From the Principal - Secondary, South Plympton

On consideration of crises

Crises do not create our character. They reveal it. What emerges in difficult times depends on how we have been spiritually and personally formed over time.

I have paraphrased this title based on Immanuel Kant’s observation on ‘moral law’. He concludes:

‘On consideration of human nature, we find that our judgments are often clouded by inclination rather than duty.’

Possibly Solomon offers more straightforward advice in Proverbs 18:2 when he states: 

‘A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in expressing his opinion.’

As I hope to express my ideas on how Christians grow through a crisis, I can only start with an apology.

What I do know is that the deepest, most precious thing about Jesus is how he treats people and that he does not use legalism to judge when we so heartily deserve it. This is so evident in what I see in his interactions with individuals in the gospels. But especially so when he was falsely accused and on trial. And I think most of us would consider this situation (falsely accused, standing before people who are lying about you and on trial for what you haven’t done), a rather significant crisis. 

Crises will reveal who we really are. They clarify our mission and equip us for facing any storm. Unfortunately, this requires learning from a crisis. That means accepting that there will be loss and that it will reveal resilience. Or lack thereof.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller employs an apt metaphor. When the heat is applied to a crucible, it brings the dross to the surface. This suggests that hard times don't create character; they test and reveal what is already formed within us.

The reality for me is pretty pathetic. And I have many recent situations that have illustrated who I really am. The cross that rose to the surface of my crucible is that I am impatient. Just ask anyone who lets me drive them somewhere. 

However, God gave me the opportunity to think about this a little more - I heard Tod Bolsinger speak on the topic Deep roots for shaken ground: Forming people who can stand. Of course, it is all about me and I was struck by the message he gave at a personal and community level. He said:

‘At the moment of crises, you will not rise to the occasion. You will fall to the level of your formation.’

And fall I did.

In 1 Peter 1:6–7, faith and character are compared to gold refined by fire, illustrating that difficult seasons serve to prove and purify genuine faith.

‘In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.’

How I can react is certainly not gold. Not even a bronze medal.

However I learnt of an interesting gold medal example with the Huguenots in France during World War Two. These are a group of Protestant French Christians persecuted in Catholic France and their actions at Le Chambon in 1941 are a remarkable place to start when considering character and reliance on our faith and the culture that enables this. 

During the Nazi occupation in France that divided the country between collaborators and the Resistance, this group of people chose extraordinary ordinary goodness. They took in refugees without question of nationality and political persuasion, including German Jewish women and children in desperate need. 

Pastor André Trocmé, his wife Magda Trocmé, and assistant Pastor Édouard Theis— acted out of deep religious conviction and historical memory. As descendants of the Huguenots they had faced brutal Catholic persecution by the French state in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. They saved between 4,000 and 5,000 refugees - predominantly Jewish children and adults fleeing Nazi Germany and the Vichy regime - who were hidden in homes, farms, and schools. They walked people 300 miles to safety and forged documents and refused to cooperate with the Vichy government.

They didn’t debate it, they just did it. They didn’t second-guess themselves; they knew the scripture and acted on it.

People who agonise don’t act. People who act don’t agonise.

This is not about someone who rises to the occasion but who falls to their formation. Formation is the key. When the pressure comes, what will come to the surface?

Character is evident in the reflex action straight from the heart.

How does goodness become ordinary in our lives? In our churches? In our school?

The Huguenots’ culture came from understanding persecution, the daily practice of gathering around scripture and ordinary hospitality and stubborn resistance.

People who can face fears and embrace loss for the sake of the mission are amazing. But - they have to be shaped by the culture they are part of every day.

How do we make the culture we set one of love? 

You set the culture by your response to others, even when they frustrate and hurt you. Are you doing what you do to glorify the Lord? Or are there other motivations that lie behind the purpose of your behaviour? 

To undermine, be entitled, not to be bothered to give it your best, be morally outraged. And the list goes on. I know I need to pull my head in on numerous occasions.

How do we make the culture we set one of love? 

You set the culture by your response to others, even when they frustrate and hurt you. Are you doing what you do to glorify the Lord? Or are there other motivations that lie behind the purpose of your behaviour? To undermine, be entitled, not to be bothered to give it your best, be morally outraged. And the list goes on. I know I need to pull my head in on numerous occasions.

The gradual process of character formation is evident in Romans 5:3–5, which highlights the progression from suffering to perseverance to tested character.

‘Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’

So what is the soil that has formed you? 

How do you create healthy soil for those you have an influence on? 

How does goodness become ordinary in our lives? In our churches? In our school?

How does goodness become ordinary in our lives? 

People are found and formed most profoundly by the people in their lives who have affection for them, for us. 

When people are glad to see us, we thrive. 

Tod spoke of his Aunty who would announce when he arrived in her home: ‘Oh just stand there. You are so beautiful.’ 

How good would that make a person feel? 

Faces that light up at us are key experiences for human beings being open to change. 

And be open to Joy.

If you have the joy of the Lord in your heart, give a note to your face. 

The goal is for us to be like Jesus. And he said, ‘Greater love has no man than he who lays down their life for their friends.’ Or Paul in Galatians says ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ 

Does this come forth when you are in crisis? It certainly didn’t for me and it is humbling to consider this and the responsibility I have to reflect and pray for my sin.

What would Jesus act like if he were you? If he had your life?

And so we consider the scriptures:

1 John 3:18

‘Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’

Who do we love verbally and physically? Who is our neighbour? Whoever is in front of you and has a need. I remember Joyce Meyer saying somewhere in my past ‘Treat interruptions as an opportunity to serve God’s plans and not your own.’ 

Joyful belonging belongs to missional formation.

Based on Mark Chapter 1:11 - You were loved into existence. Jesus was declared loved and God’s son with whom God loves and is ‘well pleased’ before his ministry started. Remember this. God is already proud of you and loves you. You have nothing to prove. 

And in to finish with the beautiful hope of Romans 8:38-39‘ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

And a great prayer for change, with or without a pet:

Dear God, please make me the person my dog thinks I am. Amen.