The Biblical Mandate for Education
By Michael Myers, Founder and Headmaster
While it has temporarily been taken off the front page of pressing needs, education is arguably one of the most important issues facing our nation today. Over the past several decades, Americans have seen their national educational standing among the civilized nations of the world continually slip. In fact, according to Daniel Lunzer of the Washington Monthly: “Virtually everywhere in the world people tend to be more educated than their parents. This is no longer true in the United States. A report by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities indicates that the U.S. is one of only two nations on Earth in which people aged 25 to 34 have lower educational attainment than their parents” (2009). One has only to return to the famous 1983 report commissioned by President Ronald Reagan, “A Nation at Risk,” to see that the telltale signs were well entrenched by then.
The questions must be asked: How and why has this happened, especially in light of the huge government-controlled education monopoly that spent $53 billion of federal tax money on this enterprise (http://www.federalbudget.com/). These statistics do not bode well for the future of American civilization no matter which way you examine them.
But education is not the only institution that is facing tough times in modern America. Christianity is in a crisis in America today. That is not to say that Christianity is failing or will be wiped out. Quite the contrary, for we know from Scripture that not even the gates of hell will prevail against the church.
The crisis is in the cultural battle Christians are losing and that is no more evident than with our youth. Well-known researcher George Barna has clearly demonstrated for many years that something is amiss in the American Christian community. The church’s influence in the public arena is waning and no one seems to know how to turn it around. Undoubtedly, this issue is complex and involves many variables. However, I submit that at the crux of the matter is the disregard of the biblical mandate for education.
In the next few issues of the Dayspring Sonrise, I would like to examine what the Bible has to say about education. Each month I will look at one aspect of the thorny matter of whether God really cares about how we educate our children. Having been an educator in both the secular and Christian systems, I believe there is some common ground that provides a solid foundation for understanding the will of God in this arena. As Christians, what could be more important?
What is a mandate?
To begin, let’s look at the word mandate. Webster (1985) defined this word as: “A command; an order, precept or injunction; a commission.” Most Christians understand and accept the idea that God has given certain mandates in the Bible that have far-reaching implications. Among those generally accepted are the Dominion (Cultural) Mandate found in Genesis 1:28 and reiterated in Genesis 9; the Love Mandate, summarized by Jesus in the Two Great Commandments of Matthew 22:37-39; and the Great Commission, proclaimed by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. I will not take the time to expound on these mandates at this time other than to say that each of these, in its own right relates certain aspects of education.
Defining education
Focusing on the topic at hand, I would like to submit that there are explicit instructions concerning education clearly and systematically revealed in the Bible. In fact, the commands, precepts, and commissioning are so emphatic that, together, they rise to the level of a biblical mandate. To begin, it is important to understand what education really means. According to Noah Webster (1985) education is: “The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations.” Webster didn’t stop there, but went on to reveal his biblical worldview as he admonished: “To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”
In the next issue, I will examine this beginning point to see if it qualifies as a biblical definition. That task will set the stage for our systematic search for the biblical mandate for education.
References:
Lunzer, Daniel. (2009). Education in U.S. declines. Washington Monthly. Retrieved on January 11 from
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/education_rate_in_us_declines.php
Foundation For American Christian Education.
When Man Abandons Self-Government
Oration By Matthew Day, Grade 12
Over three thousand years ago, in an ancient land filled with idols and pagan groves, there lived a fickle people ruled by an immutable God. They repeatedly rejected their heavenly Sovereign and fell into enemy hands. God raised up judges to deliver the periodically remorseful Israelites. Yet they refused God’s government and demanded that Samuel give them a king, “such as all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5). “Listen to all that the people are saying to you,” God told a distressed Samuel. “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (1 Samuel 8:7).
We, as Christians, are God’s people, “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (I Peter 2:9). Will we cling to God or reject Him? When God’s people reject Him as king, He surrenders them to their own wicked desires. Naturally, man will crown another fallen man rather than be ruled by a gracious God. Fallen man chooses fallen government. Two common forms of such a government are monarchy and socialism. They result when the people become dependent upon government as provider and “savior.” Those who exchange their liberties for the provision and protection of the state are consumed by that government they trusted to feed them.
Dependency means “being at the disposal of another” (Webster). At whose disposal do you want to be? Former Prime Minister William Pitt perceived that “unlimited power corrupts the possessor” (“William”). A government run by a “corrupt possessor” is destined to fail, for “apart from Me,” said Jesus, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Man Looks for a Savior
After man’s fall, there was a void. But before Christ’s advent, man attempted to fill this void through the establishment of monarchy. What man ultimately needed was a savior. Rather than place their freedom in God’s hands, the Israelites forfeited their freedom to a corruptible king. As documented by Jeremiah, the futile reliance of the Israelites on their kings, rather than on God, led to their devastating enslavement to the Assyrians and Babylonians. A government established on a single fallen man can only lead to slavery, first to the king at home, but eventually to an alien ruler.
