1
REImagining Faith-Based Education
What We Teach, How We Teach and The Systems In Which We Teach
REImagining Faith1Based Education
2
S E C TI O N I : WH A T WE T E AC H
THE 3E’S OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE
I first began working with young people in the 1970’s. At that time, I was a musician and speaker
traveling nearly 350 days a year. I felt a deep, personal call to missionary work – first in Mexico and
Latin America – and then with gang-engaged youth in the United States.
Eventually, my work began to focus on values and faith education in detention centers and alternative
schools.
Over time, I began to realize young people love to be involved in reciprocal conversations with caring
adults, so I began creating environments for this to occur within juvenile detention centers. During
the last two decades, I have had thousands of conversations with young people in multiple
environments including orphanages, private and public schools, as well as detention centers. Now, I
spend about three-quarters of the year teaching the modalities of these “Significant Conversations,” to
community and church leaders, school professionals and volunteer mentors in numerous countries.
The crux of my work with adults has been 1) to raise awareness and teach the “how-to’s” of creating
intergenerational, authoritative communities with young people and 2) to share with educators and
mentors the principles of teaching through Socratic instead of didactic methods (teaching through
“Significant Conversations”). Simultaneously, the focus of my work with young people has been
teaching the “3E’s of a Meaningful Life”: Three critical traits that young people must possess to live a
life of purpose and joy in the world we are passing on to them.
The E’s consist of the ability to:
1.
Enthuse The ability to self-initiate joy
2.
Encourage The ability to put courage into the hearts of others (self- initiate community)
3.
Engage The ability to state a compelling vision that motivates others to act.
More will be said about these values in succeeding chapters. However, we cannot just hope young
people will acquire these character-traits simply because they are educated in a faith- based system.
It is critical that we intentionally identify and impart these values to young people in a meaningful
way.
First, let’s look at each trait in more detail and see why it is especially applicable today.
E1 Enthuse – Self-Initiate Joy
The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek term “Entheos.” Anytime we see “theo” in Greek, we
know it has to do with God. Theology is the “study of God.” Theophilus (to whom Luke ad- dressed his
Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles) means “love of God.” Entheos means the in-burning fire or we
could even say, the Spirit of God.
If our students are to live enthusiastic lives, they will need to break the seductive bonds of an
entertainment society and take responsibility for their own joy. They will need to be able to selfenthuse, creating lifelong habits that condition them for the in-burning fire of God. They will need to
be able to practice the habits of joy.
REImagining Faith2Based Education
3
Joy is distinct from contemporary concept of material happiness that include such false promises as:
1.
the absence of pain
2.
circumstantial contentment
3.
immediate self-gratification
4.
the falsehood that, “more” leads to happiness Instead, abiding joy is found through meaningful involvement in a shared vision We need to help
young people understand that – in this life – the optimal conditions for obtaining bliss are a rarity, but
they can make any situation better if they choose to do so. This ability to self-initiate joy – regardless
of one’s circumstance – develops resilient young people whose inner strengths are not dependent on
external circumstances. The traits of joy are found

