The Student & The Professor

"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." -Titus 3:1-2

THE STUDENT AND THE PROFESSOR (story)

I do not want to go to my next class. My professor is flat out dumb. I can say that at least ninety-nine percent of students in the class think so too. I love learning about music—the theory, the variety of music, the different sounds, all of it. There's just one problem. My professor. He stinks. No one likes him.

I remember this one day. We were learning about modulation. I'm not going to go further into explaining this subject, but the way my professor explained it was just stupid. People around me were laughing to themselves, making eye contact with others in the room, and the prof had no idea. It was pretty funny, actually. The way he teaches is pointless. It does not help. I mean, why does he even try? How does he even have the position to teach? I bet if we picked a student in the classroom, who was the worst at teaching, to teach, they would do better than him. He just makes a fool of himself. Anyways, as he was trying to explain this subject, he would make the weirdest gestures to try and explain it. I forgot to mention, this was the third day in a row explaining this to us. So, we already understand. What a joke. What is the point of coming to class? Near the end of his "teaching", as he was demonstrating modulation through his gestures, he tripped over his own foot and collided with a music stand and stumbled to the ground, looking completely ridiculous and clumsy. This caused an enormous uproar of laughter in the room. And I don't even feel bad to say that I was probably the loudest one laughing. What a day that was.

Ever since then, the students shared the joy in making fun of him. We imitated his gestures, laughed hysterically about his little mannerisms, and more—both in class, and outside of class.

But I remember one day, and I'll never forget it. I felt so guilty. And I must share. We were in class, and it was the week before finals week. At this point, the professor knows that he is hated, and that no one likes him because of his quirks. Near the end of class, he did another gesture trying to explain recapitulation. I saw around the room looking for people's eyes to get a laugh going. Very soon, students just start giggling in their seats, whispering to each other. Some grumbled and made faces. But the sound grew louder and louder. The professor knew too. Suddenly, he just stopped talking and dropped his arms to his side.

"There is no point," he said. "You all will not listen, but are more concerned about pointing out my faults." There was a short pause in the room. "Class dismissed." He leaves walking out the door, very direct.

This was too funny for us students. We started laughing out loud because at this point I knew everyone felt the same way I did. We started getting our stuff ready, when all of a sudden, one student says something. It was Johnny.

"Hey guys, can I just say something?"

He had a serious tone to his voice. The noise of everyone in the room died down and all were listening.

"Who are we?" asked Johnny.

No one knew how to respond to this, so there was silence.

"Does anyone here actually care for him? What if that was you? Could you handle all the crap from your students?"

"Uh, not if made a fool of myself every single day." Someone responded. This made everyone laugh, especially me.

"Just stop!" Johnny continued. "Look at yourselves. You have no respect for your teacher. Instead, you delight in making fun of him. In fact, it pleases your soul that he is put down. What makes your slander okay?"

We are dead in our tracks, surprised that someone had the guts to bring this up.

"Stop thinking about yourselves, please. Before you start to laugh again, because of the wickedness of your heart, take this time and opportunity to humble yourselves. Or have you forgotten what love is?" He gets up and leaves the room.

Oh, the conviction in the room. I guess I was right when I said ninety-nine percent.

Defend yourself all you want. God is looking at your heart. Doesn't matter what class and what subject. How will you respond? Even if you do not agree with the things the teacher believes, what is your response? How will you humble yourself?

G O D

I S

W A T C H I N G.

"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." -Titus 3:1-2