Clear Focus: Rediscovering the Most Important Aspect of Christian School Ministry

By Stephen G. Reel

Clear Focus . . .

is primarily for Christian school educators, but I believe this is a must-read for every single Christian. I was both convicted and challenged in my everyday walk with the Lord.

Dr. Glen Schultz, Author of Kingdom Education

helps us to refocus on who so that the tyranny of what does not rob us of the joy of ministry. This is a must-read for anyone ministering in Christian schooling.

Dr. Daniel Egeler, President of the Association of Christian Schools International

Clear Focus encourages and equips Christian educators to regain vision, purpose, and fulfillment in ministry. With a passion for discipleship, Stephen shares rich insights through compelling stories and biblical applications. He also draws on his experience from two tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps.

In a world full of distractions, maintaining focus can be difficult if not impossible. When we focus intently on who, we begin to escape the tyranny of what, which steals the joy from our lives and service. Jesus perfectly modeled this for us. Follow Him through any day of His ministry, and you will see His focus is always on a who. Ours should be too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490883199

Stephen G. Reel

Stephen Reel has served over twenty-five years in Christian school ministry as a Bible teacher, school administrator, and adjunct professor. Since 2004, he has served as the superintendent of Southside Christian School in Simpsonville, South Carolina. He was recently appointed as the senior director, Southern Division, for the Association of Christian Schools International. He and his wife of thirty years, Melanie, have three children.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Stephen G. Reel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8318-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8320-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8319-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015908997

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/29/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Focus

Chapter 2 One Incredible Day with Jesus

Chapter 3 A Stunning End to the Incredible Day

Chapter 4 Follow the Eyes of Jesus

Chapter 5 Rowing to the Other Side Ministries

Chapter 6 Blurry Focus

Sin Causes Blurry Focus

Selfishness Causes Blurry Focus

Weariness Causes Blurry Focus

Worry Causes Blurry Focus

Distractions Cause Blurry Focus

Chapter 7 Clear Focus

Clear Focus Requires Faith

Clear Focus Is Always about Producing Life

Clear Focus Has Compassion for the Desperate

Clear Focus Is Seeing the Whos through the Rearview Mirror

Clear Focus Is Obtained When We Serve with the Right Motivation

Clear Focus Is Evidenced by Joy

Clear Focus Prioritizes What in Order to Serve Who

Clear Focus Is Developed with Heat and Pressure

Clear Focus Is Unwavering in Storms and Battles

Clear Focus Facilitates Conflict Resolution

Clear Focus for God’s

Will Is Acquired through Peace

Chapter 8 Focus in Action

Magnify the Potential

Reach Out to the Unreachable

Encourage the Discouraged and Disqualified

Restore the Imago Dei

Take Action in His Strength

Battle from an Angel’s Perspective

Speak the Very Words of God

We Have Come As More Than Conquerors

Preparing Our Students

Chapter 9 Follow the Eyes of Jesus Again

Chapter 10 Go to the Other Side Again

Chapter 11 A True Story of Clear Focus

Conclusion

Endnotes

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources:

English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Holy Bible, New Living Translation. copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

New Century Version (NCV) The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

This book is dedicated to my best friend and love of my life, Melanie.

Her clear focus on Jesus and on our family is a constant inspiration to me.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

When I conducted a search of the most commonly used words in Clear Focus, the number one result was Jesus! I rejoice in Christ alone so that in everything he might have the supremacy (Col. 1:18). It is with a grateful heart I acknowledge my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, without Whom I could never have clear focus.

I am also grateful for a lifetime of wonderful teachers and mentors who have instilled in me a love for learning. I will always remember my fifth grade teacher, Miss Ramsey, who told my class that one day she wanted to read the books that I would write. Her confidence in me often sustained me when I had doubts about writing a book. This is also a tangible reminder of the powerful result of a teacher’s clear focus on her students.

I want to thank the members of the Southside Christian School Board of Directors for all of their support for this project. I am especially grateful for the gift of time they gave me to write. Special recognition goes to Dr. Jim and Becky Baucum for the use of their beautiful lake house, allowing me to truly have clear focus during the writing process.

I am especially indebted to the faculty/staff of Southside Christian School for their exceptional modeling of clear focus in their daily ministry to their students and families. They were my inspiration for this book. I am also appreciative of the faculty/staff of Ipeka Christian School in Jakarta, Indonesia, for granting me the privilege to share many of the concepts of Clear Focus in their professional development sessions. Their encouragement spurred me on to completion.

I am very thankful for the copy editing skill and assistance of Denise Loock with Lightning Editing Services. Thanks also to Jennifer Morris and the entire WestBow Press team for their wonderful support.

Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my family and friends who have supported me throughout this journey. There is really no way to quantify how much their confidence, words of encouragement, and enthusiastic support has meant to me. I am standing upon their shoulders.

INTRODUCTION

Who, what, when, where, why, and how? We ask these essential questions about almost everything, rattling them off in a single breath as if they have equal weight. I suggest we change our perspective. The primary question we should ask is who? The other questions are secondary. They should support the first question:

• What for who?

• When for who?

• Where for who?

• Why for who?

• How for who?

When we focus intently on who, we begin to escape the tyranny of what, which steals the joy from our lives and service. Jesus perfectly modeled this for us. Follow Him through any day of His ministry, and you will see His focus is always on a who. Ours should be too.

My sincere prayer for you as you read Clear Focus is that you will be able to rediscover this most important aspect of Christian school ministry.

