated by him leaning back in his chair or was I more mad that he was interrupting me when I was trying to get a mental break? The more I reflected about that situation, I learned another very important lesson about teaching; how you start a class can determine how a class will end. In his book, Your First Year, by Todd Whitaker, the author suggests that instead of being occupied with something else when your students walk into the classroom, start on a positive note by greeting them at the door or have a bell activity ready for them to do as soon as they're in.
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Over the years, I've read numerous books on the should and should nots of relationships, but recently have found myself realizing that there's something these books cannot teach. At some point, somebody in the friendship has to muster up the courage and take the risk of bringing it to the next level. While the idea of doing that with a friend may seem pretty daunting because of what can be lost if things go south, many make the choice to pursue a relationship with someone they already know because the chances of succeeding in this area of life are higher with a friend than a stranger. Why do I believe this? Well, there was this one time, when I asked a stranger at a coffee shop to watch my stuff while I went to the bathroom, and then upon returning sparked up a conversation. Eventually, I was exchanging contact info with a girl I just met, barely scratching the surface on who she was, and I ended up going on several dates with this person. The more I got to know this person in the context of dating, I didn't realize until later, that even though she was from a completely different culture, did not share the same faith, and had ambitions that I was not completely on board with, it did not prevent me from continuning to date her! See, the reason why I think it's important for me to share this story from my life is because deep inside, I'd like to believe that my mistake then was a result of lack of opportunity. I mean, seriously, what would have driven me to seek dating outside the church? Was it because a lot of the Adventist girls I came across at churches were too secular for me? Or was I afraid that if I asked someone out on a date people would immediately start spreading rumors about it? The more I got to know this person in the context of dating, I didn't realize until later, that even though she was from a completely different culture, did not share the same faith, and had ambitions that I was not completely on board with, it did not prevent me from continuning to date her! Whatever the reason may have been, you are most likely wondering (if you've made it this far), so what did you learn from that experience? I'm glad you asked. There were certain values in the areas of faith, culture, and career, which I stood behind and did not think I would compromise them under any circumstances. But what I learned from that relationship (with someone who differed on all three) is that instead of always praying for the right one to magically walk into your life, try asking God to shape and prepare you for the one you're looking for. I hope that makes sense, because the prayers we pray when we ask God for Mr/Ms right, honestly, oftentimes, sound selfish.
This past week, I talked to my freshman and seniors about Faith. What it is, where it comes from, and what it can do. One of the interesting topics of discussion in the curriculum had to do with whether belief, trust, and faith were either the same or different. I had each of the students define faith based on what they knew in class, and then had them go home and Google search other definitions of faith. The following day, each student would share their favorite definition based on their search. Most of them described faith as believing in something you can't see (Heb. 11:1), but a few went beyond to say that faith is believing, despite knowing the outcome. Now we were getting somewhere. C.S. Lewis talked about faith in this way, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
The image you're looking at above here is a simple way to describe these three interchangeable words. If you notice on the lowest stair, we have belief. Now, think of as many words you would associate with the word, belief; words, such as, doctrines, morals, knowledge, Bible study, etc. In other words, belief is the first step in the process of receiving faith that is grounded. Once an individual invests in becoming familiar with a set of beliefs, trust is developed with something or someOne. The second step in the process of receiving faith involves trust. This is where a relationship is developed, and is essential before faith can happen. It is at this point that I had one of my students stand next to a chair, and I would ask them the following questions:
Faith then becomes the process of committing the act. To put it simply, faith is an action.
After completing my first week of teaching in the Adventist school context, there are several things that I have noticed which has changed about my life. First, I never thought of myself as a morning person, because I remember whenever I had to go to school or church as a kid, I always wished that I had more time to press the snooze button (or just tell my mom, "5 more minutes!"). But I noticed something different about me this week, in that I began sensing this feeling of anticipation towards waking up in the morning; spending time with Jesus, and making or getting breakfast before I have to get to work. This actually made me think a lot, because I was really curious as to what was creating such a positive change in me. Second, it's safe to say that years before I went to seminary, I had this desire to serve God through ministry, but particularly in the area of school chaplaincy. I was once told by a wise preacher named, Keith Gray, that school chaplaincy (he was talking about college) was analogous to the NBA draft. In other words, not a large percentage of pastors often get the opportunity to serve in that field of work. While it did cause me to think that my chances probably weren't high (as a young college student) to achieve that, it certainly became one of my goals. Because in my mind, if you choose to allow yourself to be consumed by one thing, eventually that which you desire will become reality. Thirdly, when I saw the title Chaplain under my name this past week, it made me realize that the One who prepares you for the work He has called you to, will open the right door at the right time for you to walk right through. In the process of becoming who I am today, I've become more aware of what I don't do, rather than what I do on this journey of being transformed in the likeness of Jesus. The One who prepares you for the work He has called you to, will open the right door at the right time for you to walk right through. Before I let you go, I'd like to share with you something that happened to me during our school's overnight Get-acquainted camping trip. It was only the second day of school and since there aren't a ton of students, we took everyone camping to start the school year on a positive note. I barely knew them since I was new, so this opportunity was gold to me. Throughout the course of the day, when spending time with the class who I am a sponsor of, and just letting the students see the side of me when I "put my hair down," I felt so many walls that would've taken weeks or months to break being broken in a matter of hours. The moment I became aware of that, it was as if God was trying to tell me that I needed to trust and rely on Him more throughout this new chapter in my life, because He was entrusting me with so much.
The last time I owned a blog was back in the Xanga days, which existed before Tumblr, Wordpress, or any current social blogging website. I told myself that if I was going to start another blog, it would have to be for real. Well, I believe that time has finally arrived. During my last year in the seminary, I started wondering what my blog would be called. I wanted it to represent me accurately, so that later I wouldn't want to change the name. It came down to the following names:
If you think about it, the word "Theology" and "Kimchi" have something in common. People either like it or they don't. See, every month, I have to give devotionals for the faculty at my school, so I thought it'd be a good idea to start a blog with the intention of writing devotions with teachers in mind. Of course, you don't have to be a teacher to read it, but that was kind of the motive behind getting this whole thing started. Thanks for sticking around, and stay tuned for more posts!
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AuthorAndrew S. Lee, MDiv Archives
June 2017
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