Wednesday, July 26, 2006

EDUCATING CHILDREN - What are we talking about? - Part 2

Now that we have a better understanding of what is meant by “proper education”, who should we look to in order to see that it gets done? Is it the states responsibility, or the federal government? What about the church? Who should see that our children receive this proper education? Well, in Deuteronomy Chapter 4 verse 9, the Bible says “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;” The Scripture is clear; we as parents and grandparents must pass on what we have learned to our children and even to our grandchildren. We are the ones whom God gives the responsibility to; we must see that it is properly carried out.

But how do we do it? What is the method for implementing a proper education? Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verses 4-9 contains the basic outline for carrying out this education process, it says:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

So according to the Bible, the process of education is something that is to be carried out at all times. Christian parents should be teaching their children early in the morning, in the middle of the day, and late at night. It is a process that is started when you get out of bed and doesn’t end until you lie down again at night. Then it starts all over again the next day and continues throughout the child’s life until he no longer lives in the home of the parent. Even after that, parents should be available to guide and direct if needed. They should also be willing to do the same for their grandchildren. Childhood education is a twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week process. The only break, according to the Bible, is when they are asleep.

But to what end; why did God give Christian parents this task in the first place? A similar question was asked in the book of Malachi, in Malachi chapter 2 verses 14-15, the prophet says:

“Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.”

The answer that God gave was clear; the objective in bringing man and woman together and making them one was to produce godly offspring. In other words, God put man and woman together so that they could produce children that they could train to be godly. Offspring that would know God, know His ways, and would have a desire to serve Him. This is the original role of parents. Parents are not merely to superimpose their own ideas or opinions on to their children, but they are to transfer to their children the very thoughts and mind of God Himself as found in the Bible! This is the task that God has assigned to each and every parent. These children that He has entrusted us with are merely on loan; they are not ours to keep, they are not ours to do with as we desire; they are ours to train in the way the Lord requires; to teach them about God, to teach them His statutes and His judgments, to point them toward Christ, and this falls under the category of Christian stewardship.

So what is Christian Stewardship and how does that relate to the education of children? You may say “I thought that stewardship only pertained to how we spend our money!” Well it does, partially, but it also includes much more. While our financial responsibility is one that every Christian should take very seriously, there is much more to stewardship. As a matter of fact, in Proverbs chapter 22, the idea of avoiding debt is the subject that immediately follows that of training children. So while money management is an important part of stewardship, one that we must teach our children, the total idea of Christian stewardship covers how we manage all of the assets which God has allowed us to have for the short time that we live on the Earth. And there is no greater asset than the asset of a godly legacy that is passed on to our children through their proper education. A legacy that will live on for many generations to come, still producing fruit long after we have gone home to be with the Lord. An excellent picture of how God expects us to manage our assets, including our children can be found in the parable of the talents as seen in the book of Matthew chapter 25 verses 14-30. In the parable, there is a Land Owner, which represents God, and the Land Owner goes out of town, but leaves behind some of His possessions for His servants to manage. Those that did well with what they were given were rewarded, but those who did not, were severely punished. So we, as stewards of God, are allowed to manage God’s children for a short time, and God requires that we manage these children in the proper way; that means that we give them a proper Christian education.

So with a better understanding of these basic concepts, let us press forward with a look at education, specifically religious education, throughout history. And as we do, I’d like for us to consider where we got off course and then how to get back on track again.

Still More Later…

Grace & Peace!
Dave Scarbrough

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