Why I've always been a bit of a girly man

Amongst writing sermons, Bible studies, learning two new languages, and composing essays galore - nearly every bone in my body wanted to say 'No way!' when another request came in this afternoon.

The request was to write 200-400 words (by tonight) for publication in a statewide magazine raising desperately needed support for SRE teachers in New South Wales.

I wanted to say no, but I couldn't. It's too important a work.

Here's what I wrote; (399 words)

Perhaps it stems from growing up in country NSW, or maybe from having three sisters, but I always thought blokes wearing jewellery was a bit girly. I still remember the first bit of jewellery I ever wore: 1996, Maclean Primary School, a black leather string with coloured beads threaded on, worn around my wrist. As it turns out, wearing a ‘bracelet’ is prime fodder for teasing and I quietly removed it after one afternoon. The offending jewellery was made in year six Scripture, as a way of introducing us to our High School SRE teacher. The coloured beads each represented something about Jesus. But for me it was a significant moment. Not because it was the first time I wore jewellery, but it marked the first time I had a public face as a follower of Jesus.

For me, that is the great benefit of SRE – giving Jesus a public face at school. I’m not sure when I first grasped the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection for my sins, but SRE helped joined the dots. High School SRE lessons were invaluable in forming my understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. It doesn’t sound much like school, but analysing popular songs, movies and TV shows, against the Bible’s teaching, illustrated clearly to me who Jesus is, and ultimately how understanding God is integral to making sense of our world.

But though Jesus had a public face, my public face as a follower of Jesus was still forming. I was thankful at the time my school was big enough that I could sneak off to ISCF without telling my friends where I was going, though I’m sure they knew. It wasn’t until university that I was finally comfortable in my Christian skin, yet the step of missing a game of handball to go and meet with others to talk about Jesus was a big step in developing my public face as a Christian.

I’m thankful to God for the investment my SRE teacher and Christian friends put into me during High School. As a result I was well prepared for leaving the comfort of home as a follower of Jesus. I am currently studying in first year at Moore Theological College in Sydney with my wife Sarah, and it is our hope to spend the rest of our days telling others about Jesus.