Why I Became a Teacher pt 3

 The third reason I and many other people went into teaching I thought was the most common reason. Turns out, especially in secondary education, it is not, it is the first two. The third reason is more common in primary grades. The reason is simple, we love being with our students. Teaching, guiding, helping, and supporting students is really what drew me first to youth ministry and later to teaching. Young people and students are incredible, and they are capable of great things. Even the ones who give you a hard time can be really amazing.

This really hit me when I became a dad. As a dad, I had my kids around all the time, and I loved how incredible they were. My kids are grown, and my youngest graduated high school in a few weeks. As a teacher, I don't have the same role with my students as I do as dad, obviously, but I get to play the role of guide in aspects of their lives. I am able to invest in their futures and help them become more successful.

Students and young people today are being abandoned. They are left to be raised by technology. Parents, guardians, and caregivers are not teaching kids at home like the once did. It seems that daily I see a post on social media about "things they should teach in school" which demonstrates that parents aren't teaching kids at home anymore. Kids need school and teachers who care now more than ever. Without teachers who care, students are more and more being raised by smartphones. They are learning life lessons from tictok and not a caring adult in their lives.

I care about students because I had teachers and adults who cared about me. I was invested in, and now as a result I am paying it forward. We need people who care about what happens to this generation, we have way too many people who are just concerned about themselves. We need to invest in the future, and that means investing in students.

The struggle I have is that I get frustrated when I care more about student success than students do. I get frustrated with parents, and I get frustrated with our society when they abandon our students. I get irritated when I see social media posts that continue to pass off the raising of students and kids to the schools and the outsourcing of parental responsibility. It can be difficult to remain a detached, uninvolved individual.

Why I Became a Teacher Pt 2

 In my last post, we talked about reason number one, that people just love teaching. Some people just love to teach and naturally are drawn to teaching. Today, I want to look at reason number two that individuals become teachers. Especially in Secondary Education (7th-12th grade) and post-high school, it can be for a love of the subject matter. Some people really love a subject and want to spend their life engaged in that subject. Elementary teachers usually don't have this strong desire, because they teach all subjects. As an English teacher, I think literature is the most important subject. You can see a previous blog post about why I think literature is important. If you find a math teacher, they are going to say things like "Math is the language of the universe". That is an actual quote from a friend of mine who of course taught math.

People teach a subject because they obviously love that subject. They are good at it, they believe in it, and they want other people to know and love it. Those who teach because they love a subject and sometimes struggle with people who don't love that subject. If a student says that literature is not important and reading is boring and stupid, I am aghast. I struggle with the belief that my students don't see the value in what I'm doing, because of course, it makes sense. Naturally, we all assume that people should have the think patterns of thought and logic that we do. When they don't, it causes us to have some discomfort and cognitive dissidence. We can see how things fit and struggle when they don't.

Teachers who love subjects are really passionate about subjects, but sometimes we don't explain them as well as we should. It makes sense to us, we understand the subject. We sometimes gloss over the subject because, for us, it clicks. If it doesn't click for a student, they can feel like we are a bad teacher. They struggle to understand and we struggle to understand why. Students need to have an understanding and basic education in all subjects, so be patient with those of us who think what we teach is the most important.

Literature is the most important.

Why People Become Teachers Part 1

 Today is the 1st of May, so I wanted to reflect on my journey. May is not only the last month of school, but also Teacher Appreciation Week is the 2nd week of May. Ending the school year and celebrating teachers, I wanted to focus on teaching for a moment. Normally my blog is focused on things of faith and theology, but I wanted to look at my other career for a minute. Let's talk about teachers. I find that people become teachers for 3 reasons. It can be one or more of these reasons, but you will discover every teacher has at least one of these reasons.

The first reason is, people become teachers because they love to teach. Some people find that teaching is just a default mode. When I began working in churches, I loved examining and explaining aspects of faith. I loved to learn about the Bible and then share what I learned with others. I loved the entire process. I didn't choose to teach, I just taught.

Some people are just natural teachers, it is how they are wired. The way information is processed, I don't really feel comfortable with something until I can tell someone else about it. I want to be able to understand something well enough to explain it to another person. I naturally became better at this process through teacher training and education, but teaching is just who I am. It is almost in the way I process information.

