THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR CHRISTIAN

"Steve Austin, astronaut: a man barely alive.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.
We have the technology.
We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man.
Steve Austin will be that man.
Better than he was before.
Better, Stronger, Faster!"

Remember those words? They were the intro to the 70s TV hit "The Six Million Dollar Man" starring Lee Majors. Man, I loved that show!

Some of you know that my co-workers and I have been going through a bit of a crisis the past few weeks. It was discovered (by accident) that the private Christian school I am Principal at was being sold to another Christian school in total secrecy. We are under the ownership of a church denomination, and the local church whose campus we occupy is struggling financially. In addition to that, our school has been experiencing a steady "trickle" decline in our enrollment. Nearly all the Christian schools in our area are experiencing similar declines in enrollment. Times are tough, economically, and people who would like to make sacrifices to send their kids to Christian school are finding it more and more difficult to do so. So, the district governing board for the church decided to sell our campus in order to make their ends meet. All of this makes good business sense, although there are many problems with how the deal is going down, how it is being handled, and thankfully many parents are fighting to save our school to preserve it the way it is.

On top of the distress over the unknown future of my--God's--school, there is the added personal stress about where my children will go to school, and whether or not I will even have a job. The facts we do know don't give me any comfort in this regard.

So needless to say, I've been spending a little more time on my knees than I was in my blissful ignorance four weeks ago. Of course there are the typical spiritual questions, especially: "WHY??"

I believe I've received two answers to that question from the Lord. The first one I cannot be specific about, but suffice it to say that God does want Christians to take a stand for what is good and righteous, and to fight evil. I think of James 4:7--"Resist the devil and he will flee from you!" So my colleagues and I are taking a stand and I believe God's justice will prevail. I also believe it will be done in a way that no man can boast when the victory is complete, so that only God can receive credit for a miracle. Psalm 60:12 says, "With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies."

The second answer the Lord gave me, though, is much more important: God wants to make us "bionic Christians." What in the world do I mean by that? Well, we have to remember that God wants what's best for us. Sometimes that means He has to allow us to go through very trying times like these to strengthen our faith. And it's vitally important that as we go through these trying times, we act righteously and upright in response to the arrows sailing past us!

In one of my favorite books in the Bible, Job 17:9 says, "Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger."

Isaiah 40:29 says, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."

If we respond to these attacks in a Christlike manner, and if we rely solely on Him, God will make us stronger in our spiritual walk, just like the bionic man!

I remember a t-shirt my cousin had when we were kids. It had a big dust cloud with arms and legs flailing from inside, and the caption read, "Be patient. God's not finished with me yet!" However many days remain for me on this earth, by God's grace, He will always be working on me. He wants to make me "better, stronger, faster!" (Cue "Six Million Dollar Man" theme)