Student Gets an “A” for Hacking into School’s Computer
I met a student a few years ago who told me he once hacked his way into a mainframe computer and got an “A” for his efforts. He was a 4.0 student in his high school class and had to complete one of three projects to graduate. He chose the project that would test his skill and benefit his school as well.
Once he received permission from his principal and the teacher who served as project leader, he began hacking his way into their computer system. School officials knew he had been successful when they reviewed his records and saw his GPA dropped below 2.0.
The straight “A” student got a top mark for the project and graduated with honors. His high school also benefited as they learned how to improve security for the school system computer network. The High school had a problem but didn’t realize it. It took a young man, with some initiative and know how, to reveal weaknesses that needed to be addressed and fixed.
In the New Testament we are introduced to a man with great knowledge of Scripture and the Christian faith, helping a younger man overcome his spiritual weaknesses. Paul was assisting Timothy to gain a bolder, Scripture inspired faith.
In a letter to his student (1 Timothy 6:11-21), Paul challenged Timothy with action words like flee, pursue, fight, take hold of, keep, guard, and turn away. The mentor’s goal was to root and equip the younger man to become mature in the Christian faith - strong and secure in who he is in Christ - and how to follow Jesus and make His name more famous in the world.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:20, “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge.” The student was receiving instruction and help to avoid the problems and pitfalls of wrong thinking and actions.
Do you have a mentor in your life (i.e, like Paul) that is helping you become more like Jesus? If not, look around and find a stronger believer in Jesus who can help you address the weaknesses in your life and help you learn and apply Scripture to your life. A true mentor (or discipler) will lovingly address your weaknesses while helping you establish a strong understanding of what you are supposed to believe as a Christian and why.
Seek out someone to help smooth the rough spots out of your faith - no hacking necessary.
Love is a verb,
Mike Olejarz
P.S. Some of you should also be thinking about who you can mentor in the faith. Who is your Timothy? Eric would be glad to offer training and coaching in how you can assist others to follow you as you follow Christ.