The Truth of Socialism
Socialism, like monarchy, is a fallen institution that consumes its entangled victims. It is “a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state” (“Socialism”). Government controls the economy then controls the people. The socialist experiment exploded with alarming violence when the Bolshevik Revolution began nearly a century ago. In the early 1930’s, “resisters were shot or deported to Siberia…where they endured forced labor” (Telzrow). When Stalin gained control in the 1930’s, every aspect of citizens’ lives became vulnerable to the forceful ambitions of their powerful leader. By 1970, an estimated 35 to 45 million had died at the hands of their Soviet leaders.
When government is given increasing power, its role expands until government consumes its people as Stalin and socialism consumed the Soviets. In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “Unlimited power is in itself a bad and dangerous thing. Human beings are not competent to exercise it with discretion.” Moreover, Tocqueville recognized that God “alone can be omnipotent, because His wisdom and His justice are always equal to His power.” When we vest human government with unlimited power, we abandon individual responsibility.
The Savior is Jesus
In America today, people are depending upon a “savior” who cannot save. In fact, it is not a savior, but a state, that wants control of people’s lives, a state that provides for the general welfare, instead of promoting it. From FDR’s New Deal to LBJ’s Great Society to (President Barack) Obama’s stimulus package, the role of government in American society has steadily increased. Looking to one fallen man to save the United States from its economic problems is idolatry. Relying on government and giving Obama the responsibility of relieving the populace of this recession is only giving him more power. When we rely on government to solve problems rather than taking individual responsibility for crises, we abandon the God-given mandate to govern ourselves. We replace the ultimate Authority with a fallen authority, but Christ is our only Savior. Government cannot and will not save us. When we depend on Christ, there is no need to rely on government and its empty promises and futile solutions. Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind.
Works Cited
“Socialism.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 22 Apr. 2009.
Telzrow, Michael E. Socialism’s Broken Promises. 26 Dec 2008. 5 Apr. 2009
www.thenewamerican.com/history/world/628-socialisms-broken-promises>.
Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. Ed. Oliver Zunz. Trans. Arthur Goldhammer. New York: Library of America, 2004.
Webster, Noah. An American Dictionary of the English Language. 1828. San Francisco:
Foundation for American Christian Education, 1995.
“William Pitt Quotes.” BrainyMedia.com. 5 Apr 2009
quotes/quotes/w/williampit159685.html>.
“The World is Relying on Mr. Obama’s Rescue Plan.” Leading Article. Independent News
andMedia Limited. 26 February 2009. 7 May 2009
Students Raise Enough Money to Feed 12,000 after Inspiring Visit to GAiN
It began in an ordinary way in October, when Dayspring Christian Academy’s second-grade students visited the Global Aid Network (GAiN) warehouse located in Mt. Joy, PA. As a culminating activity to the class’ history unit on Paul, the missionary, the class visited the warehouse to serve.
When they arrived, the students packed school supplies into Ziploc bags and packed them into large boxes headed for children in South America. “It was quite exciting to the students to be missionaries for the day and know they were helping someone far away,” said second-grade teacher Suzi Agne. “During the morning break we listened to a presentation by a missionary about children, some who are orphaned at young ages, and not getting enough food to survive.”
The missionary told us about a dietary supplement that is used to counteract this (hunger). "It is created of rice, soy, wheat, and vitamins that taste like chicken,” Mrs. Agne said. “When added to two cups of boiling water, one bag of ‘Mix-a-Meal’ will serve 6 people. Each bag of ‘Mix-a-Meal’ costs 25¢. This touched the hearts of (teacher’s aide) Mrs. (Amy) Brown and I, as well as the parents that went along to help.”
After the trip, the students wanted to do more to help these children. So, Mrs. Agne presented the “Mix-a-Meal” program to the second- through fifth-grade chapel--and the enthusiasm to work with the program was contagious. Mrs. Agne brought in several of the plastic tube mini M&M containers, which happen to be just the right size to hold quarters. The containers were distributed to each second- through fifth-grade classroom, and students began donating quarters. They took containers home to participate as a family, as well.
“On December 2, the first collection of containers garnered $230,” Mrs. Agne said. “This inspired the students to do more, and on January 6, the second collection of containers produced another $275--for a grand total of $505.”
That amount will purchase 2,020 Mix-a-Meal bags and serve 12,120 people.