Never Be Suprised by the Sins of God's People

In the years I have been involved in Christian education, parents who are interested in enrolling their child(ren) want to know what makes a Christian school different than a non-Christian school (public or private). One issue that is prominent on parents' minds, and rightly so, is the environment of the school. Some parents are bringing their kids from other school settings where kids had to face a variety of behavioral issues. Parents want to know if they can expect something different at XYZ Christian Academy.

The question might go something like, "What are the kids in your Christian school capable of doing?" Besides bristling just a tad over the use of the possessive pronoun, I understand the question (and this was exactly how one parent asked it a few years ago). Parents want their kids to be safe, and when they enroll them in a Christian school, they expect that there will be something different about the school environment that will assure them that their kids will indeed be safe. A Christian school should have Christian kids acting in a Christian way. Not unreasonable.

But I have to be honest. Kids at a Christian school are capable of doing anything kids at a non-Christian school are capable of doing. Parents are usually taken aback by this, but the fact is that all children, Christian or not, bring with them original sin, and wherever they are, there they are, sinful nature and all. Finding students without original sin is not part of the application process.

It reminds me of when I was a student intern my first summer of seminary. Coming from my (then) neo-Puritan perspective that Christians should live lives of exceptional holiness, I was often frustrated (really, I was just being arrogant while ignoring my own sins) by what I saw happening in Christian households. My pastoral mentor, Paul Ipema, would often have to remind me of something he was told by one of his mentors when he was in seminary - never be surprised at the sins of God's people. If the Apostle Paul could call the Corinthian Christians "saints" and then go on to rebuke them for a man "having his father's wife" (1 Cor. 5:1), then it shouldn't surprise us to find even Christians struggling with the deepest of sins. I have tried to take that to heart ever since. Quite frankly, I have had to expand that principle to read - never be surprised at my own sins. I've done some doozies.

So, then, what's the difference between a Christian and non-Christian school in this regard? The difference is not that Christian kids don't do things in accordance with their fallen nature. The difference is that we respond by seeking to apply a redemptive gospel. It's not that things won't happen. It's what we do with what happens.

So, instead of behavior management (manipulating behavior long enough to get the lesson plan finished), we ask, "How does the gospel apply to this situation?" What sin needs to be confessed? What forgiveness needs to be extended? What should characterize a relationship where sin has been confessed and forgiveness extended? These are the things that have priority.

It means that discipleship takes time. We can spend a mere two minutes telling kids to "knock it off" when they do something wrong. Or we could spend time talking with students, and having students talk to each other, in an effort to live redemptively.

Parents sometimes get defensive when the sins of their children (and the sins of their household) come on display. It's okay. You shouldn't be surprised at the sins of God's people.