“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ”
Most people want to do the right thing, and we follow the law and reasonable directives. It is this mass expectation that allows society to function.
Even at school, most of our students are obedient and do what is expected of them. Classroom learning can really only function if that is the case.
Interestingly, there are times when some people do not like being told what to do, and there are times some people have difficulty being obedient. At the same time, we do not like it if people do not do what we want them to do.
I have heard people complain when they get pulled up for speeding and fined. I have heard this referred to as a voluntary tax because it is money paid to the government that we choose to pay. I have spoken to parents who hate it when their children do not do what they are told, and we see this with a few of our students too.
As we see in the first four verses of Romans 13 - verse one is at the beginning of this article - authority is important to God, and authority is essential to framing social order.
I am grateful for the support we have at school from our students and families as our system and processes work well.
I have been thinking about those few students who complain that they are being ‘picked on’ but consistently do the wrong thing and defy authority. One student complained he was being ‘picked on’ for not wearing a tie. He could not see, or at least was not prepared to accept, that if he had a tie on, he would not have been on a teacher’s radar. A teacher rang home to follow up, and, sure enough, the family had done the right thing and purchased a tie.
Although examples like this seem trivial to some, a bonus of school life is that school is a safe place to learn to do what is expected of you. This is part of the huge contribution Emmanuel Christian School makes to the lives of our young people.
Scott Winkler — Principal