At the Board

Our youngest son has ruled that “school” is a taboo subject during summer vacation, but since back-to-school sales are now in full swing, I feel justified...

At an FAC concert a few years ago, singer Annie Chapman reminisced about her school days… “I always had problems with arithmetic – simple, basic math. The very worst for me were the word problems: ‘A bus is traveling 60 miles an hour. It is headed for a city 120 miles away. How long will it take to get there?’ I had a terrible time with those problems… until someone would go to the board and work it out. Then I would understand it.” Then Annie talked about people God had put in her life to “go to the board” and work out their knotty problems in a way that gave Annie understanding.

That illustration has stuck with me, for a couple reasons. First, it made me appreciative of the people in my life that God has sent to the board with their problems. I watched how they worked them out as He stood nearby. And I learned.

Second, it made me aware that when I’m sent to the board with my own problem, someone is watching. They will be affected by what I do there. Will they see an example that leads them into deeper confusion and wrong answers, or one that demonstrates in practice what they’ve read in the Textbook?

It’s not that a Christian should always be able to rush to the board and dash off the right answer. We’re all learners, and sometimes there are long pauses, and standing back to survey the problem, and looking longingly at the clock for rescue (isn’t it time for the rapture?). Sometimes there’s even agonizing struggle (and it’s comforting to know that even Jesus agonized at the board in Gethsemane)... but maybe that’s when our example matters most of all.

Because that’s when we decide whether to throw the Book out the window and wing it, or open it and dig in. That’s when we refuse or accept the assistance offered by an “upperclassman” in the faith. That’s when we choose whether to throw down the chalk in angry protest or to slink back to our seats in tearful humiliation – or to turn to the Teacher who’s been standing alongside all along, just waiting to help.

Word problems. There's a reason they're called "examples." There are people just waiting to find out how you get your answers. It's the method they'll use to find theirs.