Every year, after discussion with my admin and faculty, I prayerfully decide what the theme of the year will be. I don’t like picking a random theme. It has to address a real deep need, and it has to take our community to a whole new level of growth. This year, the theme is “Beholding the Glory of Christ” It comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all with unveiled faces behold the glory of Christ and are transformed according to his image from one degree to another.”
Paul is contrasting the old testament time from the new testament time that we live in now. In the old testament, when Moses received the law of God, his face was so radiant that he had to put a veil over his face because it was too bright for people to see his face. Symbolically that veil is our sin, which keeps us from seeing the glory of God. Although the law of God is glorious, it is the sin in our hearts that keeps us from seeing the glory of God.
By contrast, in the new testament time, that veil can be removed when we turn our heart to the Lord. As a result, we not only see the glory of the law of God, we see the fuller glory of Christ. And the result is not just an understanding of the wisdom of God’s law, but we are transformed unto the image of Christ, so we are more obedient to the law of God. We live more like Christ. And treat others the way Christ would. We become more happy.
So, beholding the glory of Christ is the solution to the problems of our times, the problems especially facing Christians. We try so hard to fix our problems, but we neglect the core solution to our problems–beholding the glory of Christ. We are too busy trying to earn God’s blessings, that we have forgotten to enjoy God’s blessings already poured out through Christ, and being poured into our lives through the Spirit of Christ.
So, how is this relevant to education? That’s the same way children grow and change. They are transformed unto the image of Christ when they see more fully the glory of Christ in all of his truth, goodness, and beauty in every subject area. Saint Exupery once said, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” This is the urgent task of education. To help our students (and ourselves) to behold the endless immensity of the sea of the glory of Christ. I have never been more excited about any topic than this one, both personally, and for the growth of our community. Please join me in beholding the glory of Christ.
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