I’m back in Fayetteville this week on “spring” break, though there is nothing particularly spring-like about the weather of the past couple of days. With a little downtime on my hands, I thought I would update my blog. In part, this is prompted by a remark from my brother today, who said that he was going to be removing dead links from his blog, and threatened to remove mine, since it has been so long since I have posted.
Although it has heretofore gone unremarked on my blog, I am now teaching history at Harding University. This is not entirely unconnected to the fact that I have not been posting; teaching four classes — with a total of about 180 students in them — does keep me pretty busy. But it is a very happy kind of busy.
Several months ago, during a dark time, I complained that youth ministry seemed like an unwinnable battle. As a teacher at a Christian college, I actually feel like I’m in the same war, against the same enemy. But the fight no longer seems unwinnable — perhaps a bit like the difference between being in the Polish cavalry in 1939, and the 1st Polish Armoured Division in 1944.
2 comments:
What changed to make this "war" more winnable?
To take the metaphor just a step further, we must distinguish between wars and battles. The ultimate war is winnable — really, is already won — because because Christ wins it. I take much comfort in the description of the Warrior Christ in Revelation 19.11-16.
But even if the ultimate outcome of the war is determined, individual battles may be won or lost. One of the reasons that the "battle" of being a teacher at Harding seems more winnable than the "battle" of being a youth minister is terrain. It seems to me that the average Harding student tends to have a tender conscience — and be thirstier for righteousness — than the average high school kid at church.
A second reason is role. As a youth minister, I was responsible for being "on the point" in helping kids walk the straight and narrow. Now, my role is one of reinforcement.
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