I am Man; Hear Me Kneel

Gò0dNews for Men

I am Man; Hear Me Kneel

by John Garrod

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40, NIV).

When I completed my Master’s degree last November, I began to work as a substitute teacher in the same school where I had done my student teaching. I love the school, and getting my foot in the door to eventually become a teacher there was not the furthest thing from my mind, if I’m honest.

The very first assignment I took was in a self-contained, high-needs Special Education classroom. Most of the students are either non-verbal or only marginally verbal. Some you fall in love with immediately. Others…take a little more work to love. Emotional meltdowns are common. Gains in learning are minimal, and hard-fought. You never take for granted that they can do anything for themselves, even if they did it fine yesterday.

Much of this work is done by paraprofessionals, most of whom are women. I suppose it is a bit misogynistic of me to say that this did not surprise me; we tend to expect women to be nurturing, caring individuals, more willing to take on the care of those who cannot care for themselves. Women are awesome like that.

But then I met Mr. S.

Mr. S is a man after God’s own heart. Day after day, he cares for these children. He endures setback after setback, because sometimes we set expectations for the children, see them reach them, and then the next day, it’s as if they went back three paces. He changes diapers that make lesser men retch. (Okay, I am that lesser man, and they make me retch.) He feeds one student through a tube, then half an hour later, he is cleaning up the mess when that student throws it back up. He teaches alongside the SpEd teacher, stepping in at a moment’s notice when asked to cover a segment of learning. He sends notes home to parents about their child’s day and often has to bag up soiled clothing to go home. He does all this for far less than what a teacher is paid. 12 // June 2022

And then, at the end of the school day, when most of us are headed home, he goes to an afterschool program where he watches…children.

I’m proud to even be around men like this. I’m humbled when I see this kind of selfless service to those whom Jesus described thus in Luke 18: “Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” There are positions far more highly esteemed in the eyes of men, and certainly many which pay a more substantial wage for the hard hours put in. Yet there is no more noble act than that of a man who humbles himself to show the love of God to the least, the last, and the lost. If God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, then I’d tell you that this man’s heavenly grace paystub puts mine to shame. This is what Godly manhood looks like.

About The Author John Garrod is a father of six, husband of one. He is a graduate of Lee University (c/o ’19), a discipleship teacher at South Cleveland Church of God, and a U.S. Army veteran.