Do You Really Believe in Redemption?

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN REDEMPTION?

My oldest son teaches history at a local high school. In case you haven’t noticed, these are not your father’s high schools. Things have changed dramatically. The culture is in a rapid state of decay, which is to say it continues to reveal what it has always been. With the family unit in shambles the children are without even the structure which can provide some outward parameters for their behavior. And needless to say the challenge for teachers is very great as well.

Last year on the first day of school Jon was addressing his class and one child, a sophomore, was being continually disruptive. He ignore several warnings until eventually Jon sent him to the office. Now this kid had been dismissed from another high school for his behavior, and although he was a sophomore he was several years older than his peers since he had been left behind a few times. He was a black teenager that stood above 6 feet tall, and as he left the class he purposely went face to face with Jon in front of the entire class as if he was challenging Jon physically.

Jon, who is a bodybuilder kept his cool and the kid left the class without further incident. His name is Xavier. Later on Jon and Xavier and a few members of the administration gathered together to discuss the incident. Xavier slouched in his chair and appeared either disinterested or angry or both. The administration asked Jon what he thought should be the course of action. Jon looked at Xavier and said that he was willing to start fresh if Xavier would agree to two things. First he would show Jon respect in the classroom and secondly that if he had any problems he would come and talk them over with Jon. Appearing a little surprised by the turn of events, Xavier agreed and Jon and he shook hands.

As the school year progressed Jon noticed a change in Xavier’s behavior. He used to be a D and F student, and now he was an A and B student. And he no longer disrupted the classroom. This change eventually became the norm. Xavier now saw Jon as a friend and mentor, and he hung around Jon as much as he could. And Jon insisted that Xavier showed his report card to all of his teachers.

Now the administration had been looking for a reason to dismiss Xavier because of his past behavior and because of his age. He would not graduate until he was 20 years old. So they called another meeting with school officials and with the person who oversees those kind of dismissals. Jon and Xavier were invited to participate in that meeting. The head administrator spoke to Jon and told him that they would go with whatever Jon thought was right. Should the school dismiss Xavier because of his advanced age?

Jon looked at Xavier sitting next to him and told him that this was now a matter of personal responsibility because Jon would take some responsibility for Xavier, but it would be up to him to step up and make Jon and everyone else proud. The meeting ended with allowing Xavier to stay in school. Love covers a multitude of sins. But that is not the end of the story.

A few days ago Xavier came up to Jon and informed him that his father had died. He showed Jon a picture of his father on his phone (see, times have changed) and told him a few other things. Xavier told Jon that he had never met his father, and that his father had been murdered while in prison. Jon had not known this. Ok, all you moralists who rant about the breakdown of the family unit but show little compassion and understanding for those who are the products of such a breakdown; You who believe in redemption but refuse to put flesh on its doctrinal bones, can this kind of story open your eyes to redemptive opportunities rather than shouting at the darkness? You who have been redeemed, do you seek the redemption of others?