Grandparents are given a God-ordained role in Scripture that is not interchangeable with any other member of the family . Grandparents are essential , not extras , in the life of grandchildren . According to the Bible , a grandparent ’ s role is to build a heritage of faith in the coming generations . A grandparent is to be zealous to pass on their faith in Jesus and to work diligently to present everyone in their family as mature in Christ .
Christian education ( private or home education ) is an excellent partner for this purpose . Christian education is the adjunct servant of a godly parent and grandparent . I want to encourage you to utilize Christian education to help your grandchildren form faith and fortify faith in Christ . Christian education , at its best , never replaces the spiritual role that God has given parents and grandparents . It reinforces , strengthens , and supports . In this way , Christian education and grandparents have much in common regarding their role in a child ’ s life .
HOW CAN GRANDPARENTS UTILIZE CHRISTIAN EDU- CATION TO PASS FAITH ON TO GRANDCHILDREN ?
First , grandparents and adult children need to understand why it ’ s important for a child to receive a Christ-centered and biblically based education . In short , education is discipleship . It transforms children into the likeness of the educator ( Luke 6:40 ). Children who are educated by secular humanists begin to think like secular humanists . The reason : It ’ s impossible to divorce knowledge acquisition from character formation . There is no such thing as religious neutrality in education . The bottom line is that a Christ-less education never leads to Christ-like maturity . If we want our children and grandchildren to treasure Christ , then it makes sense to place them with instructors , curriculum , and schools that help toward this end .
If the need and value of Christian education is a foreign concept , then books like Why Christian Kids Need a Christian Education by Douglas Wilson and Kingdom Education by Dr . Glen Schultz , as well as The RenewaNation Review magazine , are excellent resources that grandparents or adult children can utilize to help family members understand the importance of Christian education . These resources can be excellent discussion starters and can help families share the same strong conviction regarding the place that Christian education should have in a child ’ s spiritual life .
In addition to a theological shift , some families need financial support to make Christian education possible . Grandparents can encourage adult children to pursue Christian education by offering to pay for some or all of their grandchild ’ s tuition .
It is no secret that one of the primary deterrents to Christian education is the cost . Christian education is financially expensive . Because of the high financial cost , some families place their children in non-Christian schools and try to combat the errant messages their children hear . Can I encourage you to look at education from a different angle ? Non-Christian education is spiritually expensive . For many children , it leads them away from Christ , and the cost is eternal separation from Jesus . In light of eternity , I don ’ t think families can afford not to place their children in some form of Christian education .
If you are a grandparent , I want to encourage you to eliminate the financial barrier for your grandchildren to the degree that God has made that possible with your finances . I believe you can do this in two ways . First , you can spend less in some areas of life in order to reprioritize money for Christian education . One grandparent told me that rather than take his children and grandchildren to Disney World , he used that money to send his grandchildren to a Christian school for a year . The same idea could be applied to the purchase of a new car or piece of furniture .
Second , many grandparents plan to leave some form of financial inheritance to their children and grandchildren . Based on Proverbs 13:22 , that is a good thing . In this Proverb , we read , “ A good man leaves an inheritance to his children ’ s children .” What if your financial inheritance could be used to build a spiritual heritage by making it possible for grandchildren to attend a Christian school or college ? Barbara , a grandmother from California , told me that she and her husband help pay for their grandchildren ’ s Christian education because “ allowing them to be at a Christian school is an investment in their spiritual growth .”
Jim , a grandfather from New York , provides the following reasons for financially assisting his grandchildren so they could attend a Christian school : “ I think it is more important for a grandparent to help provide a Christian education for grandchildren while the grandparent is alive than it would be to give them an inheritance after they have gone through the public school system and secular college . I think it is more important to spend the money on them during their formative years when they are deciding what they believe about God .”
Andy and Karen , grandparents of 18 grandchildren , told me that they are very strong believers in sending their children and grandchildren to Christian colleges . Their thoughts are long but worth reading : “ We want a place where biblical values are taught and where classes start with Scripture and prayer time . Most of our children met their mates at a Christian college . That is a really good reason right there . Yes , they are going to college for an education , but many times they are coming out with a spouse . Plus , the friends that they established at the Christian schools are still good friends with them now . And that is special too . When you go to a non-Christian college , you are going to find the dorm life is unbelievable with co-ed living and lots of temptations . When they go off to college ,
RENEWANATION . ORG 39