Some individuals go into the profession because it is just who the are. I was often told I would be a great teacher before I became a teacher. When I worked in other jobs, I found myself teaching. When I worked at a manufacturing plant, I was drawn to training and instruction. When I worked in wildlife, I found myself teaching homeowners about the wildlife that was causing the nuisance and how to deal with or mitigate it. I just taught.

In my life, I have loved teaching Sunday School. When I preach, teaching is more of my default style. Passing along knowledge and understanding is key to how I communicate. I find that even my storytelling is didactic. This leaves me with a few weak points. First off, those of us who are natural teachers can seem condescending when we are talking to people. My natural inclination is to teach, and in doing so I sometimes give too much detail or background. Naturally, people can feel like I assume they don't know anything. It can be off-putting to feel like an individual is talking to you like you are a student, and I don't mean to do it. I try to not assume a teacher role when I am just in casual conversation.

Some people are just wired as teachers. Paul says that God gave some to be teachers, so those who are in Christ may have the added spiritual gift to teach. It may require others to be patient with us, as we don't mean to be in teaching mode all the time, we just don't know any better. A teacher is more than what I do, it really is who I am in a very real way.

Don't Get Theology from Tiktok

 I enjoy TikTok, and I have made some videos, mostly on car stuff. I tend not to get too theological on TikTok. I do enjoy some content by some Christian creators on TikTok, but I have seen a lot of bad theology. I have seen some really, really bad theology on TikTok. I have come to one conclusion, Tiktok is not the place to establish your theology.

Here is the issue when we give everyone a platform. People will find some rare, obscure interpretation or theory or idea and then go on like they have the keys to the universe. They are going to show up and teach you something that no one has taught you. It is basically the theological equivalent of a conspiracy theory. They will pull some obscure references from a single translation, work some mental gymnastics, and tell you something "new".

Let's be honest, it's not new. Heresies began before the New Testament was complete. Judiaser, Gnotics, and Nicolatians all show up in the New Testament. Arianism, Antinomianism, and syncretism all appeared shortly after. Any time there is truth, someone will distort it for their own purposes. On TikTok, that purpose is usually to get views. They will call themselves "experts" or "scholars" and will often seek to debate others by chopping at logic focusing on individual trees and ignoring the forest.

The scripture is an interconnected book, and the 66 individual books need to be taken as a whole. Taking a part from a passage to make a point is a horrible way to do exegesis. We use the Bible to interpret the Bible, and pulling one verse or part of a verse out of a passage and using it as proof is what we call "proof-texting". It is exactly the same thing as finding a speech and taking a sound bite out as a "gotcha" moment. It is theologically inconsistent, logically flawed, and deceptive as best.

Remember, TikTok exists for entertainment. It does not replace church, study, or legitimate books, study aids, and commentaries. There are 2,000 years of Christian history filled with individuals looking for the truth. If someone shows up on TikTok who can "prove" or "disprove" based on some interpretation they pulled out of nowhere, they are just another in the long list of heretical false teachers who are looking to lead God's people astray. Don't fall for it!

Do We Get "He Gets Us"

 It has taken me a while to reply to the criticism of the "He Gets Us" commercial from the latest Super Bowl. In the video, it shows people washing the feet of individuals from different lifestyles. Some of the individuals were homeless or down and out, but others were involved in alternative lifestyles. The commerial ended that Jesus taught His disciples to wash feet, He didn't teach hate.

Several individuals have reacted strongly to the commercial, saying that Jesus does not condone sin. I want to unpack what I think this commerical is about, and then how we have missed the bus bigtime.

First, what is washing feet? Jesus washed the feet as a act of service. Washing feet is serving people. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, but those men all blew it that night. They betrayed, they abandoned, they denied. Jesus served humanity ultimately when He died on the cross. He died for us while we were still sinners.

