A Christian School Has a Rare Christian Moment

For my Theories of Learning class we were to give a presentation, about ourselves, that could be explained using one of the theories.  I decided that I would use a social learning theory described by Lev Vygotsky.  The theory, very basically, states that we learn behavior from a More Knowledgeable Other and that we use scaffolding (becoming a part of a culture by passing through a series of levels-accomplishments).  

I decided that I would use my growth in Christ as my example.  My presentation was aptly titled A Social Analysis of Religious Growth.  I took points from the theory and applied them on how I became acculturated in Christianity, which is a very specific culture.  Now, mind you, I attend a prestigious, private Christian university in Houston, so I was not prepared for the reactions that I received. 

I went through my whole presentation, which was to be six or less PowerPoint slides.  By slide two there seemed to be a heaviness that settled on the classroom.  My mouth became dry from nerves, but I forged on.  I talked about symbols, language, and levels of growth in Christianity.  I also talked about my spiritual authority, which in this theory is known as the More Knowledgeable Other.  The Professor fully expected a question and answer session at the end of each student’s presentation.  Here’s how mine went:

Student 1:  So, do you think that you’ve reached the highest level of maturity (Zone of Proximal Development) for a Christian?

Me:  No, of course not.  Jesus is the ultimate maturity and achieved the highest zone, but I’m still learning and growing.  I don’t think you ever stop growing as a Christian. 

Student 2: What inspired you to grow deeper in your faith?

Me: The place where I was at before.  I was depressed and unhappy.  I would go to church and see that how I lived my life and what church taught didn’t integrate.  I had a powerful experience with God and I knew I had to change. 

In the presentation I included a picture of my mentor (or More Knowledgeable Other) and it was a selfie where I daughter was poking her head between it. It is such a weird (read: funny) picture and I commented on how weird my mentor’s daughter looked.  My professor joked that that wasn’t very Christian to say. I jokingly pointed back that I never said I was sinless.  I used an example from a time when I felt someone at church was receiving opportunities to share their testimony publicly and was not as sanctified as I was.  I shared, in front of the class (scary, right?!?), that I talked about this with my mentor and she gave me a scripture to memorize that helped me combat these feelings of jealousy. 

 

Student 3:  What scripture was that, the one you used?

Me:  I gave him the address to the scripture and explained what the scripture meant to me.  (The scripture was 2 Timothy 2:20-21, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.)

It was amazing to me, that the guy jotted the scripture down.  I have been spiritually “raised up” in a way that incorporates scripture in how I mature, but this seemed foreign to them. 

Professor:  The school is a Christian school, but teaches Psychology.  How do you integrate what you have learned in Psychology with your faith?

Me:  I thought I always wanted to be a Counselor, but the more I grew in my faith, the more that changed.  I think that Psychology has value, but is full of Theories.  Why would I want to point someone to a theory, when I can point them towards Truth?  Psychology is important, but we have to be careful how we assimilate both of those two things together. 

A couple of other people asked me questions that I can’t particularly remember.  However, all in all this was an interesting experience.  The heaviness that filled the room was curious to me, especially at a Christian university.  I saw several heads nod, with the realization that God had allowed me to bring something to them that they hadn’t thought about before.  Others stared blankly, because they weren’t invested in any presentation.  While others, met my eye contact with offended looks. 

                It startled me that an open confession of faith was received in such a polar way at a Christian school.  It made me grateful that I had taken this opportunity to spread the Gospel in a way they didn’t expect.  I hope I gave them a psychological perspective on Truth. Maybe that will appeal to some of the logical brains. 

Side note:  I talked to the guy who jotted the scripture down after class.  He said that he was living on campus and found that he wanted to be involved in ministry, but felt that the behaviors he saw in the dorm were not Christian.  He said, I want to do ministry, but I don’t want to do it alone.  My response was the Jesus ministered alone.  He said that Jesus had disciples, then paused and said…I guess I could make disciples.  His face kind of fell again, when he announced that he would be leaving after this semester to go study elsewhere, so why bother.  I pointed out that Jesus made disciples, because He knew He would eventually leave too.  He followed up with a sheepish smile. 

God is good!

Know Your Rights in Christ

What are our rights in Christ?  I think most of the time we think of things like love, joy, peace, etc., but the Bible says that these things are fruit, not a right.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here.”  (NIV)  The NKJV says that if anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creation and old things have passed away, all things have become new.  Passed away, what does this imply?  Well, when my grandmother was deceased, we said she “passed away.”  Using the term passed away didn’t make her any less deceased, but softened the finality of her death.  In this way, being new in Christ, the finality should be expressed.  We are dead to the world and have been made new in Christ.  We are a new creation.  All the sins of our past are buried with Christ in the tomb.  But, Christ did not stay buried.  He was resurrected and so this new creation is resurrected with Him, when we accept Him in to our hearts, to be the Lord of our life.  

Many people have a revelation of the burial.  They were aware that the old has passed away, but they don’t have a revelation of the resurrection.  When Jesus was on earth, he traveled, healed the sick, preached the Gospel.  Once He was resurrected, he did a NEW THING, he ascended to Heaven, and so a promise could be fulfilled.  He didn’t try and stay and do the SAME THING he had been doing.  Jesus realized that the old had passed away, it was dead.  He was alive and new.  He must do new things.  Once we are resurrected, we must as believers also do new things.  We shift our focus to the new things in Christ. 

 

But, what if we continue to live a life focused on the old things?  What if our thoughts are dominated by our past?  Many of us have a revelation of the Cross, but haven’t the revelation of the resurrection.  We focus on the things that are supposed to be DEAD! 

In John 11 the story of Lazarus is told.  Lazarus had fallen ill and died.  Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus that their brother was ill, but by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was dead and had been laid in a tomb four days.  John 11:41 says that Jesus lifted his eyes to Heaven and thanked the Father for hearing Him.  He then called for Lazarus to come forth.  John 11:44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.

Today, if Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he would be wearing his Sunday best suit.  He would come back looking ready for church, but in Jesus’ time bodies were wrapped in cloth or shrouds.  Therefore, when Lazarus emerged from the tomb, he was bound in cloth.  Jesus instructed the disciples to go and LOOSE him and let him go!  

The graveclothes are a symbol of death.  Lazarus emerged from the tomb wrapped in death.  He was wrapped in the past.  He was no longer dead, but needed help loosing himself from the bondage of death.  Jesus did not run to him and strip away the graveclothes, but sent his disciples to do it for Him.  Jesus knew that as a new creation, Lazarus could not walk around in death.  How many times do we do this once we have been resurrected in Christ?  We are a new creation, but still walk around BOUND by the death that Christ has set us free from?  Just as Jesus sent the disciples to loose Lazarus from his graveclothes, so do our mentors, teachers, pastors, spiritual authorities help us loose the bondage of living in the past from our lives.  If we are truly a new creation, then we must produce something new.  We cannot produce anything new wrapped in a shroud of death (the past).  In Christ we are buried, and then we are resurrected to a new life.  New life, new focus. 

 

We should value the Cross, the death, but we must also value the Resurrection.  This is the new life that we have in Christ.  Old things have passed away, what are you doing that’s new? What spiritual authority is helping you pull off those graveclothes?

This is our right in Christ.