Jesus in the Classroom

One of the things that I am always pondering is how I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, put my faith into action in the world. We are confronted every day with situations to which the Scriptures do not speak specifically, especially in America where we have certain rights and privileges as citizens. How do I act as not only a citizen of the US, but as a citizen who is a Christian? I want to take a current case, that I read about in New Yorker magazine, and study it to see what wisdom we can gain from it in how we should act as believers when we run up against the world. It is the case of a 5th grade teacher in Cupertino California who sued his school district for religious discrimination. As you will see, the principles involved go far beyond the classroom. How and when should I press my rights as a citizen, and how and when should I not press my rights as a citizen. Paul the apostle was not shy about pointing out his Roman citizenship when he felt that his rights were being violated. So there is obviously a time and a place for acting in such a manner.

Stephen Williams is the name of the 5th grade teacher that sued the Cupertino California school district. He attended school at UC Berkely and spent a short time in business before he went back to school, got an education degree and came to work at Steven's Creek in Cupertino.

New Yorker: Stephen Williams's admirers regard him as a born teacher, a man of abundant patience and gentle bearing, in the Mister Rogers mold.

Williams began teaching at the school and by all measures it was a good fit. He loved to teach and the kids generally loved him. He had a good relationship with fellow teachers and was well liked at the school. Unbeknownst to those around him, Williams was struggling at the time with “a lot of searching and seeking.”

New Yorker: He considered himself a nominal Christian, though not necessarily a deep believer. He found himself drawn to a church with an evangelical character, and soon he was joining church groups and establishing a new circle of friends. On the morning of April 16,2001, the day after Easter, Williams awoke before dawn, seized by an urge to read the Bible [as an aside this sounds a lot like Augustine's salvation experience] “I didn't know where to begin,” he recalls, “and decided on John, since that is my middle name.”…All I can say is that, as I started reading, this overwhelming conviction that it was all true filled me to the depths of my heart and soul,” he says. “All previous times of reading the Bible, I felt that it just didn't really apply to me. This time, I couldn't put the book down. After denying it for most of my life, I now knew in my heart that passages like, 'Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,' were completely true.”…It was the most important, transformational moment in my life.”

So he is gloriously saved. Isn't that a beautiful testimony! He apparently immediately begins to share his experience with his fellow teachers in emails and discussions, one example email:

New Yorker: I thank the Lord daily for revealing himself to me …and setting me free from living a meaningless existence, to one of such purpose, filled with more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control than I ever thought possible.

As the article says, perhaps inevitably his new faith begins to affect his teaching. He studies the guidelines for California schools and finds, amazingly, that they allow room for the importance of religion in the nations founding, but doesn't find that expressed in the school books that they use. So he starts getting supplements for the kids. He says,

New Yorker: What I felt obligated to do as an educator was to teach the California standards …and so I've tried to supplement materials as necessary.

What appears to be an honest approach to correct a deficiency in the textbook. So he collects supplements and begins to use them, not exclusively Christian supplements, he deals with Islam and Hinduism as well.

The principle at the school, Patti Vidmar, is apparently not anti-religious. She helps Williams get a Good News club started at the school and supported a mother's prayer group.

Mr. Williams, however, soon begins to run into trouble, and, as the New Yorker article says, “What got Williams in trouble was his enthusiastic expression of faith.

Two examples:

We have Jewish teachers, we have all kinds of Christian teachers, we have a Muslim aide, we have a lot of Hindu Parents, says Williams's colleague, Sarah Beetem. People sort of said, 'Well, O.K., but he's kind of heavy into this, and he doesn't really need to tell us all these things.

The crux of the problem is, if you look at Mr. Williams in general, he was extremely vocal about his beliefs,” says Armineh Noravian, a Stevens Creek mother whose son was in Williams's class last year, when the trouble began. If you talk to teachers, they'll tell you that he was very vocal about his beliefs outside the classroom. And I believe what happened is that his behavior carried inside the classroom…It's not hard for a ten- or eleven-year-old kid to pick up that this man is a devout Christian, a practicing Christian who loves his faith and is very serious about it. It was no hard for him to establish, very early in the year, who he was and what his religious beliefs were.

Wow, what a great testimony, eh?

One event that started the trouble was when a student asked him why the pledge contained the words “under God.” At the end of the day the principal came in and asked him what he was doing teaching about God. He explained and she seemed satisfied.

