Care Conversations 7 | Discipline Presupposes Authority
We need to reinforce the idea that discipline is firstly a positive. It is not to be seen primarily as dealing with negative attitudes and behaviours, although that is a secondary aspect.
The primary goals of discipline are to ensure a harmonious environment wherein relationships can flourish and Godly growth may occur. The secondary goal is to deal with any people or situations that might work against that desired situation.
Christian schools, and each class of students, are covenant communities. The Bible tells us what these are to look like:
Colossians 3:12-17
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.[1]
Under the grace and wisdom of God, Christian teachers and staff need to create and enhance communities where these things may be encouraged.
The personnel in a Christian school will need to exercise appropriate authority so that such an environment becomes possible.
God gives authority to parents to raise their children in ways that are responsive to Him. Parents, in making the choice to be a part of a Christian learning community, give to teachers a “delegated” authority. As a Christian community, the school also receives authority directly from God.
That authority has to be exercised with great wisdom and grace. We will teach our children how God wants us to live. Teaching our children not to lie, ridicule, act meanly, steal, hurt, or be disrespectful isn’t merely our preference; it’s God’s intention for us. Being compassionate, kind, truthful, generous, merciful, and faithful doesn’t just make them good citizens — it reflects the nature of the Triune God.
We will use our authority to show our children their inability to live the way that God intends they should; it will point to the Saviour who perfectly obeyed His Father so He could take God’s punishment for our disobedience.
What great opportunities we have.
Blessings,
Brian
[1] Colossians 3:12-17