Part 3: On the Wall

This is the beginning of our school year together, and I want to start out on the right foot--a foot that takes a step toward the wall with the intention of standing atop it with a confident view of the world and my place in it.

I want your children to make that step as well.

How are we as a classroom going to stand on the wall?

First, I plan to teach my class on the basis of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  Your kids were created by the Lord to fulfill their purposes in this world he’s made. I am here to help them along that path, to continue down the road that God has marked out for them. I will work to reveal his plans for them and allow him to lead me in this endeavor. These are the types of behind the wall conversations I will have with your children. I would appreciate your trust and your encouragement, and I welcome any questions or input you may have.

And second, the activities I design for the students are based on a lot of research that I’ve accumulated over my years of teaching (and learning how to teach) middle school kids, specifically in the arena of English and Reading with a recent focus on educational technology. I’ve worked to refine what the best methods are to teach your children how to write and understand what they read, thinking critically and solving problems along the way. I plan to use carefully selected Internet tools throughout our time together.

I will be introducing your children to the positive side of the Internet as it fits into an educational setting, discussing with them important strategies on how to stay safe during the process.

There is a World Wide Web of information in our world. It turns out that this Internet is full of cultural influences, those beyond the wall ideas that we’ve discussed. The Internet really is its own animal, and it continues to expand and change at an alarming pace.

Your children's professional careers may consist of jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. The 21st Century skills that they will be using in those professions will rely very heavily on the use of social interactions on the Internet, a space that is growing exponentially as you read this.

I’m excited to have the behind the wall conversations about our Christian heritage and to witness the faith-building that happens by way of the Holy Spirit.

We will put one foot in front of the other, approach the wall of our faith, and climb confidently. Standing on the wall, we will look at the culture laid out in front of us, hold fast to our Christian heritage learned behind the wall, and determine our place in this wide world.

Psalm 62:2 says, “[God] alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Let’s stand on the wall of faith together.

Part 2: Behind the Wall

To bravely approach the protective wall that stands between pop culture beyond and Christian tradition behind, we need to study our faith. (For a quick introduction to the analogy here, you can see the first post of my blog.)

Owing to wise people such as Bret Lamsma, Kenda Creasy Dean, and Walter Brueggemann, as well as King Hezekiah, and, well, God, a reading of 2 Kings 18-19 is in order. You can read it here.

I’ll share a summary, though, to make my point. The nation of Judah led by King Hezekiah, who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”, was under attack by the Assyrians, but because of his trust in the Lord, he was able to rebel successfully against Assyria, and the king of Assyria (Sennacherib) turned his attacks elsewhere. Later on, Sennacherib returned to attack Judah, and King Hezekiah’s military personnel began negotiations with the Assyrians at Jerusalem’s aqueduct of the Upper Pool, which we will designate as “the wall”.

To make a long story short, the Hebrews chose to negotiate in the language of the day, Aramaic, something the Assyrians knew well. The prophet Isaiah got involved and prophesied about Sennacherib’s defeat with some choice words from God himself. The end of God’s speech went like this: “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” 2 Kings 19:34

The end of the story? That very night an angel of the Lord killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of Sennacherib’s men in the Assyrian camp. When Sennacherib withdrew to Nineveh, his own sons killed him. Talk about God the Savior!

Hezekiah’s trust in God is epic. God’s response to Hezekiah’s devotion is miraculous!

Where did Hezekiah gather his confidence? How did he muster enough courage to approach the wall, climb the wall, and stand on the wall?

How can we?

It begins at home behind the wall, constructing a wall of faith.

Work with me here; the analogy goes like this. The city of Jerusalem, God’s holy city, is behind the wall. Traditions are taught in the native language--stories of God’s faithfulness, parents’ faith journeys, celebrations of love. It is not without its struggles, but the gospel is preached. Your homes represent this Jerusalem. As an extension, Ripon Christian represents it too, and we have a tall order to fill as parents and teachers. We need to speak truth to the children so that their faith will grow in the Holy Spirit. This is what happens behind the wall in our own native language based on our Christian heritage.

