After Burn: In Charge (Week 1)

Last night was the first week in our "In Charge" series and we started with the ever popular topic of teachers.  Knowing how much time you spend at school, this should help you with everyday life.  I mean everyone usually has at least one teacher he/she doesn't like.  So knowing what God thinks about this is really important. 

Hopefully you'll reread Romans 13:1-5 (hint, hint) and think more about those verses.  As you try to answer the question, "What is my response?" let me toss out an idea I wish I would have mentioned last night.  Here it is.  Try to stay with me.  I hope I don't go over your head with my super-duper intellectual, Sheldon like thinking.  Ready?  Just ask, "How can I help?"  Boom!  Did your head explode from all the complexity?  Tell the truth, how many times did you have to read the question before you understood the idea?  3?  8?  Seriously, it's such an simple question, but it can have a big impact.

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Just by asking the question "How can I help?" you're letting your teacher know, "I'm not your enemy."  I'm guessing here, but most teachers think most students don't like them or don't care either way (either positive or negative) about them.  Truthfully, they are probably right.  So think about this for a second.  Here's someone who has decided to give a large part of his/her life to try to help people who, at best, are neutral to them.  How would you feel if you were trying to get something done and was getting little to no support from the people you were working with?  Knowing someone is not against your, but more for you, can be a huge encouragement.

My suggestion is to ask this question after class every two weeks or so.  Don't make it a big deal; just see what you can do to help.  I'll admit, there's a risk here.  Caring or being nice to a teacher isn't going to win you any "cool points" with your friends.  You might get labeled a teacher's pet, or worse.  But we're talking about how to treat those who are in authority like they come from God.  And an attitude that wants to help is the attitude of a servant.  It's the same attitude that Jesus has.  (Philippians 2:5-7)