Depravity, Stay the H#ll Away from Me...

Currently Viewing: My Class Completing a Writing Assignment on the Whiteboard
Currently Hearing: The Unicorn EP by Colour
Currently Wishing: My Brain was a Computer Hard Drive so I Could Remember Everything I Read and/or Hear

I came to a realization today that I think has been in formation for a while.

Often, those that seem least affected by the gut-wrenching yet awe-inspiring gospel aren't the ones who spit in the face of evangelists or those who perform the Blasphemy Challenge. Rather, it is the kids who were raised in church their whole lives and are infected with morality-based religion.

In other words - my students. Today, this hit me really hard, so hard it felt crushingly discouraging and convicted me as their teacher. Getting these students (and people in general) to see their utter "lostness" is such a brutal task.

But, Paul puts it like this:
"For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one;no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one'" (Romans 3:9-12 ESV)

Pretty clear.

This whiteboard and front of the classroom is my pulpit, and because of the lack of zeal flowing from some jaded kids who would rather shop online for Dolce & Gabbana eyeglasses in their $175 shoes, sometimes I sin, lose patience, and give up. Sometimes I lose patience and energy in spreading the beauty and necessity of the gospel, and for that I had to repent. At times like this, I am thankful that it isn't by my ability that people accept the claims of God through his Word and the testimony of the biblical text. I can only pray that the Holy Spirit opens everyone's hearts to understanding the utterly lost state that we are all in. So, I will do my part to speak the truth and present these crucial ideas in a way that reaches these students, and pray that God touches their hearts.

John Piper says:
"...the big problem is not getting people saved but getting them lost. People who really feel lost reach for the gospel."

So, that is my task, and this is my ministry.

Trusting in God to give growth to that which I water,
Brandon