Another time he was teaching about Christopher Columbus and said that one of his roles in exploring was to be a Christian missionary, and he explained that a Christian is “someone who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ.” He got another visit from the principal after that episode.

Pretty soon a pattern had developed.

New Yorker: [Williams] The pattern had developed that almost anytime there was a reference to God or Christianity or Jesus a student would go home and obviously tell a parent, and the parent would call immediately to Patti, and then Patti's in my room within twenty minutes, It was a really efficient process.”

It is important to note that he was not reprimanded for teaching about other religions. Williams: You're applauded for teaching about other religions..but as soon as God or Christianity or Jesus Christ comes up, there's this immediate 'Oops, separation of church and state - that's not OK.

These conflicts went on and on and eventually, Williams went to see a lawyer, because he felt that he was being discriminated against. Williams: What was happening to me in this situation was not right…I just wanted to teach the California standards accurately. I felt like the policies that were put in place over me were preventing me from doing my job.

Williams eventually found the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization set up by Dobson's “Focus on the Family” ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida. Their purpose was to aide those who have had their rights denied under first amendment issues of church and state. Lawyers from the ADF and the school district traded letters over the issue but nothing was resolved.

The conflict was finally brought to a head when Williams sat down with his principle, Patti Vidmar, at their annual goals conference. She handed him a packet of acceptable handouts and said he could only use those and if he deviated from them then he could be fired. That was the last straw and on November 22, 2004, Williams filed suit in federal court over religious discrimination.

Now, as best as I can understand the facts from the news article. Williams was acting within his rights and within the law. He was not focusing exclusively on “Christian” issues, but was being reprimanded exclusively for the handouts and things that dealt with Christianity, and not with other religions. So there does seem to be a basis here for a violation of his rights as a citizen. In other words, his rights do seem to have been violated. So it is not a frivilous lawsuit.

However, the fall out in the school and Cupertino has been quite heavy. Heavy to the point where he appears to have destroyed any chance for his testimony with those around him who are not believers. Here is one teacher:

I find it offensive that he feels he needs to proselytize to the rest of the teachers, Sarah Beteem says,. For one thing, there are some who are Jewish. And for those of us who are Christian, excuse me, but I belong to my own church. I am not interested in having you tell me that this is what you should do.

There are a few people who will eat with him…A lot of the staff will not. A lot of the staff will not talk to him, other than about the specific school-related things. I think they still feel hurt and betrayed. I think everyone wishes it would go away.

Even some who support Williams have expressed their dismay. Kim Item, who is one of Williams class mothers…the morning after one particularly contentious community meeting, Item walked up to Williams, put her finger in his face, and said, “Mr. Willliams, you have to stop. This is not your fight, this is God's fight. You're trying to play God, and it's got to stop.

So I want to lay out the issues here. When we look at this issue, did Mr. Williams act correctly. Did he do what he should have done? Did he do it in the manner that he should have done it, in other words, did he act in a biblical manner? Finally, was it worth the cost? Was what he did worth the cost?

I can see Mr. Williams side of the issue and say, “yes, it appears that his rights were violated. They prevented him from dealing with Christian material, but did not prevent him from materials of other religions. This is not right what they did to him, and it is an issue which affects at least every Christian teacher in every public school in America to one extent or another. So in essence he is say, this issue goes far beyond Cupertino, so I must take a stand here for all Christian teachers everywhere in America no matter the consequences in my immediate locale. I can understand and am sympathetic to that argument. I think it is a good argument.,

On the other hand, look at the immediate local fall out. Any possible testimony he may have had with his fellow colleagues has been destroyed. Do you think they have been drawn closer to Christ by Williams actions, or driven farther away. From the article it appears that they have been driven farther away. Kim Item, puts the damage in stark relief. Listen, you are doing the work God should be doing. For the sake of peace and of your testimony here, lay the issue aside, even though it is important, people coming to faith is more important. I can understand and am sympathetic to that argument as well. I think it is a good argument.

But which argument is correct? Which position is biblical? Finally, we must ask the question, should Williams have gotten to this point at all. Did he press the issue in a biblical manner? In a manner which shows respect for authority? Did he make a wise decision here?

Do you also see the greater issue here? When do I stand up for my rights because I can see that I am not only standing up for myself, but for every Christian who may come to be in my position? And when do I say, “well, I know I am in the right, I know I have an argument here, I know I am not being treated fairly, but it is more important to have a testimony to the people around me, so I will lay aside my “rights” for the sake of my testimony?