Beyond the wall are the Assyrians who speak a different language altogether, the language of popular culture. I bet your kids know this language and are already testing out their interaction beyond the wall. Relating back to the story of Sennacherib, are your children listening to the hollow promises the culture, the “empire”, presents?

Here’s a gut check. How many commercials do your kids know by heart? What do those commercials advertise? Or the Internet--how many mindless YouTube videos or inappropriate Instagram posts or violent video games enter your walls? Hey, I’ve got a finger pointed at myself here, too. How do we interact with this culture? With what lens should we view our world? What should we do?

I’ll tell you two things I think we should not do: 1) we should not send our kids beyond the wall unprepared, in essence throwing them to the wolves of the culture in which we live; and 2) we should not keep them behind the wall forever without giving them the tools to interact with the larger world. So, are we at an impasse? I don’t think so.

Solomon built the wall around Jerusalem. It is a wall of strength.

Hezekiah approached the wall with confidence in the Lord, who is our Strength.

The conversations behind the wall must occur. Please don’t leave the conversation to somebody else to have with your child. In her book Almost Christian, Kenda Creasy Dean, says this:

We can safely assume that the modern-day Assyrians (media, marketers, and other culture-makers of global postmodernity) are immersing American teenagers in the official language of the commercial empire. The empire’s language dismisses Yahweh, offers tantalizing but ultimately empty promises of salvation, and hands out scripts that the empire expects teenagers to follow. Unless the church cultivates a behind-the-wall conversation that reminds young people who they are, who they belong to, why they are here, and where their future hope lies--unless we hand on a tradition that gives them cultural tools to help them lay claim to this alternate vision of reality--then the empire’s conversation is the only view of reality they have (pp. 114-15).

Though it speaks of the church cultivating the conversation, chapter 6 of the book clearly points to the family as the main influencers of the children.

And again, by extension, we teachers must have these behind the wall conversations.

The empire is on our wall meeting with us, and our children can hear what they’re saying. Our kids have been instructed to remain silent for now, but they are considering the empire’s words, and images, and clothing, and food, and videos, and games. Perhaps they feel fearful, or curious, or insulted. We know they are deeply affected by culture beyond the wall. Let’s talk to them about what’s going on. Let’s cultivate in them a confidence in the Lord that cannot be shaken.

Let’s teach them about Hezekiah’s faith, and let’s help them construct a wall of faith of their own.

Part 1: Our Walls

We all construct walls.

And each of us may have a different reason for doing so. Perhaps you’ve been hurt, so your wall is built to protect yourself from letting it happen again. Maybe I’ve failed, so I block off that area of my life and hide it from view. Some walls grant security, and some walls bring privacy; some even hide secrets. Other walls are showy and call attention to themselves. Many walls cast long dark shadows that become immovable forces in our lives. Does your wall hold you back?

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a sheltered guy. I lock my doors to keep negative influences at bay, but also to protect the treasure that’s inside my walls...whether it be my possessions, my family, or my faith.

I believe this protective wall is inherently necessary. In this world, we need to protect what’s good behind the wall and deflect the bad stuff that can attack from beyond. Our children, YOUR children, must intentionally be taught about Jesus. And this happens behind the wall in a protected state. In fact, as parents, we’re called to do this in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

This instruction needs to happen in a sheltered area behind the wall. Parents are called to do it, and as a representative of you as your child’s teacher this year, I am called to do it. And I promise that I will. Behind the wall.

There is a wide world of information beyond the wall full of influences and temptations. This is the popular culture in which we live, and it is EVERYWHERE. It even brings negative influences into our homes, thanks largely to the Internet, which seems to settle into our lives like dust on a table.

I was inspired by a sermon or church's youth pastor preached. After diving deeper into the reading on which Bret preached, I am convinced that this protective wall that we build should be an imposing presence in our lives. And I believe that it’s the parents’ calling to impress truth on their children behind the wall. By extension, it’s my job as your child’s teacher to speak this truth behind the wall of my classroom.

What do we do about our culture? If it’s hurt us, do we hide behind the wall? If it’s failed us, do we block it off and shut it out? Or do you think we should approach the wall using a confidence that the Lord has provided so that we can look beyond the wall at our culture to make sense out of our place within it?

To do that, we have to climb the wall. To do that, we have to be on the wall.