JOE WILTZ - Teacher Spotlight -

Lisa Blake: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

Joe Wiltz: This is my fifth-year teaching at Phoenix Christian and I have loved the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with students. My wife, Courtney, and I have two boys, Cade and Max. Cade will be starting in the PC preschool next Fall and it is exciting to see him becoming part of the Phoenix Christian family!

LB: Teaching Old Testament must be challenging, so much content and not enough time! Can you tell me how you structure your class to make sure students not only learn the Old Testament but also digest the information, so it makes sense?

JW: The Old Testament is definitely an intimidating body of work for students and even for adults! Much of its content can feel very alienating or distant from our context. To communicate it clearly, we spend time identifying the big picture themes and messages that the Genesis story presents. I aim to connect these ideas to students’ everyday experience and the big questions we all ask. Why is there evil? Where does the universe come from? Can we trust what the Bible says is true? Through engaging with these hard questions, we start to see patterns and the big ideas of what the Bible says about the age-old questions people are challenged by. I try to spend a lot of time in the first few books while connecting these big ideas to the New Testament. This way students of every background develop the skills of independently reading the Bible and recognizing what the books are trying to say.

LB: When you think about challenging the students to be a light in our dark world, what comes to mind?

JW: I think that to best encourage and disciple people to be lights in the world, God must first confront the darkness in our hearts. When students walk through doubt, trauma, or other very real challenges in their lives, they are able to confront these types of darkness in the world because they have experienced it themselves. God redeems our negative experiences and traits so that we can better speak to those moments in others’ lives. The way I try to encourage this in students is to communicate that they can be real about their life experiences and meditate on how God may redeem their difficulties.

LB: Is there one or two students who seem to reflect this light? Can you share a little about them?

JW: One student who has demonstrated this ability is Alexa Garcia. She was my student last year and consistently worked to be an example of Christ on our campus. This was evident in the respect she had for classmates of any background while she still stood firm in the truth. Alexa impressed me in that she was able to speak about God and represent Him to other students without sounding judgmental, self-righteous, or compromising what the Bible communicates. I think that a lot of our students are learning who God is and how He speaks to their context and over time He will use their adversity for the growth of His kingdom.

LB: As we educate the minds, form the hearts, and equip the hands of students, what is your hope for this generation of students?

JW: My hope for this generation is that they can be encouraged to know that God can use their situation and has them in this age for a reason. When Courtney and I first found out we were having a child, so many people told us they were worried he would have to grow up in this world at this time. We used to feel the same way but realized that there is not a worldly situation that God will not overcome. This generation of students will be the hands and feet of Christ in ways that my generation cannot, and God will continue to guide His Church.