Jesus In the Classroom

Rom 13.1-5

I. Introduction

A. Citizenship

B. Read Rom 13.1-5

C. Case Study

II. Stephen Williams

A. How He Got to Steven's Creek

Stephen Williams's admirers regard him as a born teacher, a man of abundant patience and gentle bearing, in the Mister Rogers mold.

B. Salvation - : He considered himself a nominal Christian, though not necessarily a deep believer. He found himself drawn to a church with an evangelical character, and soon he was joining church groups and establishing a new circle of friends. On the morning of April 16,2001, the day after Easter, Williams awoke before dawn, seized by an urge to read the Bible [as an aside this sounds a lot like Augustine's salvation experience] “I didn't know where to begin,” he recalls, “and decided on John, since that is my middle name.”…All I can say is that, as I started reading, this overwhelming conviction that it was all true filled me to the depths of my heart and soul,” he says. “All previous times of reading the Bible, I felt that it just didn't really apply to me. This time, I couldn't put the book down. After denying it for most of my life, I now knew in my heart that passages like, 'Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,' were completely true.”…It was the most important, transformational

*Begins to share with his colleagues - example: : I thank the Lord daily for revealing himself to me …and setting me free from living a meaningless existence, to one of such purpose, filled with more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control than I ever thought possible.

C. Faith In Action

1. Guidelines for California Schools - Religion in Nation's Founding

Williams: What I felt obligated to do as an educator was to teach the California standards …and so I've tried to supplement materials as necessary.

2. Not exclusively Christian

3. Gets In Trouble - What got Williams in trouble was his enthusiastic expression of faith.

A. Teacher: We have Jewish teachers, we have all kinds of Christian teachers, we have a Muslim aide, we have a lot of Hindu Parents, says Williams's colleague, Sarah Beetem. People sort of said, 'Well, O.K., but he's kind of heavy into this, and he doesn't really need to tell us all these things.

B. Mom: The crux of the problem is, if you look at Mr. Williams in general, he was extremely vocal about his beliefs,” says Armineh Noravian, a Stevens Creek mother whose son was in Williams's class last year, when the trouble began. If you talk to teachers, they'll tell you that he was very vocal about his beliefs outside the classroom. And I believe what happened is that his behavior carried inside the classroom…It's not hard for a ten- or eleven-year-old kid to pick up that this man is a devout Christian, a practicing Christian who loves his faith and is very serious about it. It was no hard for him to establish, very early in the year, who he was and what his religious beliefs were.

D. 2 Troubling Events

1. “Under God”

2. Christopher Columbus - sets a pattern

Williams: The pattern had developed that almost anytime there was a reference to God or Christianity or Jesus a student would go home and obviously tell a parent, and the parent would call immediately to Patti, and then Patti's in my room within twenty minutes, It was a really efficient process.”

Note: Not Reprimanded about teaching concerning any religion except for Christianity: You're applauded for teaching about other religions..but as soon as God or Christianity or Jesus Christ comes up, there's this immediate 'Oops, separation of church and state - that's not OK.

E. Goes to See a Lawyer: What was happening to me in this situation was not right…I just wanted to teach the California standards accurately. I felt like the policies that were put in place over me were preventing me from doing my job.

F. Finds Alliance Defense Fund

1. Goals Meeting

2. 22 November 2004 sues for religious discrimination in Federal Court.

G. Fallout - Heavy

1. Teacher - I find it offensive that he feels he needs to proselytize to the rest of the teachers, Sarah Beteem says,. For one thing, there are some who are Jewish. And for those of us who are Christian, excuse me, but I belong to my own church. I am not interested in having you tell me that this is what you should do.

There are a few people who will eat with him…A lot of the staff will not. A lot of the staff will not talk to him, other than about the specific school-related things. I think they still feel hurt and betrayed. I think everyone wishes it would go away.

2. Mom: Even some who support Williams have expressed their dismay. Kim Item, who is one of Williams class mothers…the morning after one particularly contentious community meeting, Item walked up to Williams, put her finger in his face, and said, “Mr. Willliams, you have to stop. This is not your fight, this is God's fight. You're trying to play God, and it's got to stop.

III. Analysis

1. Issue 1 - Did Mr. Williams act correctly by suing?

2. Issue 2 - Did he act in a biblical manner?

3. Issue 3 - Was it Worth the Cost?

4. Broader Issue

a. When do I stand up for my rights and when do I not?

b. When do I take a principled stand no matter the consequences, and when do I let an issue go for the sake of my witness?

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