Last night we were blessed with an incredible message from Tony Dungy... Head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Tony has a best selling book on the New York Times Best Selling list.
Even though the NFL Combine was going on in Indy, he came and gave us a powerful message.
One of the things that he said that resonated with me. He said: "Any bad teacher can teach an "A" student... But it takes a great teacher to help every student get an "A"."
I think there is a great deal of truth in that.
This really resonated with me. I think part of the reason why it resonated with me is that it's easy to look at the students in our ministries that aren't getting it all that much and wish that they were getting it or were like the students in our ministry that are getting it. But the reality is, they aren't those students. And its unfair to wish or hope that they would be like those students. Those students are the unique students that God created them to be. And they are there for a specific reason in our ministries.
We are always going to be blessed with students who "do get it." They understand the ministry... they are personally passionate about learning about God and following God... and they want to encourage others.
But there are always going to be students who "don't get it" or "don't want to get it." For those students in that later group, I have to work twice as hard and use twice as much skill to reach those later students. I have to use my abilities to reach those students. That's hard. Sometimes impossible. But it's part of the calling.
It's hard.
It's tough.
It's difficult.
I can be discouraging. There are days... almost every day... that I feel ineffective. But...
You keep going.
You keep praying.
You keep loving students.
You keep encouraging them.
Because in the end, the great teacher is the teacher who helps every student not just pass... but succeed and get an "A".
Jim
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