Pastors Corner: Stewarding our children's education

Impress [God's words] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:7).

As parents, did you know that it is your duty to steward your children's education? Some kids are blessed with Christian school options or homeschooling. Many kids attend public schools. Either option is great, but did you know that as parents it is your responsibility as Christian parents to ground your sons and daughters in the faith? No matter what formal educational option parents select, both home and the church play vital, and even primary, roles in this endeavor. Our lives are guided by revealed truths that are much greater than anything we could possibly conceive on our own.

What are those truths? First, children are not merely biological organisms adapting to the environment; they are created in the image of God and bear all the dignity of beings capable of recognizing truth, goodness and beauty. The goal of education should be to feed children's souls through a directive presentation of the objective ideals.

But that's only part of the story. We must also take into account children's capacity for selfishness and willfulness. Moral education should likewise be directive, teaching the biblical virtues and enforcing them with consistent classroom and home discipline.

Finally, education is one of the ways we seek to reverse the effects of the fall and restore humanity to its original dignity and purpose. The goal of learning, wrote the great Christian poet John Milton, "is to repair the ruins of our first parents ... ."

Scriptures constantly encourage Christians to teach their children and to pass on the great truths of the faith from generation to generation. So it's not surprising that Christians have historically accorded great importance to education, founding schools and teaching literacy wherever they went around the globe.

Christian education is not simply a matter of starting class with Bible reading and prayer, then teaching subjects out of secular textbooks. It consists of teaching everything within the framework of an integrated biblical worldview. It means teaching students to relate every academic discipline to God's truth and his self-revelation in Scripture, while detecting and critiquing non-biblical worldview assumptions.

How can you affect the life of a child today? Could you make it a priority to read a Bible story to your children each night before bed. Could you take some time each day to read the Bible yourself each day? Could you teach a Sunday school class at your church? Could you take your children to Sunday school and to church? Could you mentor an at-risk youth? Developing Christian minds and instilling Christian virtues is a critical stewardship responsibility of every Christian in educating children for eternity. How will you respond?

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Pastor Michael O'Hearn

Hi-Line Lutheran Churches