It’s happened to all of us at one point or another. We
have failed. Failure leads to many different emotions depending on how deep the
failure was or what the situation was. But, there is one specific instance that
many people think of when they hear the word fail: TESTS. (I mean, come on, you
have to expect this considering I’m studying to be a teacher). Tests and grades
have been a major subject in my education classes. The main subject, lately,
has been re-tests.
Giving re-tests is a difficult choice for some teachers.
They believe that it isn’t fair to the students that tried hard the first time
if the students who didn’t try get a second chance. To this my professors
typically say that fair isn’t always equal. Which means we need to
differentiate our classroom, or responding to the needs of different students.
While there are many opinions on re-tests in the world, I’d like to point out
one opinion: God’s.
God gives us re-tests over and over again. We fail to
follow Him and He gives us another chance. We sin and He gives us another
chance. We lose faith in Him and he gives us another chance. He will give us a re-do,
but we need to ask for it. This may bring into question whether or not we are
reaching up to God or if He is reaching down to us. Unlike other religions, God
first reached down to us. He sent his Son to die for our sins, so that we could
have life. In the same way, teachers should let students know that re-tests are
an option; but the students need to ask for the re-tests and for help. This
again, leads back to the whole argument of how is it fair to the students who
did well on the test. Well, let’s go to the ultimate authority on everything:
the Bible.
Luke 15:11-32 tells the story of the Prodigal Son. The
younger son failed to help the family farm. He also failed the family entirely because
he left them and lost all his money. He was a reject in society. So he decided
to go back to his father’s house. When the father saw him coming he ran to him;
and threw a celebration because his son had come home. The father accepted his
son back into his family, and helped his son get back on his feet. Meanwhile,
the older son was upset that his father accepted the younger son back into the
family. The older son did his work to the best of his ability but he wasn’t
praised. He didn’t get a celebration. How was that fair? The father came out
and said to his oldest son that the son will be rewarded eventually, with the inheritance
from his father. But, for now the oldest son should rejoice because his brother was lost and is now found.
The way I see it, this is a perfect example of
re-testing. The younger son is the student that fails the test the first time.
They come back and want a second chance. The father is the teacher. The teacher
sees that the student who fails has a need and the teacher wants to fulfill
that need. Who is the teacher to stop a student from succeeding, even if they
did not succeed the first time? The older son is the student who passes the
test the first time, and always works hard. Some of these students may say that
it’s not fair that the students who didn’t pass get a redo; but the teacher can
say that we can all be happy for our fellow students because they learned the
material.
Failure is a difficult subject. Most of us don’t like
failing. But failure can be a good thing. We learn from failures. We grow into
better people because we learn lessons when we fail. So the next time you fail, remember that it's not the end of the world. Because, you have an amazing God who is willing to give you a re-test.
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