my teaching for Sunday school

XII. Education – Baptist Faith & Message

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.

So we have 3 main points: 1^st Christianity leads us to deeper education and we’ll briefly look at Church history and how the fields of education, science & medicine were all originally based on the precept that God wants us to know things- so we observe and learn and then use that information to benefit others, 2^nd point our accumulation of knowledge is always subservient to our Biblically revealed knowledge of God, so if my study of archeology tells me Jesus never existed well we’ve got eyewitness testimony in the NT that that is not true, or if my study of space (astronomy) tells me the universe has always been here (eternal) and no one ever created it well the Old Testament tells us that’s also not true, so I would need to look again. 3^rd point is what is the Christian parent’s responsibility in how our kids are schooled & should it be: Public, Private, Christian or Home school?  

1 – educated important, 2 – education subsidiary, 3 – who’s responsible for education?

Intro:

READ Deuteronomy 6:4-7  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Hebrew history reveals that the father was to be diligent in instructing his children in the ways and words of the Lord for their own spiritual development and well-being. The message in this passage is repeated in the New Testament where Paul exhorts parents to raise children in the "discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). This instruction includes not only formal education, but also the early education parents give to a child, this discipline is designed to plant the child firmly on the foundation upon which his life is based. In biblical times, children were primarily educated and socialized by their families and simply by living and working in their community.

Sect 1 – education is important

Why do you think Christians considered Education so important? 

Education:

Jesus calls us to make and be disciples (learners). To a Jew this meant spending 15yrs dedicating yourself to your Rabbi’s teachings in Acts 2 after the Resurrection the disciples started teaching and never stopped. In the Early Church a book called the Didache was amassed as to what should be taught to Christian disciples, kids included. All kids in the Church were pushed not just to learn the Didache, but also to learn a trade to benefit the local community. Christianity wasn’t the first to start schools, many Greek philosophy schools already existed for rich boys but Christian schools like Justin Martyr’s or Augustine’s were the first to teach both boys and girls and the rich and poor. They were taught to read and write – so that they could study the Bible. Martin Luther and John Calvin were both strong advocates of universal education including reading, writing, grammar and religion, even at task payer expense. Along these lines, most of the top universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, and Cambridge, were originally founded by Christians as religious schools.

Medicine:

Charity organizations, orphanages, soup kitchens, and hospitals were all created because Christians had a high view of the value of people because it is what Scripture taught, back in Rome only the rich had doctors and healing clinics. The historian Seneca said that the Romans were proud that they drowned their own children who showed obvious birth defects and they considered it tough to reject the desire to pity the less fortunate. So it wasn’t until AD 369 Bishop of Cesseria Basil created the world’s first hospitals, where people could learn a trade while recuperating like a vocation school + hospital all in one.

Science:

Francis Bacon and William of Akom were both Christian theologians that introduced the idea of observational science to the world – for them theology came 1^st, and science was created to support theology like a table leg. From the 13^th – 18^th century every major scientist expressed his motivation for learning science religiously, learning about the world God created. Men like Leonardo Di Vinci the godfather of Anatomy, or Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler who were all towers of the astronomical sciences were Christians. And it was Lutherans historically that backed these early Christian scientists, like Galileo, when they were being devalued by the Catholic Church. And it was Calvinists later that supported science and created the Royal Society of London 1645, in which 70% of the scientists were Puritans and this was the scientific community of its day. 

Sect 2– education is subsidiary

Is there a way to resolve conflicts between the Bible and Science today?

Theology has been called “the queen of the sciences” because our knowledge of God informs every other area of education.

A Christian schoolteacher can be wrong, a pastor and Sunday school teacher can be wrong, and parents can be wrong on any particular viewpoint theologically. So, as we teach our children spiritual things, they need to be taught that the only source of absolute truth is the Scripture READ (2 Timothy 3:16.) Therefore, perhaps the most important lesson we can teach our children is to follow the example of the Bereans READ (Acts 17:11) “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true,” and to test all things they are taught—from whatever source—against the Word of God.

Education begins with the reality of God’s existence and the fact that He has communicated to us through creation, His Word, and His Son. As we learn more of God’s creation, our understanding of God’s wisdom and power deepens. As we study God’s Word, we become more equipped for God’s work. As we grow in our knowledge of God’s Son (2 Peter 3:18), our love for Him increases and our service for Him intensifies.

Sect 3 - who’s responsible for education?

What are some pluses and minuses for home, private, Christian or public schools?

Regardless of where or how we think children should receive their formal education: Public, Private, Christian or Home school, the principle found throughout all of Scripture is that of ultimate responsibility. The child’s education both formal and specifically spiritual education is not left with either the State or the Church but rests with parents.
The issue in Scripture is not what type of general education our children receive, but through what paradigm that information is to be filtered. Are you teaching them a Biblical worldview?

It is imperative that Christian parents teach their children the Word of God from a young age, showing them how to incorporate it into their daily lives, trusting continually in God. Spiritual training is even more important than academic training, and it doesn't happen by accident; it must be purposeful and habitual. Public schools—and even some private and Christian schools—can be spiritual battlegrounds for our children. Children tend to adopt the values of those with whom they spend the most time, which makes it crucial for parents who do not opt to home school to spend significant time indoctrinating their children in the truth of the Scriptures. The child who is well versed in biblical principles will easily see the falsehood of the claims around them and may very well be used by God to counter the lies with His truth.

Concl

Some people see education as a cure-all for society’s ills. However Scripture reveals that, education, in and of itself, does nothing to combat ungodliness. In fact, knowledge, apart from the love of God, leads to pride. Paul was a highly educated man, having been trained in the best Jewish school of his day, and he used his education to communicate effectively to people of many cultures. Yet Paul’s education certainly did not make him holy, and he warned of those who were “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Simply knowing facts does not make one a better person, and it is indeed possible to be a highly educated fool.

There are very few things we can do in this world that are more important than praying for our children and raising them to have hearts that love and desire to serve God. Ultimately, parents are going to have to answer to God for how they raise and educate their children.

We need to prayerfully consider how we can better educate our children in the Christian faith. What steps can we take to be better teachers and examples to our kids?