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Disruption in Class

screen-shot-2016-09-22-at-8-59-28-amI used this particular video clip this past Sunday morning as part of the 8th grade boys Sunday School class that I teach. The topic was how social media isn’t always a good thing in the way it sometimes affects our outlook on ourselves depending on the number of “likes” we get etc. The bottom line is that we use God’s Perspective (Eph 2:10) rather than a paradigm that changes from hour to hour.

This clip struck me as a good way to illustrate some of the other things about social media that aren’t always healthy, but the outcome of our discussion was a little different than I had planned.

From the start, this clip bothered me because I saw belligerence and rebellion more than anything else. This morning as I played the clip, I faced the phone towards the class so I wasn’t able to see the video, all I could do was hear the young man’s comments. In the absence of the “visual,” and without the distraction of a kid disrupting a class and challenging the authority of the teacher in front of everyone, I heard a platform that was actually very worded and loaded with substance.

Teachers are making a huge blunder by getting in front of their class and implying that they resonate only as a “paycheck.” They make matters even worse by acting out their attitude by simply disseminating content rather than truly teaching. Furthermore, a good teacher is genuinely gifted (Ex 35:34) and they’re going to do more than just enhance a student’s knowledge of a particular subject, they’re going to have a positive impact on that student’s life and character. A poor teacher will often have the exact opposit effect. That’s what that young man was getting at and he was right. And every one of the 8th graders that I teach was in agreement with what he was saying.

But when I pressed my guys for whether or not the young man in the video was right for calling out the teacher in front of everyone and being disrespectful, they all agreed that he was way south of where he needed to be. That didn’t surprise me. But what did surprise me was just how on the money this kid was in what he was saying. Apart from his manner, he had a lot of good things to say. He was correct in what a teacher’s responsibility is, but…

His platform was irretrievably compromised the moment he assaulted the “authority” of the teacher (Rom 13:1-5). In that moment, he wasn’t addressing the actions of that particular teacher, he was attacking the institution and the office of “teacher.” You never evaluate a system according to the way it’s abused and should you find fault in a person’s executution of his duties, you target the performance and not the position.

Some want to herald the kid in the video as a noble act – likening his outburst to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. But that comparison falls short on several levels. First of all, Jesus was the Authority in the Temple. Not the Pharisees, not the Law – Him and only Him. So, He was uniquely qualified to recognized the con that was going on (selling sacrificial animals for a profit [Matt 21:13]) and putting an end to it (Jn 2:17). The kid may have had a point, but he didn’t have the authority to usurp and discredit the position of the teacher. His platform was lost the moment he disrupted the class. Not because of what he said, but because of what he did.

When our forefathers chose to challenge and cast off the authority of King George, they appealed to the authority of Scripture, they didn’t ignore it. The stance of the colonies was that governments and institutions are established by the consent of the governed, beneath the umbrella of Divine Absolutes, for the purpose of protecting and promoting what Jefferson referred to as “inalienable human rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The grievances documented in the Declaration amounted to more than just legislative frustrations. Taken together, they represented a collection of “usurpations.” (pronounced “YOU-zer-pay-shun”). That term refers to a violation of rights. And not just rights in the context of personal preferences or opinions. It’s not that you simply feel wronged or you feel you feel like the teacher isn’t rising to the calling of her office. It falls under the same category as what’s articulated in Acts 5:29 when Peter, addressing the Sanhedrin, who was demanding that the apostles cease their preaching the fact that Christ had risen from the grave, states that they are obligated to obey God rather than men. This is the Authority that makes the Declaration of Independence valid. It wasn’t merely the performance of King George, it was the premise upon which he approached the throne. According to the Divine Right of Kings, God did not create men equal, thus the colonies had no rights and therefore no voice in the way they were governed or in the definition of true justice. This is what justified the colonial delegates to pledge their lives and their sacred honor to the cause of liberty. It wasn’t a mere complaint, it was a refutation of the notion that a king’s authority was superior to God’s.

This kid calling into question the authority of his teacher is not a “cleansing of the temple” nor is it an honorable stand against tyranny. He’s not stirring the pot, nor is he raising awareness. He’s burying his point beneath a thick layer of beligerence that condemns the very institution he’s simultaneously appealing to for change.

