By Harold Klassen
What ’ s Biblical Integration ?
W hat exactly is the role of the Bible in education ? Why do many students struggle to see the relevance of the Bible ? How can we successfully communicate to our students the connection between all of life and learning and God and His Word ? As I considered these questions , I discovered two problems in my worldview that had undermined the role of the Bible in my teaching : my understanding of both redemption and God ’ s calling were too small .
UNDERSTANDING THE SCOPE OF REDEMPTION
My concept of redemption wasn ’ t as big as the scope of God ’ s creation or man ’ s sin . My understanding of redemption was limited because I thought , “ It ’ s all about me .” I had to begin thinking carefully about how chemistry — and everything else — fits into what God has revealed about who He is and what He is doing rather than trying to find Bible verses to fit into my chemistry classes .
For Christ-centered learning to be Bible-based , we must consider God ’ s revelation of His plans and purposes for all creation . John 3:16 is one of the most well-known salvation verses in the Bible : “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son , that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life .” Consider all that this means .
For instance , what does “ world ” mean ? In 1 John 2:15 , the same author says , “ Love not the world , neither the things that are in the world .” How can both verses be true ? Why would John tell us not to love what God loves ? We must be careful about our definitions because at least two very different “ worlds ” are discussed in these verses . 1 John 2:15 focuses on the sin-shaped system that tries to function independent of God , denying His involvement and thanklessly misappropriating His gifts , while John 3:16 talks about people — right ?
Why didn ’ t God clear up the confusion when He revealed His heart to John and inspired him to write both passages ? Why didn ’ t John just say , “ for God so loved people ?” Did God want to include more about Himself in this revelation ? What about saying , “ for God so loved the earth and everything in it , including people ?” After all , He made the whole universe with great creativity , an eye for beauty , and even a sense of humor , and then He put people in His world to care for and develop everything . Does God still love everything He made even though people ’ s sin has caused so much pain , destruction , and death ? Do we believe that redemption involves everything ?
What if John had written , “ for God so loved the cows ”? Does that sound sacrilegious ? Consider what God said to the most famous and successful evangelist of the Old Testament . Jonah may have been reluctant , but that is understandable if we remember that his mission was like sending a Messianic Jew to Tehran today for an open-air evangelistic crusade . However , hundreds of thousands of people repented in three days , and the course of history was transformed . You remember how Jonah wasn ’ t pleased with the results . He didn ’ t believe that Gentile “ dogs ” should be saved . They didn ’ t even qualify as people in his mind . So , God had to set him down and reveal His heart to the reluctant evangelist : “ Should I not pity Nineveh , that great city , which has more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left ”— children under the age of three or
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