Those Hallowed Halls

I recently had the privilege of serving as an adjudicator for the Extemporaneous Speaking competition in the Region 5-AA Literary Meet. The event took place at Lamar County (GA) High School.

The class of 1976, of which I am a member, was the first one to graduate from that campus. I still call it “the new high school.” They are about to build a newer one, which is good.

As I walked the hallowed halls of my alma mater, I reflected on the fact that I’d never before done so.

I probably need to explain.

From 1970-74, boys went to school on the Forsyth Road (formerly Booker T. Washington School) campus and girls on the Birch Street (formerly Milner) campus. We all—boys and girls—spent the 1974-75 school year, which was my class’s Junior year, at Forsyth Road. As that year wound down, we looked forward to spending our Senior year at the brand new Lamar County Comprehensive High School.

But late in my Junior year, I decided to forego my Senior year to enter Mercer University. So I spent my high school Senior year as a college freshman. I did come back to graduate with my class.

So I couldn’t wax nostalgic as I wandered the halls of Lamar County High School on the day of the Literary Competition. But I did find myself being grateful for the teachers who taught me and helped shape my life at both Gordon Grammar School and Forsyth Road School (aka Lamar County High School).

I’m the only member of my immediate family that attended Lamar County schools, but my wife and both of our children are products of public schools. I support public education. I don’t mind paying property taxes because I know the money helps fund public schools.

I appreciate public education because it presents opportunities. It makes progress possible. It enables informed and productive citizenship. It does all of that without charging tuition. It is available to any student regardless of race, gender, or socio-economic status. If you are a child living in the United States, you can go to school. Public education gives us all a chance to become who we should be.

We need to support our public schools in every way we can. We should insist on having the very best leaders possible, from our local schools to the United States Department of Education. We should encourage our teachers to constantly strive for excellence, both in their teaching and in their students’ learning, and we should pay them in line with the tremendous value they have.

The hallowed halls of Gordon Grammar School are gone. Those of Forsyth Road School are abandoned and deteriorated. New ones will soon replace those of Lamar County High School.

I am grateful for the public schools of Lamar County that helped me become who I am. For the sake of our children, our communities, our nation, and our world, I hope that we will do all we can to help public education thrive.

Rights

In a letter he wrote in the middle of the first century to Christians living in the Greek city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul presented a strong case that he and his fellow ministers had the right to be paid for their service. He asked, “If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits?” (1 Corinthians 9:11).

As someone who has collected many a paycheck from churches, I say, “Preach it, Brother Paul!”

But then Paul, as my father would have said, quit preaching and went to meddling: “Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (v. 12b). He goes on to say that he has chosen personally not to claim his right. “What then is my reward?” he asks. “Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel” (v. 18).

Did you hear that? Paul said that his reward was to give up some of his rights for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. He didn’t insist on his rights if doing so might keep others from receiving the salvation he possessed.

In his letter to the Christians in Galatia, which was located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), Paul wrote, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (5:13-14).

It boils down to this: the Christian way is the way of love. And sometimes we show love by not insisting on our own rights. Another way of saying this is that we think of others before we think of ourselves. Still another way is that of saying it is that we are willing to give ourselves up for others’ sake.

This is, of course, not the way we Americans tend to think, talk, or act. We have our rights. We insist on our rights. We demand our rights.

I think a lot about what it means to be a Christian who is also an American. I understand that standing up for your rights is a basic American virtue. I also understand that giving up your rights for the sake of others is a basic Christian virtue. I also understand that it can be difficult to practice both virtues simultaneously.

I also recognize the problem of a potential slippery slope. We can hardly help but think, “Yes, but if I don’t insist on this right, I’ll lose it. If we voluntarily compromise on a right, they’ll take it away completely.” I furthermore believe that it is often our Christian duty to stand up for the rights of others, particularly those who are marginalized, dehumanized, and oppressed.

Still, when I think about how to live as a Christian in America, I find myself pondering the necessity of accepting some limitations on some of my rights if that’s what love for others compels me to do.

Those who have ears, let them hear.

Those who have hearts, let them love.

Those who have faith, let them live it.