About the Cover: Jesus said, I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35). This stalk of wheat reminds us that every person God brings into our lives is worthy of our clear focus.

CHAPTER 1

Focus

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

Proverbs 4:25 (ESV)

Focus.

If we are honest, the word focus seems intimidating and tiresome. It takes hard work and intentionality to focus on something. It does not help when we are constantly surrounded by sensory overload every waking minute of the day—a frenetic barrage of multiple images, sounds, words, and symbols, all vying for our attention—and that is just on our smart phones. This digital bombardment, combined with an assortment of other visual and auditory interruptions, is a constant competitor of any person we encounter. Thankfully, someone coined the word multitasking to help ease our guilt and justify the insanity of it all.

In the blur of this full-fledged assault on our minds, focus seems nearly impossible. Yet we recognize that excellence requires focus. We respect and appreciate the focus of people such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs because their commitment to technology revolutionized the way we live our lives. Or how about the tremendous mental and physical focus of Olympic athletes? We admire the Swiss for their watches, each one fashioned with precision and integrity. One of my cousins is an accomplished architectural artist who is commissioned to draw, in intricate detail, famous buildings such as the Biltmore House. He often works on a single square inch of a drawing for weeks to ensure every line and shadow perfectly matches the original.¹ What focus!

We expect that kind of focus from those who serve us—from a cashier in a grocery store or a waiter at a restaurant. We grow impatient if our servers are multitasking while attending to our needs. Would any of us want to have an unfocused brain surgeon operating on our child? Of course not. We expect a laser-like focus on something that significant. But sadly, we often lack the discipline and practice necessary to achieve it ourselves.

In Christian school ministry, we have been given the privilege to serve as skilled artisans for our Lord, equipping our students—His masterpieces created in Christ Jesus—to do the good things He designed for them to do (Ephesians 2:10). So focus is not optional; it is required.

Give focus a try. Take a moment, close your eyes, and try to focus on something for a moment or two. Do not skip this important exercise. No peeking. And do not fall asleep while you do it.

Focus.

44140.png

Back so soon? That was fast. So how many of us would be willing to admit that we could not remain focused on something for even one minute? Sad, huh? Why is it so difficult? We could blame all the distractions since there are certainly plenty of them. But I suggest that even in a sound-proof room without any electronic devices, noises, and images, without practice and serious mental concentration, we would not be much more effective at focusing on something—even with our eyes closed. We are prone to engage in mental gymnastics, so we often become as distracted with rabbit-trail thoughts with our eyes closed as we do when our eyes are open. If we are honest, much of our prayer life is like this. Ouch!

Try something different. Close your eyes and focus on a person whom you love for a moment or two. Again, do not skip this or you will miss the main point of the chapter.

44142.png

That was easier, right? Maybe your mind, like mine, was flooded with joyful thoughts and memories of that person—how beautiful she looks when the sunlight catches her face at just the right angle with a little sweep of hair falling across her face, how those deep blue eyes sparkle, how she hums when she is happy as she prepares dinner for our family, how she looks at her children with such deep compassion when they are hurting, how the sound of her voice almost sings when she is proud of me, and how she sinks into my arms after a long day and sighs, I need you. Ahhh.

Forgive me. I got lost when I focused on the love of my life, my bride of thirty years, Melanie. Perhaps you did that too as you thought about someone dear to you. And if we added a few visual or auditory cues, we could probably focus intently on that person for a longer period of time.

The key? We are focusing on a who.

That should not surprise us. Our Creator designed us that way. In fact, we were designed to focus on Him. God is the ultimate Who of our existence. Moses wrote, If … you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut. 4:29). The psalmist asked, Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Ps. 73:25-26). God is the object of our eternal focus. Isaiah wrote, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Isa. 26:3 NLT). Another psalmist wrote, I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal (Ps. 123:1-2 NLT).

No wonder Scripture instructs us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2 NKJV). He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). And His light, shining in our heart, gives us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

The words of songwriter Helen H. Lemmel are fitting:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

The inspiration for these lyrics came from the writings of author and artist Lilias Trotter. Her love and calling for missionary service to the Muslims of Algeria caused her to lay down her love for art to more perfectly focus on Jesus. The following is an excerpt from her tract, Which Passion Will Prevail?

Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the good hiding the best. It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Dare to have it out with God, and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focused on Christ and His Glory. Turn your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him.²

Once we understand the significance of focusing on the true Who of our existence, we can then begin to understand how to properly focus on other whos in our life. People matter to God, and because of this, they must matter to us. In effect, they deserve our focus because they have His focus. As we focus on the Lord, we will soon learn that the focus of His attention is on His precious creations, made in His image and likeness. We will be captivated by the fact that He loves each and every one of these replicas of Himself. Although they are marred and broken from the devastating effects of sin, He longs for them to be fully restored. He weeps over them with compassion. He desires for them to be back in close fellowship with the Trinity.

As we watch for the slightest signal from our Master, we will soon realize He wants to use us as His agents of mercy to others. Hebrews 7:25 states that Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Jesus longs to rescue, redeem, and restore those He loves. And He wants to use us in the process.

Let me illustrate. Think back to a time before you were a Christian. How did you come to know and understand the mercy of God? How did you realize that He wanted to rescue you from your sinful condition? Did you one day come to your senses and seek God through remorseful prayer and Bible reading? Maybe. But it is more likely that someone came to you with the message of God’s love. God sent that person as an agent of mercy. That person was focused on a who—you. Consider Paul’s description in Romans 10:

As Scripture says … Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are