This past week, I hurriedly drove to Yeager International Airport, here in Charleston, WV, to pick up my wife, who was flying in from Florida. I had to be there at 9:00 a.m. I arrive in plenty of time, go inside, and claim my place to wait for the arrival announcement and welcome her home. Her flight was rerouted to Akron, OH, due to heavy fog in the area. Although I appreciate the pilot's decision to err on the side of caution, I was left with nothing to occupy my time for several hours. The flight finally arrived at 12:15 p.m., three hours and fifteen minutes after its scheduled time.

While waiting, I spent my time catching up on emails and messages. I even had time to catch up on the lives of my friends on Facebook. With nothing better to do, I started flipping through a tabloid, which I suppose some previous traveler had inadvertently left on the seat next to me. I don't know why, but a strange article caught my eye, so I skimmed the article entitled, "Men Behaving Sadly-Men Aging Sadly." The article described actors who are supposedly struggling with the aging process.

• Tom Cruise – (currently 63 years old)
• Robert Redford – (currently 88 years old)
• Hugh Grant – (currently 64 years old)

The purpose of zeroing in on these heartthrobs was that all of them had face lifts. All of them were taunted as having the "wind tunnel" look. The writer of the article, Jan Etherington, described their motivation for trying to stay young by saying:

• Tom Cruise is trying to remain "hot."
• Hugh Grant thinks he is a "pretty boy."
• Robert Redford was described as "a face not so much lived in, but one that was vandalized."

After reading this highly informative article (insert sarcasm), I was inspired to draw some comparisons to Christian education. Being humorously reminded of the effects of getting older, the basic premise of the article caused me to formulate several questions about Christian education:

• Is the Christian School movement "aging sadly"?
• What is the face of Christian schools today?
• Do we need a faith lift or a face lift?

There are four faces of Christian schools today:

1. The cosmetic face – (curb appeal but not much depth, observe our bells and whistles)
2. They lived in face – (we've been around awhile, been there, done that, got a tee shirt too!)
3. The stretched face – (how many more jobs can we take on? We must become all things by all means)
4. The plastic face (keep smiling, fake it till you make it)

Tread lightly, land mines ahead!

I tend to think I am stepping into a minefield of controversy and opinions as I develop this topic, given the numerous variables involved. Still, I suspect that one of the primary purposes of expressing observations is to stimulate and stir our thinking. 

Is the future of Christian schools like the Survivor TV show (where one survivor tries to outplay, outwit, and outlast all others) or are we like America's Got Talent (where we are auditioning for a new and fresh talent) or are we more like the show American Pickers (where we rummage through everyone else's junk hoping to find hidden treasures)

I do not come with a prophetic answer, astute observations, or a quick fix to our apparent challenges; many other respected voices can propose "turn-around" solutions, marketing techniques, and so on. It is not my desire to be negative or to leave a bad taste in our collective mouths. I certainly do not wish to come on as a prophet of "impending doom" As the Great Oz said to Dorothy and her entourage, after Toto had pulled the curtain away revealing his ruse, "Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain," we cannot continue to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the reality of the current state of Christian education and our schools. Let us pray that we could be "wise … who understood the times," as stated in Esther 1:13.

I am also reminded of an old hymn, written by Ruth Jones, entitled In Times Like These, that sets a spiritual backdrop to our observations. We need a Savior, and in times like these, we need genuine, truly distinctive, intentional Christian Schools. 

We must first look within our schools.

I would anticipate that we are all anxious to have, as Nehemiah has stated, "The gracious hand of the Lord upon us (and our schools)" (Neh. 2:18). After we have examined ourselves, we need to assess our schools morally, physically, socially, and spiritually to see if the "walls are crumbling" in any or all of those areas.

We have met the Enemy.

I love cartoons. I include them on my worksheets, tests, PowerPoint presentations, and so on. I swooned my wife in college by drawing cartoons on letters written to her. In a cartoon from several decades ago, there was a character named Pogo. His claim to fame was a statement, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Self-examination is necessary for physical health. Self-examination is essential for spiritual health. Self-examination is crucial for organizational health. Although it may be difficult to admit, sometimes the problem lies not in outward finger-pointing, but in inward soul-searching.

Have we succumbed to heretical philosophy?

General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, challenged the Christians of his day to examine themselves for some of the same heretical thinking patterns that are affecting many Christian ministries today. He asked these questions for self-examination:

• Do we have religion without sensitivity to the Holy Spirit?
• Do we promote Christianity without Christ as Lord and Savior?
• Do we expect forgiveness without repentance?
• Do we promote salvation without regeneration?
• Do we preach Heaven without Hell?
• Do we believe Scriptures are not to be taken wholly and as holy?

Good is the Enemy of Great

There is quite a diversity of organizations, structures, and methodologies among Christian Schools today (and that has its pluses and minuses). In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins proposes that "good is the enemy of great." We can become complacent with being good enough or at least better than some others, so that we do not strive to be great. In that book, he uses the analogy that an organization is like riders on a bus. He says that you can have the right people on the bus, but not have them in the right seats. Hence, the organizational progress and effectiveness are stymied. In addition, if not everyone is on the bus headed to the intended destination, then they need to get off and board a bus that is headed to where they want to go or believe they should be. For example, if I get on the city bus and want to go to the mall, but once I'm on the bus, I realize that it's headed somewhere else, I need to inform the driver to let me off so that I can get on the right bus.

One size does not fit all.

As we consider this topic, we hope that threads of a theme will weave themselves together, allowing us to be more sensitive to our plight. We must realize that the mission, vision, and direction will not be the destination for all families; they will get off. That is to be expected.

I must say this topic has stimulated my interest, taken on a life of its own, and reminds me of an encounter that Jim Collins (Good to Great) had with John Gardner, a former professor at Stanford University. Gardner said to Collins, "It occurs to me, Jim, that you spend too much time trying to be interesting. Why don't you invest more time in being interested?"  That's where my hope lies in these articles! – That we will stop trying so hard to be interesting and be more interested in each other, Christian education, and Christ Jesus.

Part 2: Continued Next Issue: The Shakedown Cruise: data, trends, and plans