Education, Duty and Worldview

It sure seems like folks who ought to know better don't. I mean, people who have grown up in the church and are maybe second or third or fourth or more generation Christians ought to at least get the basics. You'd think they would make the connection between belief and behavior, that despite someone's words their belief system is faithfully reproduced in their behavior. You remember the old expression "if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck".

Research and personal observation show clearly that the majority of those who claim to be Christians don't use Biblical principles as the basis for their decision-making. When you think about it, is it any wonder? How have they been taught to think? What worldview has formed the basis for their educational experience? Judging by the evidence, they were not taught to think as Jesus would think nor were they educated on the basis of a "God is sovereign over all things" view of the world.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 doesn't leave much wiggle room; God through His prophet Moses commanded fathers to teach their children to view the world through the lens of God and His laws. That teaching experience was to encompass every area of life, every hour of the day. Deuteronomy 4:9 extends the command to include not only children but grandchildren as well. Certainly fathers have the freedom to hire tutors or work with mothers to cover aspects of learning beyond their capabilities; but God's Word doesn't give any father the liberty to give away the responsibility for their childrens' education and its results. Regardless of who performs the task, fathers are still responsible before God to train their children according to God's standard.

The goal is clear - fathers, train your children in such a way that they can go out into the world and make followers of Christ. The purpose of all our training is to equip our children so they can by their godly and holy lives attract fellow disciples of our blessed Savior and triumphant King. As near as I can tell, God figured it would be pretty much a full-time occupation to accomplish that training since He told fathers to engage their children in learning God's commands at night, in the morning, at home, away from home. That means that every aspect of a child's training should have a Biblical foundation and the goal of producing a Biblical worldview in the learner.

Fathers, if our children are going to change the world for Christ and build His kingdom, we cannot expect the world to train them properly; it neither equipped nor desirous of doing so. We can't delegate part of the responsibility of training our children to the world and expect to fill in the blanks with Sunday School and Youth Group. Rather, we must follow God's plain command and train our children using His ordained methods to meet His plan. Yes, I know it's in the Old Testament; but the last time I checked, Deuteronomy was God's Word and He hasn't told me (or anyone else) that He changed His mind. So, get over it and get with it!

By His grace,
Sundoulos