Back-to-School and the Church

In 1st Peter chapter 4, we are challenged to walk in the love of Christ, and to use the gifts that He has given to us in order to serve others:

7But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.8And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."9Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.10As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

I think there is a progression here, and it starts in verse 7 with prayer.   If we are prayerful, we can have a sense of God's heart and can receive clear instructions on His assignments for us.   He will shape our hearts and minds to think and act in accordance with His will.  It starts with a connectedness with God, and is expressed in and through our fervent love for Him and for others.  Prayer provides the direction, love is our movitation, and our obedience brings the completion of the good works that He desires to do through us.   We each have assignments from God, and our willingness to obey and use the resources that He has provided will determine the degree to which we fulfill the tasks at hand.

In Colossians 4, the apostle Paul encourages believers to build relationships and allow God to use you to share His love with others, including those who do not know Him:
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Soon, classrooms across our area will be filled with students as they return to school.   Some are already back, others return next week.   And, one of those end-of-summer rituals for parents is to help to get the school buildings and campuses ready for the return - at my son's school, the parent support organization sponsors a school clean-up day - and this past Saturday, a small army of parents - and students - armed with rakes and shovels, weed-eaters and blowers - went forth to re-package the exterior of our school building.

It's gratifying to see people on a Saturday morning volunteer to do work for the betterment of the school. While our family has been blessed to be part of school communities that have heightened parental involvement, that is certainly not the case for all.   And, if you look at an example from Portland, Oregon, you will see how the church has stepped in to partner with schools and other community organizations.

The New York Times did a piece on this unique partnership between the Luis Palau Association, specifically Kevin Palau, son of the world-famous evangelist, and the first openly gay mayor or Portland, Sam Adams. Their aim was to mobilize volunteers throughout the community, not only to schools, but to other public agencies.

The Times led its story with the news of a clean-up day at a local school in Portland, and reported on the wider effort:

The Portland model, as it might be called, has brought its two founders inquiries from about 50 other cities and hundreds of churches across the country. While avoiding the tripwire of church-state separation, the program here has addressed two needs: that of urban mayors coping with static or falling budgets for public services, and that of a young generation of evangelical Christians drawn to the cause of social justice.

“Young evangelicals absolutely want their faith to be relevant,” said Mr. Palau, who is 50. “The world they grew up in and got tired of was the media portrait of evangelicals are against you, or evangelicals even hate you. Young evangelicals are saying, ‘Surely we want to be known by what we’re for.’ ”

The Season of Service initiative continues in Portland and other cities - you can learn more at SeasonOfService.org.

Closer to home, there were several efforts over the weekend that highlighted how Christians have opportunities to be involved for the betterment of students.   In Prattville, the Montgomery Advertiser reports that some 2000 people showed up at an event at Prattville High School, sponsored by the Oasis of Hope, where backpacks and school supplies were handed out in an atmopshere that included music, free food, and a health fair.   This is an example of an effective way to display the love of Jesus to the kids in a community.    Just last week in Georgiana, local youth ministers sponsored a back-to-school rally that featured former Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel and drew close to a thousand people.

In Cullman, prayer was the central focus of a Prayer Caravan.   It was organized by the Superintendent there, but was not a school-sponsored event.   And, because of agitation by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, it perhaps even had a more widespread impact.   AL.com reports that around a thousand people attended the event, which featured participants travelling to all 29 of the public schools in the county, culminating in a rally this past Saturday night.

Organizer Brent McDonald is quoted as saying:

"Before I got there, I felt the spirit of the Lord all over that place, and it was the strongest presence of God that I've ever felt in my life besides being saved...Everyone was very eager to pray and very eager to express their concerns about our freedoms."

Church groups, individuals and other volunteers have come together to participate in the prayer caravan, organize the rally and donate necessities, like thousands of bottles of water for participants.

"I've been to a lot of Christians concerts and events, and I'm not minimizing anything I've been to, but I have never in my life seen anything in my life like what I saw this morning," McDonald said.

These are just some of what I imagine are scores of examples of Christian believers embracing our Lord's call to lift Him up and to be salt and light in our communities.   As we think about our kids going back to school, we recognize that, as our friends in Cullman remind us, prayer is important - pray for our students, for their teachers, school administrators, and pray for opportunities for our students to come in contact with and embrace the love of Christ.  

Perhaps God is leading you to students and impact the next generation.   It could be that you could spend an hour or two a week in a tutoring program or afterschool program - this gives an opportunity to build a relationship and perhaps touch the life of a child that does not know Christ.    Child Evangelism Fellowship offers Good News Clubs in a number of area schools.  If you are a parent or grandparent, through being involved in a PTA or another parent support organization, you can have a positive impact on what is taking place in our schools.