When a new year begins, especially this year at the
beginning of a new decade, we always grow a bit nostalgic. As we look back and reflect we also
look forward. I am sure by this
time you have heard and read enough about the woes of the past decade, referred
to by some as the most difficult decade in the U.S. since the Great
Depression. Agree or not, this
certainly has been a decade of change, with wide swings in the economy as well
as governmental policies.
Someone shared an editorial with me from the Wall Street Journal written by Peggy
Noonan. I know very little about
Ms. Noonan, but I found her insights to be important. It is her premise that institutions that were designed and purposed
to “hold us together” as a nation, the glue of commerce and living, have
struggled, floundered and even failed this past decade because they had
forgotten their mission. According
to the article government, banks, Wall Street, even churches and schools have
lost their way. They have forgotten
or abandoned their mission for the sake of profits or individual gain. They have failed to first serve the
communities they are in place to support and worried primarily about the
possible advantages strictly from a personal or individualistic point of
view. I think there is a great
deal of truth to that insight. Noonan is calling for the watchwords of the next decade to be “repair,
rebuild and return.” This is good
advice for our nation, our businesses, our local governments, our churches, and
our schools. Holland Christian is
no exception to that charge to make sure we have not lost sight of our mission.
I am pleased to relate, as I have a few times in previous
pod casts, that the leadership of Holland Christian is neck deep in that very
effort. We are carefully
evaluating if we are remaining guided and directed by our mission. Are we fully aware of who we are as a
school and what sets us apart from other schools? Are we still doing business in the same manner as we have
always done it because it is easier or because it remains the best way to
govern and direct the school? Do
we know our priorities? Are our
limited resources being used in such a way that they match our priorities? Are we caught up in things that favor a
few but do not serve the entire community well? Are we making choices that are expedient but not sustainable
in the long term? These are
difficult but very critical questions that we must be asking constantly,
especially right now as we see institution after institution crumbling from
inside because they did not pay attention to their mission.
This is not a new idea. As a matter of fact we have been called to be repairers and
rebuilders in Scripture. Isaiah 58
tells us that the Lord will guide you always and He will satisfy your needs if
you will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise up the foundations, and then you
will be called Repairers of the broken walls. There are great lessons we can learn from the physical
attributes of being builders, repairers, and restorers. We must work as a community to rebuild
the walls on those foundational principals that have guided us for over 100
years. But that will not happen by
sitting on the sidelines. The time
for action is now; we can wait no longer. As a nation, as a community, as a school we must rise up together and
make absolutely sure we are returning to be being rebuilders and repairers of
God’s kingdom here on earth. It
starts with each person, each family, each business, each church, and each
school. Are we still doing what
God has called us to do? Are we
doing it as well as we can? The
promises are great if we are faithful to that call.