Even if he were to quote a verse out of context or attempt to align himself with the actions and the approach taken by our forefathers in their quest for liberty, his stance fails the first test of legitimacy in that, because of his actions, those who are hearing him process his platform as a condemnation of an entire institution rather than a critique of a particular individual. Hence, they are obligated to address his lack of respect for a position that rightfully demands and deserves respect if, for no other reason, other than the way it promotes the general common welfare. In short, what might’ve been heard as a legitimate point is lost due to what is seen as a legitimate offense.

The same “failure” applies to the actions of Colin Kaepernick. He’s convinced that what has been circulated in the headlines constitutes a comprehensive analysis of the actions of several police officers. Based on that information, he’s resolved that a gross injustice has been played out in the context of several black individuals being killed by policemen acting out their racial prejudices. Even if his assumptions were accurate, he’s still guilty of burying his objective beneath a mound of disgrace and disrespect that reveals him more as an arrogant fool than a noble martyr (see the section entitled “Riots in the Streets” that’s a part of the article “Racism: Absolutely Not!“).

While certain Americans may be guilty of carrying out and / or condoning certain injustices, it’s not America as an ideal or as a nation that is to blame. The only reason Colin can demonstrate like he does is because of the very paradigm he spits on by not standing for the National Anthem. Yes, it is his right, but that doesn’t mean he’s right. Yes, that young man may have had a point (it’s strange that the person videoing the kid’s comments knew to have the camera rolling just as things got started, isn’t it?), but publicly challenging the teacher’s authority and thus indicting every teacher who has ever stood in front of a class, qualifies him as a problem and not as a remedy. Colin may have an issue with several officers, perhaps even several precincts. He doesn’t have a problem with America, and yet, because of his actions, that is the ideal he condemns and that is the reason he is being shunned by those who appreciate what our flag – and what our anthem – represents.

 

Colin Kaepernick in the Morning…

san_francisco_police_department_patch1This morning I was walking into a convenience store and I heard over the radio a talk show featuring a personality that was elaborating on Colin Kaepernick’s stance and the number of black people that have been killed by police officers since he initially refused to stand for the National Anthem. In addition, Colin has apparently received some death threats because of his stance and I think it’s ironic that the people who would be tasked with protecting him come from the very institution he would demonize with his platform.

As I listened to the rhetoric being broadcast over the air, it aggravated me that so much attention is being given to Colin’s perspective, yet very little is being invested in how the San Francisco Police Department would defend the actions of their officers, or the officers who Colin would indict by refusing to stand for the National Anthem.

Personally, I have a real problem with Colin’s actions. If you have a problem with someone in a position of authority, you direct your critique at the person’s performance and not their position. Should your actions be such where they are processed as an assault on the dignity and the respect that person’s office deserves, your complaint is now buried beneath a layer of belligerence that makes your comments virtually impossible to hear. And that’s assuming your comments are accurate to begin with.

I was curious to know if the San Francisco Police Department has invited Colin to accompany any of them in a squad car and experience first hand the task of having to respond to the dispatcher as the calls for help are allocated to the various police officers on duty. What I found was an open letter that the President of the San Francisco Police Associate wrote to the Commissioner of the National Football League. It’s excellent. And while the media tends to gravitate to those things that are more suited to “headlines,” this letter brings some substance to the conversation and it’s worth reading.

As an aside, I’m not familiar with all of what Kaepernick has said. But I found this statement he recently made at a Press Conference. I think you betray the lack of credibility that characterizes your stance when you say things like this: “You have people that practice law and are lawyers and go to school for eight years, but you can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist,” he said. “That’s insane. Someone that’s holding a curling iron has more education and training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.”

Colin, one day you’re going to have to account for your words and your actions. Hopefully, by that point, you’ll be in a place where you’re willing to own that which justifies an apology on your part. Until then, know that there are people out there that vehemently disagree with you – not just your obvious lack of regard for the institution that is sworn to serve and protect, not just your lack of of judgment when it comes to the fact that you always salute the rank, even if you’re not inclined to salute the man, but for the fact that you would condemn the ideal that America represents while simultaneously appealing to that same dynamic for the accommodation you think you deserve.