The following is adapted from a faculty address delivered by Miss Cate Price at the induction of new members into the National Honors Society on December 13, 2024, at Trinitas Christian School.
Singling yourself out for honor is a risky business. Admission into the National Honor Society is a process that revolves around paradox. We ask that you be servant-minded individuals, who model a humility that does not sound your own praise to the heavens. And yet, on the same application page, I ask you to tell me why you deserve this honor. You had to ask someone to write you a letter of recommendation, in which they detail all the things about you that make you so great. Perhaps, some of you wondered if the application was a trick. Would it be better to turn it in blank? Obviously, you all chose to answer the questions (which was an appropriate thing to do by the way), but, in deciding to turn in the application and ask for admission into this society, you have essentially put a target on your back. You have come forward and asked for distinction.
Now, I am not saying that you should not have come forward for this distinction, but I do want to be forthcoming to you and to tell you what exactly happens next.
With great honor comes great suffering.
As we honor you, we are singling you out to be some of the greatest threats to our enemies. And our enemies will not stand by and let you overcome them. In fact, they will come for you first. You only have to look to the Scriptures to know that this is true.
Abel offered a pleasing sacrifice to God, distinguishing himself above his brother. And what did Cain do? He turned around and murdered Abel for being greater than him.
David was a lowly shepherd boy, content to only confront the danger of wild beasts to his flocks until he was singled out to be the next king of Israel. Next thing you know, he’s fighting giants, dodging the spears of his employer, and living the life of a fugitive. Even when he does become king, David continues to face enemies – both foreigners and even members of his own family – those who desire to harm him because of his greatness.
Satan himself targeted Job because of his wealth, righteousness, and honor. It was not that Job was the only man on earth at the time and the easiest target; rather, it was that Satan looked around at all the people on the earth and judged Job to be the most faithful and the greatest of everyone. It is for this reason that Job lost his children, his servants, his money, and all of his possessions.
Christ singles Himself out as the greatest when He is still a child and his parents find Him teaching in the synagogue. His earthly ministry – in which He turns water into wine, heals men of leprosy, and raises people from the dead – lasts a mere three years before He is crucified in front of the very same people He had been ministering to. Pilot even questions the necessity of Jesus’ death. After all, He’s no criminal. And yet, hatred of Jesus’ honor by his own people is so great that it overwhelms any inclination of Pilot’s to adhere to justice.
In submitting your application, you are proclaiming to the world that not only do you have gifts in scholarship and acuity of mind, but you are already intentional about being involved in your communities, about leading your communities through service. This is a dangerous combination to our enemy. By accepting a position in this society, you are proclaiming before these very people surrounding you, that you will continue to pursue virtue and excellence for the rest of your life so that you may glorify God – the very being that your enemies hate the most. Satan will not stand for it.
The world will hate you for it. The world will mock you for it. The world will make what you value seem cheap and ridiculous.
Jesus tells us, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
If you imitate Christ and His greatness that is rooted in humility and service, you will not be able to go out into the world and live under the radar. You will not be able to hold on tightly to your goods and possessions as you make your way along the narrow path toward eternity with Christ. Satan will make sure of it.
David cries out to the Lord, “Many bulls have surrounded Me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws; you have brought me to the dust of death.”
Jesus knows where the road of His greatness leads, and He asks the Father to take the cup of suffering from Him.
Do you have what it takes to remain faithful in the face of such suffering? Are you prepared for the words of the psalmist to be the words that come out of your own mouth? Because if you choose to continue to go down this path of greatness and honor, that is what awaits you.
Now, lest I leave you all here today in a mire of doom and gloom, let me instead offer you some hope. Yes, the path that you tread is difficult, perilous, and even deadly. But, you are not the first to choose this path, and those who have come before you have shown you how to navigate this path faithfully.
Job says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
David says, “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the final word: “Lord, into Your hands, I commit my Spirit.”
These faithful who came before us did not just wake up one day in the midst of their suffering and decide to praise God. They were able to trust in the Lord, to praise Him for their blessings, and to remember Him in their pain because they were in the habit of doing so. They woke up each day, committing their spirits to the Lord.
So, no, today you may not find yourselves in distress or difficulty. But, today and every day, you should find yourselves submitting yourselves to the Lord. You should recognize that it is only through the kindness of Your Creator that you are able to draw breath, experience laughter with a friend, delight in the gooeyness of a warm chocolate chip cookie or revel in the rush of scoring a touchdown. It is only through this daily practice of committing your day to the Lord that you will be able to give thanks on those days when you wake up only to encounter pain, grief, and frustrations. Every day, you should wake up with hands opened ready to receive whatever the Lord has for you just as you have come here today ready to receive the honor we bestow on you.
