Is God in our Schools?

Recently, there have been challenges to "Put God back in schools". 

Hopefully, we realize that God never left!

Those who cry, "Put God Back in our Schools" might best re-read Deut 31:6 which proclaims that God will never leave us. He does not leave, however, we too often operate and give credence to the lie that He has left.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God never left our schools, our communities, or our homes.  He has always been there blessing us with the air we breath, along with hope and the privilege of approaching Him in prayer (whether in public or private).

Apparently, what has left our schools, communities and indeed our homes, is the acknowledgement of God's glory through our attitudes, our actions, our priorities, and from our lips and in our everyday conversations.

No one can stop us from making the choice to be His witness. No one omits God from our lives accept when we fear men more than we trust God.

1 Peter 3:14  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”

Let's stop proclaiming that He is gone. He is not!  Let's start salting our conversations in the workplace, in the home, and in the schools with Light & Life. 

If you are a teacher, administrator, parent or student. Keep the glory of God in your heart, in your actions and in your testimony by acknowledging Him in all things (Proverbs 3:6).

No one can take our testimony from us. Historically, Christians for thousands of years never failed in persecution & in threat of death to acknowledge, "How great is our God!"

There is no ideal way to "keep God in our schools" because there is no consensus of what that would look like. The ideal of being a witness for Christ, however, has never changed and does not require a consensus or governmental regulation. It is simple (Reb 12:11). If we have His Spirit in us, we live to testify (1 John 4:2-3; Acts 1:8) We express our triumph because of His blood. 

May we become fluent in the language of faith and praise as we "do school," or daily activities in a world that is hungering and thirsting for "the Way." 

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A True Story

While in New York City, I was caught in high heels at the Javits Convention Center. I quickly realized that the shoes I was wearing were not suitable for the amount of walking I would have to do. With mounting blisters, I decided to catch a taxi to take me about 4 blocks to Macy's to buy an appropriate pair of shoes. 

Now 4 blocks in NYC can take longer than you might suppose. So I was probably in the cab 8 to 10 minutes. My cab driver was a Muslim. How did I know that? Within the span of that cab drive, he testified to me about Allah and his greatness, his blessings for the weather, for the cabby's employment, for his life and for the joy of living in NYC. The word "Allah" was mentioned more than 20 times. 

You might think this to be overkill, but the cabby's testimony was sincere, gentle, even kind as he shared his faith with me. I left feeling ashamed because I had never testified in that way to anyone at anytime about the Lord of Lord's. 

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I use this example to emphasize that it does not take a film strip or even chapter or verse to make an impact. We simply need to develop our fluency in faith & praise talk. We are often a tight-lipped people. We hoard the truth waiting for the day we imagine will come when circumstances will allow us the opportunity to "share the gospel."   

It seems to me that when those who are not believers in our Lord Jesus Christ acknowledge their god(s) more than we acknowledge the One and only God, we need to be re-converted to what it means to witness for His glory. 

When we can talk sports, shopping, entertainment more readily than we can acknowledge Him in all things, have we left our First Love? Are we more lukewarm than passionate for the lost?

How do we build our fluency in faith talk? We practice among a faith-based community. When and where are you practicing? When we have a gentle and loving testimony to share, we can take that into our communities, homes, and schools where God can be acknowledge and folks can be pointed to the Light. We will begin to see more who learn to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. 

Why were we chosen?

1 Peter 2: 9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;