High School valedictorian Brittany McComb decided to thank God during her commencement speech in Las Vegas, Nevada last month. The incident received nationwide attention because the leadership of the local school district responded by turning off her microphone in the middle of the speech. The audience responded by booing the administration. The administration responded that they had done it because the ACLU told them to. Brittany McComb responded by suing the Clark County School District for violating her First Amendment right to free speech. These kinds of conflicts have almost become a yearly graduation ritual. Arguing about God seems to be one of our new American past times. But there is a broader point that may even be more important than who ultimately wins the G-word debate. A disproportionately high number of top high school scholars are outspoken Christians. 

            Here in Grove, the top ten students are each allowed a short graduation speech. Seven of the ten mentioned God or church in their speech. We all know that 70% of the student body of any American high school is not committed to serve God. So what accounts for this high percentage Christians among the best of our youth? 

            Atheism and humanism have been claiming for decades that believing in God is illogical and intelligent people know better. But all across America the brightest and best of our young people are acknowledging God as their source and strength. I’d offer a couple of explanations for this phenomenon. First, every person is born with a knowledge of God (Romans 1:19). Along with that comes a longing for ultimate meaning. At the most important times in our lives (graduations, weddings, funerals, etc), we instinctively desire to connect with eternity and the Eternal God. 

            Second, the Bible gives Christian parents some specific guidelines for raising children. Obviously not every Christian follows them, but those who do produce young people who are emotionally well adjusted, academically focused and prepared to succeed in life. Christian parents teach their children sound work ethics. They instill in them honesty, integrity, commitment and perseverance. Add to that Christ-like qualities of forgiveness, acceptance and eternal focus and it produces a quality individual. It is possible, of course, for non-Christian parents to teach some of these things to their children. But I believe that is the exception just as inadequate Christian parents are the exception. 

            So when next year’s seniors publicly thank God for His blessings, I will be thanking God for Christian parents who “train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6).”

Pastor Steven G. Dyer

     She was in her early 20s, intelligent, attractive and Israeli.  As a student in my Western Civilization college course, she talked passionately of her homeland and her people.  

It was 1993 and I was teaching as an adjunct instructor at Tidewater Community College in Virginia.  Newly elected President Bill Clinton had just brokered a new peace accord between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  This young lady was very excited about the prospects of peace in Israel and very optimistic about peace in the future.

     I almost felt guilty injecting reality into her youthful optimism, but her world view was woefully incomplete.  My young student could see the “what” of war in the Middle East, but surprisingly, she did not understand the “why.”  Apparently she had been raised in a secular home and had only minimal understanding of the religious foundations of the land where she had grown up.

     The Middle East conflict is not just about land or power.  The root of the unrest has perhaps the deepest of all possible causes; God.  Both the Jews and the Arabs believe God gave the land in Israel (or Palestine depending upon which side you’re talking with) to them.  Thus, there are only two possible ways to bring peace to the region; either one side destroys the other permanently, or one side converts the other permanently.  Anything short of that will be a temporary peace at best.

I explained this to my student and suggested she go home and think about it.  The next class period she came back and acknowledged that was exactly what was driving the fighting.  She agreed with me that neither of these two outcomes is likely to happen soon, so the fighting will continue.

President Clinton’s peace agreement is now long forgotten along with others before and since.  Government leaders should continue to work for peace and cease fires and we pray they are successful.  But ultimately, the core issues remain.

     Most Americans don’t understand the core issues and therefore don’t understand why Jews and Arabs can’t just agree to live together peacefully.  Land, ancestors, and religion are perhaps the three most emotional issues we humans deal with.  Wrap them all up into two totally opposing values systems and you have modern day Israel and Palestine.

     In this most recent eruption of fighting, President Bush deserves some credit for not following in the footsteps of previous American presidents, (Republican and Democrat,) who blamed Israel for defending themselves when they were attacked. 

     As Christians, our sympathies lie with Israel.  God told Abraham that he would “bless those who bless you” (Genesis 12:3).  The Bible further admonishes us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6).  Christianity is rooted in Judaism and the New Testament teaches us that Gentile Christians are the spiritual children of Abraham as Hebrews are the physical children of Abraham.

     That does not mean that Christians wish the death of the Palestinians or that we favor war.  It does mean we want our government to stand by Israel as we “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”  While we hope for temporary peace in the Middle East, Christians believe the land of Jesus will not experience permanent peace until Jesus returns to the land.

Every weekday morning, several thousand Cubans line up around the block in front of the U.S. Embassy office in Havana.  They are asking for permission to visit the United States.  Most go home disappointed.

            I’ve had the privilege of traveling to other countries on numerous occasions as part of my ministry work.  Everywhere I go, people want to come to America.  The simple freedoms that many of us take for granted everyday are not available in most of the world.