Here is the bigger issue and where I think we missed it. People who are not Christians are spiritually dead. They cannot follow Jesus, they cannot act right, they cannot please God. They are dead. The only hope they have is to be born again. They don't do this by self effort, by living right, but not being part of an alternative lifestyle. They do this because Jesus loves them, died for them and rose again. They are saved when the power of the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin. They turn to Christ in faith and trust Christ. They cannot do this on their own, only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we expect people to "deserve" to be served by Christ. We want Jesus to only serve us, and not serve other sinners. Let's be clear, they are sinners, they are breaking God's laws, they are spiritually dead. We can't expect them to act like they are alive, we can't expect them to clean themselves us. They are dead. The Apostles were spiritually dead when He washed their feet. Jesus had not yet died on the cross, the disciples were not filled with the Spirit. They didn't change until after they day of  Pentacost.

Jesus serves sinners. Jesus said you in your sin. In fact, every person who got saved was alienated from God by sin. They are in need of redeption and regeneration. Every single one. To say that Jesus didn't serve someone because of their particular type of sin is a little arrogant. 

Should We Enbrace a Metanarrative

 In the year 2024, it seems that individualism has become king. People are focused on being the hero of their own story, so have we moved beyond the metanarrative? To begin, let me define some terms.

First off, a metanarrative is an overarching story. It is putting individual stories together to form one big story. For our context todat, that is the story of us as people. In our context, it is modern Americans. This is the American story of the American dream. A man grows up, gets an education, gets a job, gets married, buys a house and a car, has a family, works hard, retires, and plays golf. That is the steriotypical American story, repeated over and over it becomes the story of the American dream lived by the American middle class. We add the rags to riches stories, the overcomers, throw in a few heroes and we have America. We combine the stories to tell an overarching story.

The purpose of the metanarrative is to give a national identity. It shows and perpetuates an identity and culture. What does American culture look like? We get them from our stories, and the easiest examples are tv sitcoms. They are family based, from Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best to the Simsons, Family Guy, Even South Park has this American family structure. It all revolves around this basic narrative and function.

In the America of 2024, does that narrative still fit? We still see it, and it is repeated. We are still focused on man finding a wife with shows like The Bacholer. We are focused on achieveing the American dream, success in buisness, building wealth, having a family. We have looked at different professions, differet ideas and methods, but the same core idea. Building a family, having a career, being successful, enjoying retirement. Does that metanarrative still fit?

The question we really need to ask ourselves is one of the most elusive questions. What are we hear for? What is the purpose of man? Is this all there is, or is there more? As time passes, many are dropping the metanarrative of America because it does not fit them. It doesn't fit their desires, their lives, what is happening. Is it the story that needs to change to match society, or does society need to move back towards the story? Is there value in that life? Should it be the desire of a young man to be education, obtain a good career, a wife, a family, a home? Should a young lady strive to be a wife, mom, have a career, get involved in the community? Should we be looking for something else.

We, as a culture, need to ask the questions. Even if we can't answer it, it is time we examine the stories that have been told and the story we are telling now. In the current story making people feel a sense of purpose? Are they fulfilled? Are they happy? Are people today in a better place than they were 20 years ago? 40 years ago? For all our advancement, are we in a better place as individuals, families, and communities? Is our country where it should be? If it is, we need to change the stories to reflect it. If it is not we need to change our communities to reflect the stories that bring the best results for all of us.

Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich

 Today, I talked to some students having a conversation about hot dogs. Is it a sandwich? This is a struggle, because hot dogs don't really fit the image of a sandwich. Several groups have weighted in, but I have come to one starting realization. A hot dog is not a sandwich, it is a taco.

That's not really what I want to talk about. Me telling students (who all agreed) that a hot dog is a taco was just an opportunity for me to talk with and invest in students. I try to be real with students, to connect with students, build bridges to students so they know they are cared about. I want the students to know that there are adults who care about them. Sometimes the best way to do this is telling them that a hot dog is a taco.

In life, we pass by people all the time. We pass strangers we might never meet again. We see people that we pass every day or every week. We see clerks at the store, the next door neighbor, the person who works down the hall. Each one of these contacts gives us an opportunity to show care and compassion. We need and should be connecting with people.

In our modern society, people have way too many connections on social media. It is easier to insult post hate on social media. Even on social media, we have the opportunity to show kindness and respect. We can engage with people in a positive way. When you are at the store, at work or school, or on Facebook, seek to be encouraging, uplifting, supporting and kind. We need more of that today than ever!