“But among you there must not be … foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. Let no one deceive you with empty words….”

—Ephesians 5: 3–4, 6

Something draws me to movies about people who care.

For example, in “Stand and Deliver,” educator Jaime A. Escalante of James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles challenges students to a higher level of excellence. In “Lean on Me,” Joe Clark, a renowned but renegade teacher, becomes principal of East Side High School in Paterson, N.J. Using unconventional and controversial tactics, he turns test scores around. In “Freedom Writers,” high school teacher Erin Gruwell changes the lives of 150 students at Woodrow Wilson High in Long Beach, Calif., by asking them to journal their experiences, emotions, challenges, and triumphs. Another such film is “Remember the Titans,” about Herman Boone and Bill Yost, who coached the first racially integrated football team at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va.

All those movies are based on true stories about real people who care. They stand out because, unfortunately, such people are rare.

I wish someone like that had been around when I was in high school. Although I was great in math, I had a reading comprehension problem. And instead of helping me overcome it, some teachers just said I couldn’t succeed.

During my junior year, I went to the dean’s office to pick up an application for community college. I was given the “third degree” as to why I would waste my time and the college’s time in such a pursuit. When the dean finally realized that I wasn’t going to leave without the application, she finally threw it at me.

However, once in community college, my reading problem was diagnosed and addressed. I took remedial courses—along with my advanced math ones.

Didn’t anyone notice when I was in elementary school or high school that I couldn’t read well? Or didn’t they care?

How about in the Church? Does anyone care if you “succeed” as a Christian?

Somewhere in God’s Word, we are warned against coarse joking intended to put people down. Am I weird or what? Why do I care if others learn or not, or are made fun of?

Because God cares. Do you?