Faith in the World

Hebrews 11:1-3 tells us we learn faith from our parents, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the world was framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were made of things which do appear.”   Children and babies are helpless and must rely on their parents for everything. They can only lie there and cry if hungry, cold, hot, wet, or dirty. Without help, they will die. As adults, we fend for ourselves. We had to learn. When we were infants, our parents would take care of whatever our needs were. Later, if we were hungry, there was food in the cabinet or refrigerator, water in the faucet, and clean clothes in our room. We learned to have faith and to believe our needs are covered. As we grew, we learned the lights would come on when we turned the switch, and the TV/radio would come on. 

We learned faith. Not Christian faith, but earthly faith. Faith in the world. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines faith as an “unquestioning belief that does not require proof."  The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines it as “trust that somebody/something will do what has been promised."   We learned to have faith in our things, that they will work. Our parents will provide. Faith that our needs/wants will be covered. The world is different today. Today, we have overwhelming poverty. *According to Alabama Possible’s 2020 Barriers to Prosperity Data Sheet, Alabama is the 5th poorest state, 16.8% living below the poverty threshold. The children in these homes live without these basic assurances, without faith. With more poverty, we see more single parents and parents working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Children are left to fend for themselves, with no supervision, just electronic babysitters; an increase in gang involvement, drug use, and sexual activity at younger and younger ages. Children are maturing more quickly and harder, without being taught basic emotional/social lessons. With no respect, they don't have respect. With nothing to share, they don’t know how. With no supervision, there are no boundaries. Basic social cues and relating to other people are foreign concepts. 

We can’t blame poverty. We can see these same characteristics in students from middle and upper-class homes where needs are being met. Parents are younger and younger every day; children are having children, not knowing how to be parents. They don’t know how to teach their children these lessons. 

Some children don’t learn to have faith because they don’t need to. They are given whatever they want before they know they want it. They don’t need faith. This causes other issues, but the results are still the same. They don’t know how to respect or share. They don’t understand boundaries because they have none. They don’t need faith. 

When children, for whatever reason, don’t have faith, a teacher's job becomes twice as hard. Our children all have different life experiences before meeting them. It’s our job as caregivers and teachers to help them learn to get along, work together, and be successful. It’s our job to teach them to have faith. Faith that needs will be met: physical, emotional, social. It’s our job to teach them to be good students and citizens. How to know how to interact with others appropriately, share, and work together in group settings. Teach them limitations, boundaries, and appropriate social skills. Teachers don’t just teach Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but also life skills. It starts the first day of kindergarten and continues until the last day of high school.  Teachers are students' first line of defense. They're there to defend them, build them up, protect them, and teach them. All while they are fighting us. Teaching isn’t a job. Teaching is a calling. If you want to become a teacher to get off at 3:00 every day and have summers off, don't. Become a teacher to build: build knowledge, build up students, build relationships, build futures - build faith.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.  Have faith in God, not the world.