in Eucharistic community

in a significant and meaningful life

in compassionate service

in simplicity
The Apostle Paul modeled such formidable joy when he stated; ”Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in
any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of
having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
— Philippians 4:11-13 E2 Encourage – Self-Initiate Community It is only when we mature beyond a self-centric viewpoint that we start living a truly meaningful life.
Encouraging others means to “put strength in someone else’s heart.” Such a way of life requires us to
experience someone else’s situation, not just for a moment but for a sustained period of time. It must
be long enough to move beyond “advice-giving” and pity. It must also
be long enough to give the other person strength to see his or her own path and set his or her own
direction. One of the many Greek words used to define the power of the Holy Spirit was Paraclete, a
Greek term that means to comfort, advocate and en- courage. Isaiah tells us to “Encourage the
exhausted and strengthen the feeble [Isaiah 35:3].” Paul tells us to “Encourage one another and build
up one another [1 Thessalonians 5:11].”
When Jesus prepares to die, he blesses the Apostles with an ancient term for peace, “Shalom!”
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
REImagining Faith3Based Education
4
— John 14:26-27
When Jesus speaks of this peace, he says, “I do not give to you as the world gives.” The peace of Christ
is not akin to many contemporary definitions of the term. It does not mean:
Pax Romana (the peace of Rome which was possible only if they had the biggest army or the most
advanced weaponry)
The absence of conflict The shalom of Jesus comes from an ancient blessing that parents gave their
children and God often gave to his leaders and prophets. David gave “the blessing” to his son
Solomon:
“Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the LORD God, my God, is
with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the
LORD is finished.”
— 1 Chronicles 28:20
In our world we often equate peace with homeostasis and com- fort but to the follower of Christ,
peace is intimacy with Jesus. Our Lord offers us peace within conflict. He gives us the courage to act
fearlessly in the knowledge that God will not fail nor for- sake us. This is the peace – the shalom – that
Jesus gives us and commissions us to give to others. Not a peace based in dominance, but a peace
based in service. Not a peace reliant on com- fort and ease, but a peace that is meaningful and
mission- focused.
We are called not to leave chaos to find inner peace but to find chaos and bring Christ’s peace to that
situation.
We have the opportunity to disciple – not just educate – a gen- eration of “peacemakers”; young men
and women who have the strength and courage to act on God’s promises. “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God [Mat- thew 5:9].”
E3 Engage – State a Compelling Vision
The third E – Engage – requires empathy, great negotiation skills and adroit conceptual thinking. An
engaging person has the abil-ity to a) identify potential crisis as well as the growth opportunities of a
group or community and to b) help articulate those is- sues in a c) compelling way that encourages
others to act.
The action the group eventually chooses must also be “unconditionally constructive” resulting in a
win/win for:
1.
All the participants within the group – especially those unable to speak for themselves
2.
All the respondents outside the group that might be affected by the group’s decisions
3.
Future generations that might be affected by the actions of the group
(The term “unconditionally constructive” comes from the book, Getting To Yes; Negotiating
Agreement Without Giving In, Roger Fisher and William L. Ury, Penguin Books, 1981, Copyright ©
Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, 1981, 1991)
REImagining Faith4Based Education
5
Can you imagine educating a generation who could incorporate these skills in all aspects of life, both
personal and communal? They would be skillful at practicing the art of compassion, while rejecting
pity.
Pity looks down upon people. Pity observes people’s pain but doesn’t share it. Compassion shares the
pain and joy of people. You can’t form compassionate responses to an issue “from a distance.” You
have to share in the situation. Jesus did not observe our plight “from a distance.” He became
“incarnate,” which means he took on our flesh and made his “tent” among us.
Young people who can compassionately engage a community will be leaders wherever they find
themselves, regardless of their position or possessions. Like Jesus, a person doesn’t need authority to
lead in this manner. In fact, worldly authority frequently inhibits leadership because that type of
power is usually a response to a perceived lack of personal or institutional control.
Worldly authority often seeks to control people through:

position

controlling limited resources

cultivating an ideology

claiming special knowledge or privilege Christ influenced people through:

acts of mercy and justice

seeking out the “least of these”

prayer and humility

rejecting manipulation and choosing to treat all people with unconditional dignity

empowering the faith of those he restored to wholeness: “Your faith has healed you [Mark
5:34]!” Authority without accountability leads to a manipulation of people justified by the Machiavellian
precept that, “the ends justify the means.” This “expedience mentality” was used to justify Christ’s
death. Caiaphas and Annas – the high priest of the Sanhedrin and his stepfather – did not question
Jesus’ wisdom, miracles, or claims.
Instead they found his death “expedient” because his truth was inconvenient to those in authority.
So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound him,
and led him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now
Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of
the people.
— John 18:12-14
REImagining Faith5Based Education
6
Teaching young people how to be Christ-like leaders also means teaching them about the temptations
of power (and especially how our Lord resisted the enticement to use his power to manipulate people
– the third temptation of Satan).
What we teach, how we teach, and the system within which we teach should all model the nonmanipulative dictum, “If you don’t control the means, you can’t control the ends.”
Dynamic communities have a large base of involved participants who feel their voices will be heard
and that they are a meaningful part of the organism (I prefer to think of communities as organisms –
living entities – rather than organizations – bureaucratic or mechanistic entities).
Indeed we could say that the greatest motivation for any individual is a sense of meaningful
involvement in a common and significant endeavor.
Christ taught these principles to his disciples, knowing full well they would come up against the
power and might of authoritarian systems:
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves.”
— Matthew 10:16
In essence, we need to share with and model to young people that, “Although the world may not be
fair, with Christ’s help, you and I will always be just.”
Peace in our children’s day will be critically linked to their ability to engage those most vulnerable
and least engaged. Ultimately it is the least engaged who have the most power. Why? Because if a
“system” doesn’t work there is no reason to participate in its vitality or growth.
Gangs and terrorists are extreme examples of those who are least engaged in the current rewards and
benefits of our cities and our nations today. They are small groups of extremists who recruit those
with very little to gain by adhering to existing social, economic and political mores.
If young people do not have the ability to engage the disengaged by “articulating a compelling vision
that motivates others to act,” then peace will evade them. If they do have these skills, they will thrive.
Can our educational systems model these values? Can we use methods of education that will
exemplify these skills? Can we administer our teaching in such a way that the least engaged –
whether adults or students – will be motivated by a sense of meaningful involvement in a significant
endeavor? Practicing and teaching such a model will make young people leaders in the world they are
inheriting from us. It will make our faith- based systems of education a model to the rest of the world.
REImagining Faith6Based Education