Several weeks ago, during the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, I watched a documentary on Roger Federer that was both interesting and helpful as I thought through some things. In the documentary, Roger talked about how all-consuming his focus on tennis had to be in order for him to become and remain the number one player in the world for almost five straight years. He went on to explain that he had to guard his time and, many times, say “no” to things that could have distracted him or prevented him from giving his full attention to the game of tennis.
It is that same mindset that I believe must be carried over into the lives of Christian school leaders.
If I have been transformed by Christ, am committed to living a life for Him, and am seeking to honor Him in every area of my life, then I must also be willing to guard my heart and fight against anything that would creep in and attempt to steal my joy, compromise my convictions, or distract me from the life He has called me to live.
The same is true for Christian schools.
Leaders in Christian schools must be laser-focused on guarding the entrance to the school; not simply protecting the physical building, but protecting the mission, vision, and biblical foundation of the school from anything that would seek to harm it or get it off track. We must be willing to identify and fight against any philosophy, ideology, practice, or influence that has the potential to move our school away from its God-ordained mission.
George Barna’s research on biblical worldview continues to be discouraging, with research indicating that only around 4% of professing believers hold a biblical worldview. If that is the case, then Christian school leaders must be more vigilant than ever before to ensure that every “best practice,” state standard, enrollment strategy, educational theory, or perceived key to success is examined through the lens of Scripture.
Scripture repeatedly reminds us of the need to:
- Be on the alert
- Not shrink back
- Guard your heart
- Contend earnestly for the faith
- Fight the good fight
Many schools have become very good at examining the weak spots on campus to make sure physical intruders cannot get into the building. We have cameras, locked doors, security personnel, and contingency plans should someone try to breach the system.
But my encouragement to Christian school leaders is this: Are we giving that same level of attention to the spiritual attacks coming at us and our schools every day, attacks designed to get us off track from our God-ordained purpose?
We must guard the gates.
We must protect the mission.
And we must be willing to fight for the things God has entrusted to us.
Today, guard, protect, and fight for that which God has called you to do in the life of your Christian school. Don’t allow distraction, compromise, or the pursuit of success to cause you to lose sight of the reason you are there in the first place.
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