Tim Wildmon

AFA president

October 2000 – So I’m lying in bed with my six-year-old son, Walker, scratching his back. Wesley, his 11-year-old brother, is a few feet away in his bed. The two share a room in our three bedroom home. They always talk before going to sleep whether I am in the room or not.

“Dad,” said Walker, breaking the quiet. “Did you know that if you open your eyes while you sneeze, your eyeballs will pop out of your head?”

“No, Son, I didn’t know that.”

“It’s true. Tell him, Wesley,” he said.

Walker usually looks for big brother validation when it comes to a statement he thinks I may not buy. Obviously, they had been discussing the issue before I entered the room.

“Yeah, Dad, it’s true. Ever notice you can’t keep your eyes open when you sneeze?” said Wesley. “Well, if you open them while you sneeze, they will come out. Your eyeballs I’m talking about. I learned it at school.”

I wondered if this was classroom learnin’ or playground learnin’.

“Well, I’ve never really paid attention, but now that you mention it, I do think the body’s natural reaction to a sneeze is to close the eyes,” I said as I continued to rub Walker’s back under his t-shirt.

There is a difference between what one learns in the classroom and what one learns on the playground. The classroom is sometimes theory. The playground –or workplace for us adults – is always reality.

From time to time, we get suggestions here at AFA. Some of the suggestions tell us where we can go or what we can do with our opinions. You would be amazed at the creative ideas some people suggest. We get a few of those each day.

Then there are suggestions from well-meaning people who say we need to do this or that instead of – or in place of – whatever we’re working on at the time. Sometimes they will even write back later if their idea is not implemented, to ask why not and if we really want their support.

One of the regular comments we get is, “If you would just tell people about Jesus and quit worrying about all this other stuff, that’s what will change our country.” This is usually from someone who is new to our ministry. Obviously, people who have supported us over time think differently. To me this is classroom thinking.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I think communicating the good news of Jesus Christ is the first priority of the Christian life. However, not all who hear will believe and change their ways. And while we are evangelizing, why not stand for biblical morality in politics and other places? Isn’t it right for Christians to be working to make positive change in our culture – to stand against evil and wrongdoing?

In all walks of life, America needs the influence of people who understand right from wrong and are willing to fight for what is right. If Christians are not involved in the decision making processes, be it government or corporate America, then what is going to be the value system – or mindset – of those who are making the decisions for all of us? This is workplace thinking.

It takes both classroom and workplace thinking for the church to be salt and light.

As for the bedtime conversation about eyeballs and sneezing, I didn’t know enough about the subject to weigh in. My boys were convincing. I thought about doing a test on my own because my hunch is they are wrong. But then, if I were able to keep my eyes open and there were right. . ." ahh choo!"