What do you know about the Christian faith? Most people will tell you being Christian means going to church on Sundays for mass. You never miss a service. You give alms or whatever you can spare to less fortunate people. You are kind and understanding. Or you try hard to be. How do all those qualities translate when you’re in a Christian school? How do you see your Christian faith and those qualities in that environment? What makes an authentic Christian, and how does a faith-based school keep those qualities alive?
Love for Students
Love is always the binding force. As a Christian, it’s love for God and others. For the teachers, it’s love for their students. That love can manifest itself in many ways. Some students might be stricter than others. Others provide a great deal of leeway. But you can tell which teachers love their students. You can tell it’s because they want those students to get better, do their best, and succeed. Their brand of love is the kind that nurtures and ensures every kid in their class graduates. And that when they graduate, they know as much about themselves and their faith as much as their lessons.
Be Kind and Understanding
An authentic Christian is understanding and kind. That sounds like a cliché. It also makes Christians seem like a patsy but they’re not. That’s the thing about life. Too many people judge too harshly. Many are quick to blame. Most would rather rage at students, at others, before they ask a question. It’s not that they’re pasties. Christians understand how hard it is to live emotionally in the world every day. They understand people that universal truth: we don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know what others are going through. And often, other people don’t like talking about their situations. Being in an environment that encourages you to be kind and understanding sounds ideal. It rarely happens, ever or at all. But online Christian colleges provide more opportunities for those interactions. If you want to learn more about how authentic Christians treat other people, a few years in a faith-based school can help you see the world through their eyes. Just imagine how much pain that kind of interaction and treatment can prevent. Imagine how much emotional damage it can spare people.
Care About Students and Policy
The best Christian colleges know the importance of following rules and regulations. They also know that following rules and regulations isn’t always the right thing to do. There’s something to be said for a school that teaches how vital humanity is in the face of cold rules and facts. Nazis followed the rules. Russian soldiers trying to wage war and overtake Ukraine at this moment follow the rules. But the rules don’t make it right. Attending a Christian-based school helps you realize the difference between following rules and following what’s right. It teaches you to care about the human aspects, as much—or even sometimes—more than the rules themselves. That goes for students, too. Sometimes, a ruling may make sense. But does it discount personal circumstances? Does it ignore the situation of a student? Does it discount pain, effort, and personal suffering? A good teacher knows when to follow the rules. They know when it’s time to enforce those rules. And they also know when those rules can be bent if it disregards a student’s situation.
Not Just Hand Out Punishments
It’s easy for some teachers to hand over punishments. They only send students to detention. They only let loose their anger and scorn. They don’t bother to find out what happened. They don’t bother to know. That’s not how a true Christian teacher behaves. Someone with Christian values and beliefs will ask first. They’ll counsel the students. They want to make sure the kids understand what’s wrong. They talk about how they can change this. They don’t spend their time letting lose their anger on people. It’s not healthy. It doesn’t change a thing. That anger only festers, resulting in negativity all around. That’s not what a Christian school does. A teacher in a faith-based setting will focus on helping the students instead of indulging in their anger. Because they understand that making people feel bad won’t contribute to a productive outcome.
