In one of our previous posts, How to Ignite Revivalists, we shared how you can spark revivalists in your school by sharing what a revivalist’s lifestyle looks like. In the same way, we want to help you convey academic requirements to your students to further support them in developing the behaviors and beliefs of a revivalist. May you be encouraged today knowing that as you communicate these guidelines, you are helping your students develop character that will sustain revival!
Convey the “Why” Behind Academic Requirements
When you communicate your school’s academic requirements to your students, we encourage you to convey the “why” behind them. It is important for your students to see your passion to unlock their greatest potential by pursuing excellence in their academic work. Defining the purpose of these requirements will motivate and empower them to put forth their greatest effort while attending your school.
At BSSM, we believe revival is sustained when men and women of character serve the Lord with passion and diligence! Therefore, our academic guidelines have been created to help our students establish lives that are rooted in integrity and character. We tell our students that when they adopt and fulfill our academic requirements, they are establishing the lifestyle of a revivalist!
Students are inspired to follow the academic rules we have put in place because they understand how adopting them supports their spiritual growth. Also, by communicating the “why” behind these requirements, our students understand our hearts to develop character within them so they may step into the fullness of their destinies. This communication fosters trusting relationships with our students and allows us to share wisdom that prospers their growth journeys.
Below is a glimpse into what we communicate to our students so that they understand the purpose behind our academic requirements.
We set attendance requirements because:
- We want students to develop character, accountability, and honor in their lives.
- We want students to be able to receive an impartation from every speaker, which requires attendance to school.
- We desire students to become a part of our school family. Connection is crucial for developing such family!
We set homework requirements because:
- We want students to develop a sense of responsibility, ownership, and spirit of excellence through their work.
- We believe the homework we assign is an invitation for revelation and an opportunity to encounter God.
- Through homework, students experience great transformation by applying what they receive in class.
We set graduation requirements because:
- We want students to experience the value of achievement.
- We want to celebrate what God has done in and through students’ lives.
- We want to honor the fruit of our students’ achievements.
Convey the Core Values that Drive Academic Excellence
In addition to communicating the “why” behind your academic requirements, we encourage you to also convey these guidelines out of the framework of your core values. Core values are designed to help students develop a strong, healthy root system that will produce the fruit of revival in their lives. When you define academic guidelines in the context of your core values, your students will understand how to practically walk out these truths in their lives.
We have developed 12 core values that we feel the Lord has asked us to highlight at BSSM:
- God is Good
- Salvation Creates Identity
- Joyfully Responsive to Grace
- Focused on His Presence
- Creating Healthy Family
- God’s Word Transforms
- God’s still Still Speaking
- Jesus Empowers Supernatural Ministry
- His Kingdom is Advancing
- Free and Responsible
- Honor Affirms Value
- Hope in a Glorious Bride
- Generous Like My Father
While these are not our only core values, these are the ones we feel called to emphasize and teach about in our school. We illustrate what each core value looks like and where it can be found in Scripture. For instance, we believe we are free and responsible, which means:
- Christ died to set us free from the law of sin and death, fear, and shame to establish us in freedom so we can live and love as God’s glorious children.
- Freedom is very personal, but it is not self-centered. Scripture says we have been given freedom to serve one another in love.
- Freedom and responsibility cannot be separated. We experience freedom when we are able to control ourselves. So we cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He produces the fruit of self-control in us.
- We endeavor to make sure the “size” of our self-control continues to grow and remain bigger than the size of our influence.
This core value helps us define our school’s academic requirements. We use the truth behind “free and responsible” to teach our students how stewardship of their attendance, homework, and other work to fulfill graduation requirements, is truly the fruit of self-control demonstrated in their lives. In fact, it is the expression of freedom!
To support our students to develop self-control that matches their level of influence, we keep them accountable for completing their homework assignments and attending classes, connection groups, outreaches, and church services. As a result, they develop character that will sustain revival in them and around them.
Remember, as a school leader, you carry the privilege of teaching and imparting a lifestyle to your students that will influence and draw others into the fullness of the kingdom! We encourage you to intentionally communicate academic requirements in a way that empowers them to adopt the core values and behaviors of a revivalist. May God release abundant wisdom and favor to you as you convey your desire to see your students succeed.
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