The Lordship of Christ- Education

Religion

In considering Christ’s Lordship over the mind, we are forced to address the training of that mind; therefore education. The greatest resource of a culture is its children. The ones who educate the children guarantee his existence. As a result, this must be examined very carefully. Children are special- they are our future! Also, God’s children, the children of the King deserve a “royal education.”
The Lord commands parents “to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). The “bringing up” process involves the raising of children to maturity in all areas of life. This bringing up process is to be done in a two-fold manner. First, the word nurture or discipline refers to the cultivation of mind and morals by means of rules, regulations, rewards and punishments. It focuses upon what is done to the child. Check out Acts 7:22 and 22:3 where the word is used. The word admonition refers to the training by means of the spoken word. It focuses upon what is said to the child.

This process of nurture and admonition must be done “of the Lord.” The preposition “of” tells us that the training process must be done in such a way that the child sees the Lord in all things. All the training must be done “in” the Lord. The essence of our training; the source of our knowledge; and the goal of our Lord is the Lord.

How is this to be done? Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The emphasis is upon the loving obedience of the individual and the responsibility to pass this knowledge on to future generations. The people are to whole-heartedly enter into the task of training their children in formal, structured situations (“to teach”) and in informal, situational times like sitting around the house, traveling together or preparing for rest (“”to talk”). In other words, they were to use not only the formal educational process but also the everyday experiences to train their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

By so doing, parents were training their children to apply God’s truth in every area of life. Moses symbolized this by using illustrations from Jewish life. The sign on their hand demonstrated God’s Word governing the actions of man. The frontlet on the forehead symbolized the Word of God controlling the mind. The most intimate situations- family relationships- were governed by the sign on the doorpost. In the Near East, matters of business and justice were dealt with at the city gates. Thus to write God’s words on the gates symbolized God’s oversight in these areas of life. The children were to learn that God’s word is the final authority in all things and to apply God’s truth in every area of life.

It is to this end that Christian parents are to labor. The public school is no help. In fact, we must realize that the philosophy of the public school is radically opposed to the Lord. Several years ago John Dunphy, in “A New Religion for a New Age”, said, “I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their roles as proselytizers of new faith; a religion of humanity…… these teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most avid fundamentalist preachers …… for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach…..”

Christian schools and Christian home school co-ops stand in direct opposition to this. Ours is to exalt Jesus Christ in all areas (Colossians 1:15-18- where we began weeks ago)! Children of the followers of Christ must be trained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They must see that God’s truth must be applied to every area of life! It is to this end that we must labor. Check out your options. Remember-“the children of the King, deserve a royal education.”

What do you think about this quote from 1887 by A.A. Hodge, Princeton Seminary, about public schools:

“I am as sure as I am of the fact of Christ’s reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen.”

How ’bout that? Let me know what you think.

Repeat of an earlier article from May 2011.

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