Some of you may know that we homeschool our kids. As their teacher, I am therefore keenly aware of their academic (and behavioral) performance on a daily basis. Once a week, however, they have an opportunity to be taught by someone else! We participate in a national academic program called Classical Conversations. One of their weekly requirements is to prepare and then deliver a presentation in front of their class.
This week's assignment was to narrate a Bible story, using props, visuals, etc. My 9 year old son chose the classic tale of David and Goliath. For his visual aid, after much encouragement from me to think it through and be creative, he hastily drew a crude cartoon on a small white board depicting 2 hills, a stick figure "Goliath" that resembled a stereotypical jungle head hunter, and "Philistines" fleeing a tumbling boulder down one side of the hill (I must have missed that in the original account!). I sighed. "OK, Matt" I said, "Are you ready to practice your presentation in front of me?" To say that his performance was less than well planned or orchestrated would be an understatement! After his disjointed story account, multiple verbal pauses ("Ummm.."), and haphazard visual aid references, I encouraged him to think it through more in his head, giving him pointers about how he might improve his story. I went to bed discouraged and thinking that his performance may be an awkward moment for all!
At Classical Conversations, I chose to spend the day in our daughter's classroom since I had been in our son's the prior week. I sent him off to his class and wished him luck! At the end of the day, I saw his tutor in the hallway and asked how his presentation had gone, sheepishly apologizing for Matt's lack of preparation. The tutor gave me a perplexed look and said, "What are you talking about? He did great!" I then learned that his story account was accurate (with events in the right order!), his use of the picture was amusing and well done, and his delivery was smooth and engaging! After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I thanked the tutor and walked away with a semi-dazed look on my face, but so thankful that my son's performance away from me had actually been better that his in-person attempt!
If you are a parent, you understand the pride which comes when you hear that your child has behaved (or in this case, performed) well when you were not watching! When another parent commends my child's behavior to me when I was not present, I feel so happy! It's easy to behave well when the rule-maker is watching, but how do we act, think, perform, when he or she is not? Christians can fall into the same trap -- behaving "well" when we are around other Christians, our spouse, etc. but then falling into "secret" sins behind closed doors, or when we are around non-believers. When thoughts and actions are godly when no one is looking, or when around others who would give us the liberty to abandon our faith, then we have made our heavenly Father smile indeed!
But isn't that what young David did when he fought Goliath? David was away from home, surrounded by non-believers -- Philistines on one side, and cowardly Israelites on the other! No one would have scoffed or thought twice if David had recoiled in fear from the giant as they had, abandoning their faith in adversity. Yet the instruction of his father, Jesse, did not leave David! His faith demonstrated away from his eartly father showed us all that he believed and adopted as his own, the faith taught by his father!
