A wise man once said, "Christian education doesn't cost; it pays." You cannot put a price tag on the value of imparting knowledge to our children rooted in the timeless truth of God's Word. The dividends of such an investment will be payed out for generations to come.
For the past nine years, God has blessed me with the opportunity to lead a Christian school ministry. For the past six years, Emily and I have been blessed to send our children to a Christian school. This year, we will send our three oldest children to a Christian school. The more we have been involved personally and professionally in Christian education, the more I have become a believe in its impact.
Let me share with you a few reasons Christian education is so valuable.
Students are taught the truth.
The society in which we live today is hell-bent on warping the minds of our youth. While there are many godly educators in the public education who are genuinely striving to be a light in a dark place, sadly still the vast majority of those working in public education are not so nobly intentioned. To the contrary, the agendas that are being pushed on our children in the public sphere are blatantly reprehensible.
There is an intentional philosophical attack intertwined into the curriculum and into the talking points of many classrooms today. The goal is to convince our children of anti-biblical ideologies, which include such things as critical race theory, gender identity, big government, immorality, social justice and the disintegration of the nuclear family. These ideologies are being forced upon our children. Like the lie of evolution, our kids are expected to accept these falsities as the new norm.
This is one major reason why Christian education is so incredibly needed today. To provide our children with a safe haven where they can learn pure truth that has not been polluted by the evil agendas of our day is a rare and valuable opportunity.
Students are immersed in a wholesome environment.
One of the greatest dangers students face today is not coming from the school systems, but it is coming from the students within the school systems. While it has always been true that young people have to learn to overcome bad influences and to do what is right, the temptations of the day in which we live are unprecedented. The breakdown of the family coupled with the technological vices of this modern era have produced young people with little sense of morality and unrestricted access to all kinds of evil. The peer pressure toward immorality, drug use, alcohol consumption, pornography and other such vices has never been higher. It has become a challenge just to protect the innocence of our children! The amount of information they are exposed to, especially in the public sphere, is both dangerous and alarming.
Here again is a significant reason for why Christian education is so valuable. Within the protection of a Christian school, children are far more sheltered from modern evil influences. Simple things like not allowing cell phones, enforcing a dress code and restricting enrollment to like-minded famlies who are willing to agree to a fundamental system of truth and discipline goes a long way in creating an environment that is wholesome for the character development of students.
Additionally, the educators within a Christian school are distinctly godly, selfless individuals. While they are not perfect, they do love God and desire to instill His truth into the lives of students. The careful, compassionate care of such godly servants cannot be undermined. Their leadership creates an environment that makes learning and friendship development both fun and pure.
Students are challenged to discover God's purpose for their lives.
The common mantras being resounded into the minds of our students today center the focus of life around self. "Do what makes you feel good." "Be what you want to be." "Discover yourself." "Pursue your dreams." Yet, these sentiments, so far from fulfilling your life, actually leave you very empty. You can have everything you think you want in life and still feel like there is something more you are missing.
In June of 2005, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft sat down with the New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady to interview him about his third Super Bowl victory. During this interview Brady made a very revealing confession: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings, and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is. I reached my goal, my dream, my life.' Me, I think: 'It's gotta be more than this.' I mean this can't be what it's all cracked up to be. I mean I've done it. I'm twenty-seven. And what else is there for me?" Brady's confession reveals what lies at the end of pursuing selfish dreams - emptiness and vanity.
The Bible puts it this way, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) Even if you gain everything the world has to offer, if you forfeit your soul in the process you still lose in the end.
This is perhaps the most significant reason why Christian education is valuable. Every day the students in a Christian school are challenged, not to live for themselves, but to live for the purpose for which God created them. At our Christian school, we communicate this central mission in this way: Educating for eternity. The goal of a Christian school is not only to prepare students to be successful in this life, but to live this life in light of God's eternal purpose. Young people are challenged not to live for themselves but to live to fulfill God's purpose for their lives, for it is only on this course through life that they can find true and lasting fulfillment and significance.
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