4 Key Questions
By Mr Ian Keast
Posted on 03 November 2008
When I became a Christian in Year 8 at High School I was encouraged and mentored by several different people: leaders in my church youth group and bible study, and also in the ISCF (Inter School Christian Fellowship) group at school. We had about ten teachers who assisted with this group. It was, from memory, quite large, about 40-50 boys attended each week for bible talks and prayer. It was very helpful for a young Christian wanting to be a witness for Christ where he was at that time- at school. Leadership training, larger rallies and so on were added to the variety of activities of ISCF, but the focus was clearly expressed in its motto: to know Christ and make Him known.
Our heroes
We had our heroes in that time: the early sixties. Being fascinated and obsessed with cricket, it was a great influence that some of the test players were Christians, in particular, Brian Booth (Australia) and David Shepherd (England). Imagine our delight and thrill when our ISCF group was invited to supply ushers for a youth rally in Sydney Town Hall, at which these two players were speaking. They spoke honestly about being top sportsmen and being Christians who wanted to honour Christ in all they did: their words and deeds made a great impact on us.
Another hero
These cricketers were very public heroes. There was another one, who for me was memorable: one of the teachers I had, who, in his quiet and unassuming way, was a mentor during those years. He met regularly with a small group of us and he prayed with us and for us during those formative years of High School in the sixties: the years of the Beatles, Vietnam, the questioning of established mores and morality, protests, folk music, conscription... his words and deeds as a Christian teacher were a major influence on my life. He lived out that motto, to know Christ and make Him known.
Four questions
When we met, he kept coming back to four questions for us to think and pray about:
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What would we do with our lives when we finished school?
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What gifts had God given to us? (Were we, for example, good at sport? academic work? music? drama? working with people?)
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How could we use these gifts to serve Christ? ("As Christians", he would say, "this is our primary concern - to serve Christ.")
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Where was a strategic place to serve Christ? (In answering this question, he was unapologetic: "Boys", he would say to us, "our schools are strategic places in which to serve Christ. Why? Because the teacher has the unique vocation to make an impact on the next generation.")
Forty years on... I can still hear him say these words. They were important to me, when, a few years after school, I had to make a final decision about teacher training. They are important questions now for Christians to think and pray about.
They are also important questions which form the basis of the Christians in Teaching Project. For more details, contact Alison Wheldon.
