The Lesson

Kingdom middle school is a season of learning to be accountable for our actions. This involves following through by choosing an action that matches our words. If we agree to do something, then we need to do it in a timely manner. If we can’t do it, we should be responsible and let others know of the change. Failing to say anything because we’re embarrassed isn’t helpful. We also learn to function with integrity during this life transition.

Spiritually speaking, Kingdom middle school is a great place to be. Students have the opportunity to do much more experimenting and learn to do things on their own instead of following the “I teach—you regurgitate back to me” mentality. We get to practice putting on our “big girl (or boy) Christian pants.” Christian puberty involves a decision to walk away from childish ways so we can eat the meat of the Word. (1 Corinthians 13:11; Hebrews 5:12–14) Parents or older siblings prepare meals for children. Mature people can cook and prepare their own meals. Although I started cooking when I was nine, I needed to follow a recipe. By the time I reached high school, I was more adept at throwing a meal together without a recipe because I now understood what combinations of food worked together and how much of each ingredient was needed. Christian maturity from milk to meat is very similar. Young Christians need help, and mature Christians can do life in Christ with minimal assistance.

By ninth grade, we understand basic concepts of what’s in the Word. However, we function out of book knowledge versus experiencing a relationship with a loving Father. We’ve read and understand a book that’s full of stories about who God is. Do we know him from experience beyond what the Bible says? Unless we spend time in his presence, studying the Bible is like reading memoirs of famous people. We don’t know them unless we spend time with them. We can know every aspect of their lives because we know their history, but we’ve never met them. Therefore, we don’t really know them. We only know about them. To know Jesus, we must spend time with him, learning about his desires and concerns as much as our own. It’s all about equal relationship

If we’re willing to develop a relationship with the Trinity beyond the words in the Bible, in ninth grade, we reframe everything we ever thought we knew about being a Christ-follower. This often requires tearing structures down to the foundation of our learning. It’s a soulishly painful process because everything we learned to this point is up for discussion, redirection, and deconstruction. If we want to stay at this level, that’s fine as well. If we want more, we will need to learn to build a relationship with God in a way we’ve never previously experienced. If we’ve had previous spiritual experiences that didn’t make sense, this is the time to explore the deeper meaning of those experiences.

Spiritually speaking, maturing high-school-level Christians are expected to take what’s taught and show a high level of comprehension in what they’re learning. This includes putting these things into practice in everyday life. If we still rely on others to provide our daily bread, we aren’t at this level yet. Being a Christian at the high school level requires that we think and respond for ourselves, often challenging concepts taught from a pulpit. However, we don’t necessarily do this to a preacher’s face—we do our own study. We learn to take our puzzling questions directly to God, asking him to show us missed truths. We learn through experience versus swallowing everything we hear as “thus sayeth the Lord.”

Activation!

Grab your lists from the previous two lessons and let's do some more figuring out grade levels! We'll start with questions I've taken from the various lessons:

Middle school is a squirrely age. Where in your life do you the type of behavior as described for middle school?
Do you agree with me that kingdom middle school is a great place to be? Why or why not?
How well have you transitioned from taking the "milk" of the Word to now eating the "meat" of the Word? Give yourself a grade level for this.
Are there areas of your life that are being deconstructed? Why do you think that might be? No grade level on this one. It's for writing down and pondering over.
What do you think of this statement that I make about, "Being a Christian at the high school level requires that we think and respond for ourselves, often challenging concepts taught from a pulpit." Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
Finally, in what "subjects" do you see yourself in kingdom high school?
Do you believe you're ready for kingdom college in some subjects? Why or why not? In the areas you're not, consider taking those to the Father and having a discussion about them. What does HE say?

Lesson 3: Kingdom Middle School and Kingdom High School

Module 1 – Part 1 of Kingdom Maturity

Module 4: Energy Centers Activations

Module 5: Kingdom Shift - Preparing for God's Global Reset

Module 6: Maturing as a Mystic (Main book)

Module 7: Roundtable Discussions

Individual Ekklesia Teachings