Teacher Preachers in Schools

I stumbled upon a couple of intriguing reports and letters in the local papers admonishing school teachers who contemplated religious evangelism on their students. One writer expressed his acrimony about a teacher who had been profusely communicating Christianity to his friend's daughter on MSN Messenger. Another voiced his exasperation on discovering that his son's form teacher had attempted to preach to the class. The unanimous sentiment that I've gathered from the articles is that Singapore parents are vehemently against teachers breaching the boundaries of imparting knowledge and secular values to their children. They feel that sharing of religious beliefs by an educator is tantamount to a form of emotional manipulation of the young ones, with psychological affliction as the ultimate consequence.

As a Christian, I opine that it is an obligation as well as a prerogative of a believer to share the Almighty Savior with people who have yet to relish a relationship with the Lord Jesus. There are two perspectives to the issue really. On one hand, Philippians 1:18, But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. tells us that the end justifies the means in the context of outreaching. We have to comprehend with the Lord's expectations of His disciples before we dissect this verse. Matthew 28:19-20 highlights the fundamental objective of a living Christian, which is to proliferate the realm and rule of the Lord in the world. Any addition to the Heavenly Kingdom is a reason to rejoice, regardless of the storyboard charted.

On the other hand, we have to be conscious that it is essential to approach evangelism with subtle sense and sensitivity. There is a time and place for the sharing of our primary beliefs. For a believer to be instrumental in leading a non-believer to take that step of faith, the believer has to first be envisaged as exhibiting godly character. And godliness does not merely entail ocean-deep knowledge of the Bible or incessant professing of "I love Jesus and He loves me in return!" to others. Godliness is a tangible derivative of the chemical reaction between three elements: acceptance, generosity and love. If we are able to demonstrate these three traits innately to non-believers, they would reciprocate with their trust in us and be more willing to confide. This, I believe, surmounts any form of verbal evangelism. After all, God elects His people and we have to trust that He knows His job.