To Partner
Front Range Christian School exists to partner with the Christian home and the Church in training children for life and equipping them to impact the world for Christ.
“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
~ Genesis 2:18
At FRCS, we take our mission seriously. We know it. We dissect it. We reflect on it. There is not a word or phrase in this sentence that is carelessly or haphazardly chosen. I want to take the space this week to consider the specific phrase “to partner” in light of Genesis. There are interesting examples of business partnerships (such as Apple) or famous examples of historic explorers (such as Lewis & Clark) which would be interesting to examine through the lens of partnership, but the fullest and best image of real human partnership is marriage.
In Genesis, we see a picture of marriage in which Adam and Eve both need and want each other. In fact, the biblical text does a fascinating thing with a Hebrew phrase. In Genesis 2:18 (printed above), God makes Eve as a “helper suitable for him [Adam].” In Hebrew, the phrase “suitable helper” is ‘ezer-kenegdo. It is a unique and rich combination of two words. ‘Ezer means “to help” and kenegedo comes from the root meaning “to oppose.” Literally, Eve helps by opposing (to those readers who are married, that probably sounds about right).
This maybe makes more sense with a metaphor. Imagine a plank stood vertically on end with rounded edges. It would very easily tip over. Now imagine a second plank and the two pieces of wood leaning upon each other. By pushing against each other—by opposing—the planks can hold each other up. Partnership is like this.
Front Range does not exist to placate families. We do not exist to increase our enrollment. We do not exist to win championships or to build big stadiums or to have cutting edge technology or to get the highest scores on exams. None of those are necessarily wrong or evil things—and we put a lot of intentionality into pursuing them at times. But none of them are our mission.
Front Range exists to partner with the Christian home and the church. This means that at times, we need to be able to push upon the expectations or the assumptions of the home. Other times, we desperately need the home to push upon us—push upon our practices or our processes or our philosophies. If either one of us removes our voice from this thing, then school stops being a partnership and instead turns into a service.
Just like in marriage, sometimes partners need to remind each other that they need and want each other. This week, I want parents and students to be reminded that we need your participation and we want your voice—even when it is hard to hear. We need and want your ideas and your feedback. We need and want your critique and encouragement. We need your energy and your hope and your participation to make this thing better. At times this year, we may need you to listen. And at times this year, we may need you to speak up. I know that this school is not perfect.
That’s another way of saying that it needs you.
Partnership is somehow both messy and beautiful.
May Front Range be a place where real partnership occurs.
