Titus 3

Titus 3: 9-11

9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Titus 3 does not warn against all controversy. It warns against foolish controversy. We fight and struggle for the things which matter. We don’t give up when important things are on the line. Sometimes doing what is right will cost us, but it doesn’t make it any less right. Titus 3 also warns us not to waste time continually rebuking those whose actions are divisive.

For me, I think part of my calling is to change the narrative about what great education consists of. I may only be able to change that conversation in my small corner of the world, but so be it. Public schools have our children for seven hours per day and 35 hours per week. Those are important hours!!!

This blog is really a thesis on what I think a great educational experience consists of. It is also testament to what it is not.

In 2 Samuel 24, we find a warning. David wanted his army counted against God’s counsel. Joab warned David not do it. Joab told David that God would multiply his forces when warranted – meaning counted was not necessary and that God would provide. But David ordered a meticulous census anyway. The counting lasted nine months and twenty days. Calamity ensued. A plague was brought against Israel. David admitted that he was the leader who brought this catastrophe on his people and repented. God commanded David to go to Araunah, the Jebusite, and build an altar on his threshing floor. David did as told, repented, and the Lord halted the Plague.

Whew. David ignored Joab’s rebuke, and calamity ensued. We are ALL guilty of over-counting and not trusting that the Lord will provide at the appointed time. In fact, God has already balanced the books in our favor! The death and resurrection of Jesus erased our debt.

This brings me to the crux of this blog entry. This constant counting of student progress with standardized common assessments is wrong. People are not quantifiable. Man’s metrics are not Gods metrics.

The ONLY metric that matters is what God is capable of doing in our lives. God can empower anyone at anytime regardless of any human opinion. In Plilippians 4, it reads…

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Read it again, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

God doesn’t need our metrics. Nor does he need our approval. In I Corinthians 1: 24-26 it reads…

²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

In fact, the verse which precedes that says Jesus is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Our strength isn’t in numbers. Our strength is in Jesus. Our purpose is in Him. God is our “way maker.” Put your faith in a God whose love is boundless. Rest in the one who made the sun stand still in the sky for Joshua. Put your trust in the one who parted the waters. Believe in the Son who died on a cross and rose from the dead three days later!!! Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Follow Him. That is all that matters.

And if we aren’t teaching kids that, then we are failing them.

Photo thumbnail by author. Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark.