definition. Christian education, they think, takes place only
in Sunday school, during Bible studies, or at home during
family devotions, but this view is too limited. The apostle
Paul exhorts us to “take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). Saint Augustine wrote that
“every good and true Christian should understand that wher-
ever he may find truth, it is the Lord’s.” Reflecting the same
conviction, John Calvin wrote, “We shall neither reject the
truth itself, nor despise it whenever it shall appear, unless we
wish to dishonor the Spirit of God.” True Christian educa-
tion relates God’s Word to every aspect of life.
Third, a Christian school is not a “safe house” from the
world. Many well-meaning parents think that the Christian
school offers protection from the evils of the world. A Chris-
tian school is not a guarantee against sin. The difference,
however, is that the Christian school disciplines by teaching
students about God’s demands and His forgiveness, grace,
and mercy.
Finally, the Christian school is not a reform school for
families who have exhausted other options to solve their
problems. The Christian school should be their first choice,
the place where Christian families, the church, and the
Christian school can prepare students for effective lives of
service in God’s kingdom.
The Necessity of Christian Education
We are living in what some have labeled a “Post-Christian
Age.” In Against the Night, the late Charles Colson described
our “barbaric” and “decadent” times as “The New Dark
Ages.” The church itself is reeling under the onslaught of
secularism as noted by the late Francis Schaeffer in The
Great Evangelical Disaster. Waging an all-out attack in order
to win people’s hearts and minds, secular forces are winning
on many fronts, including education.
How should Christian families respond? Clearly, we
should never despair, for the Bible teaches that “the earth
is the Lord’s” (Ps 24:1), that God’s Word will “not return …
empty,” (Isa 55:11), and that the “gates of Hell will not over-
come” His church (Matt 16:18). God’s purposes and plans
cannot be thwarted!
We can do more than just hope and pray—this is the
role of Christian education. We in Christian education do
not want to destroy public schools. Their efforts involve
Christian students, teachers, and administrators, and we
need to support them. However, an educational philosophy
that does not explicitly declare Christ as Lord, that does
not integrate God’s Word into every action, that does not
acknowledge God as the source of all truth, can only, in the
words of Jesus Christ, “scatter.”
The Bible clearly states that the unregenerate mind cannot
please God because it places man at the center, assumes that
human beings are basically good, actively suppresses the
truth about God, and denies the supernatural realities of
heaven and hell. The regenerate mind, from which Christian
education flows, affirms the opposite: God is the creator and
ruler of this universe; human beings, sinners from birth, are
in need of redemption; all truth is God’s truth, and man is
not dependent on human reason alone.
The question, therefore, is this: Does a secular educa-
tion enable a student to think biblically about the world?
Consider the reasoning of Charles Bridges: “To expand,
without soundly enlightening, the mind, is but to increase
its power for evil. Far better to consign it to total ignorance,
inasmuch as the uninstructed savage is less responsible, less
dangerous, than the well-furnished infidel.” Similarly, John
Calvin believed that “a knowledge of all the sciences is mere
smoke where the heavenly science of Christ is wanting.”
The Basics of Christian Education
A genuine Christian education provides a quality liberal arts
education that glorifies Jesus Christ and prepares students
for lives of faithful and obedient service to Him. The Bible
is the integrative force, and all administrators, faculty, and
staff personally know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Specifically, Christian education is an acknowledgment,
an attitude, and an ambition:
1. Christian education is an acknowledgment about God’s
world. He created it, He holds it together, He rules it,
and we have an obligation to learn all that we can about
it. We aren’t simply learning about math, science, and
history; we are learning about God’s world. Christian
education seeks to produce competent graduates who
know the world as well as the One who created it.
2. Christian education is an attitude related to God’s Word;
therefore, studying God’s world from the perspective of
the Word is critical. We can understand life only as we
view it through the “spectacles of Scripture.” “For with
you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Ps
36:9). Seeking to bring all thought and activity under
the lordship of Christ, we want our students to be
passionate about their God, their lives, and their call to
service.
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