Education

BF&M 2K: Education

Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people.

In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.

Memory Verse

Psalm 25:4–5 CSB

Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long.

Education and the Church

Some people who reject Christianity say that Christianity opposes the life of the mind and education.

This could not be further from the truth!

Education stands at the very center of God’s assignment to His people.

Matthew 28:19–20 CSB

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

TEACHING THEM!

Job 28:28 CSB

He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.”

True wisdom is fearing God and true understanding is departing from evil.

Psalm 19:7 CSB

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.

God’s law is Pure and Right, and helps you gain wisdom.

Psalm 119:11 CSB

I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Hiding God’s Word in your heart helps protect you from sin.

The Psalms instruct us to study God’s Word and to meditate on it.

Deut 4-6 talk about teaching God’s Word continually. Never missing an opportunity.

Deuteronomy 6:7 CSB

Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

We know for certain that the ancient Jewish home was centered on teaching God’s Word to their children. We know that God wants His people to study His word.

We know that we should not waste any opportunity in doing so.

Well all of this has been about teaching God’s Word. But what about the stuff we find in schools. Specifically those pesky things called Science?

Well, We know we should never waste an opportunity. SO:

There was a time when the Church was at the very center of all education, including Science!

Science is the gaining of knowledge about our natural world. Who created this world?

John 17:17 CSB

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

So when we come back to thinking about HOW to never waste an opportunity, we must learn HOW to seize opportunities. This first step is not fearing! Science, in it’s purest form, is seeking information - seeking truth - related to how this world works. Yes there are theories, but theories are really just thoughts and guesses until they are proven. So we should not fear thoughts or guesses. We should embrace these because it is literally how we learn.

The biggest differences between Christians and atheistic scientists, is that we have a starting point! We have the person who brought all this into existence, and His word to help us in our studies!

His TRUTH is the standard by which all ideologies, philosophies, and other truth claims are to be judged.

2 Timothy 2:15 CSB

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

We must be educated, and be unafraid, so that we can correctly teach the Word of truth. So if you are someone who is scientific, you need to KNOW, with confidence, how to teach the Word of God in a scientific environment.

Why? Because Christianity demands total discipleship! So yes your faith, and also your vocation, your hobbies, your mind and the tasks of learning and teaching.

A healthy Christian has a thirst and desire for the knowledge. Specifically about the Gospel and the things of God. Also, to the things that were previously understood as the new believer desires to learn how God is in all things.

In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

It only makes sense, because Christians are to grow from infants to mature adults in life and in faith and spiritual knowledge. This is a natural progression, and involves education and learning.

Ephesians 4:11–15 CSB

And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.

Philippians 4:8 CSB

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

The Local Church and Education

The local church has the responsibility to organize a comprehensive teaching and training ministry, with the centrality located in the Pulpit.

The pulpit is the first and foremost place from which believers are fed the Word of God and join together in the context of corporate worship. This is where the Word of God is proclaimed, and the believer learns to apply the Word to their heart, so as to conform to the image of the Lord Jesus.

This responsibility of a comprehensive teaching and training ministry also applies to Sunday school, Wednesday nights, Sunday nights, small groups, and any other opportunity the church has to engage God’s people.

The Churches education responsibility to secure the tasks of evangelism, missions, and the other dimensions of Christ’s commands.

If a church wants to have successful missions, then education must be available for missionary preparation!

this goes for all aspects!

Academic Freedom and Responsibility

In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.

Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute.

The teacher is free to teach in whatever manner achieves the goal, within the boundaries of the institutions mission and confession of faith.

Teachers in our church programs are held to the same standard as professors at our Baptist Colleges and Seminaries: to teach in accordance with and not contrary to the BF&M, to defend the faith and not subvert it, and to instill in the next generation a reverent and mature understanding of the Christian faith.