Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, does God demand standards? This is prompted by an article I read in the New York Times recently about the dramatic turnaround in the state of Mississippi as it relates to public education. So, in 2013, Mississippi ranked 49th out of 50 states in education, and currently it's in the top 10 in most of the categories that matter. So from almost literally last to now, being one of the best states in the country for education, what's interesting is not just what they've done, but how they've done it. They did not do it through increased funding. They did not say, in other words, let's flood the schools with money, let's pay teachers more, let's build bigger buildings. Not that any of that's bad, but those are the usual talking points for what you do if you want education to be better. Do you know how they did? They raised standards, they raised expectations. They launched something called the Science of reading. Moving off just a phonics approach. They began to give each school a grade A through F on how they were teaching reading so that that school would be publicly identified with success or lack thereof. They gave credit for student growth among the schools that were achieving. And as a result of raising expectations, teachers got better, schools got better, and as a result, the state itself got better. It's interesting, because what a lot of states are doing is throwing money without accountability at education or even decreasing standards in the name of equity. But what's fascinating about Mississippi is even in their poorer school districts, school districts that we were told you couldn't hold accountable because of all the things they were dealing with, they are achieving results. And there's an idea under here that I think matters, and that is that people are capable of more. You know, we tend to think about accountability as a negative, telling people what they can or can't do, what they have or haven't done. But part of accountability is the underlying idea that you are capable of this. That the reason I'm actually going to hold you to the standard is because I believe you can do it. And remember that the Bible teaches that people are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27, Coming on the heels of God creating everything, says that God created man in his own image. In his own image, he created them, male and female. We are made in the image of a world shaping world creating God. Which means you're right to think we can accomplish some pretty significant results when we want to. What Mississippi said is not just we aren't getting enough from our teachers, but we think they're capable of more. Not just we aren't getting enough from our students, but we think they're capable of more. And so they found the right program and the right leaders, and they held them accountable and got the results. The truth is that part of believing people are made in the image of God means that we don't make excuses for them or for ourselves or all the time. We're not consistently lowering the bar in the name of valuing them, because actually that's devaluing them. I'm not saying there aren't situations where we don't need more resources or a change in strategy. Mississippi changed their strategy. But I am saying that as parents or educators or coachers or, coaches or employers or entrepreneurs, we need to believe that people can and. And that people will if and when we hold them accountable. So if you're listening to this and you need a pep talk this morning, you are made in the image of God, believe you are capable of more, hold yourself to a higher standard, and like Mississippi, you just might experience a pretty dramatic turnaround. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!