Articles
Turning a Blind Eye
Turning a Blind Eye
By Krystal Dunlap
As a high school teacher, I have learned that teens can struggle with fulfilling their school responsibilities. The surprising truth is that they also know it. This self-awareness leads some students to seek ways to hide what they have not done. A few believe that cyber school, the setting in which I work, seems to be a great means do so. They are at home, away from the prying eyes of teachers (or so they think). Ironically, I am empowered with wisdom beyond my students’ understanding. One of our teacher systems, somewhat ironically named Genius, tracks when a student accesses my class, what lessons they view, what assignments they open, and even how long they spend on any activity, down to the literal second.
Thus, I come full of knowledge to my students in phone calls to discuss their irresponsible behavior. Funnily enough, some teens try to hide behind lies. They insist that they have attended daily, diligently studied, and worked on all assignments. When told that the system shows that they have opened my class on only one day that month during which they completed a test in three minutes, a few still persist in their self-delusions. Even more surprisingly, a few students continue to avoid responsibility following these confrontations despite knowing that I can see all that they do. Unfortunately, their dishonesty and continued refusal to change results in failure for them.
Sadly enough, mankind suffers from these same teenaged behaviors in their spiritual lives. We all struggle at times to fulfill our responsibilities laid out in Scripture. In those moments, we may wish to ignore or hide such failings. Just as with my physical separation from my students, the lack of God’s immediate presence may lull us into a sense of false safety. However, we must remember that He, the omniscient One, is aware of everything that we do or do not do. God follows all of our actions, even to our very footsteps (Job 34:21). Thus, He truly can judge us with full knowledge.
We may not lie about our lack of effort to God directly as some of my students do with me. Instead, though, we lie to ourselves, a behavior that is even more dangerous. By refusing to admit the truth inwardly, we fail to see where we do not fulfill our spiritual responsibilities. Thankfully, our conscience was given to us as one means to combat self-delusions. It bears witness of our actions, so can call us on our behavior when it is not in line with what we know to be the will of God (Rom. 2:15-16; 1 John 3:21-22). So, we should honestly listen to and heed our conscience.
Ultimately, we must remember that the Father will someday judge us for everything, secret or open, that we have done (Ecc.12:13). As could my poor teenaged students, we can avoid failure on judgment day. If tempted to ignore or hide our sins, let us recall that God possesses perfect knowledge about them. Rather than attempt to self-deceive, let us honestly examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5). When convicted by our conscience, let us correct all weaknesses. Thus, we can fulfill all of our responsibilities to our Lord.
Food for Thought:
“You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel. Remember that.” (Anonymous)
“Accountability breeds responsibility.” (Stephen R. Covey)
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
