When I imagine Christ in Christian education, I see joy, fun, and laughter. I see play, curiosity, lot of questions, maybe a few answers. I see learning, exploring, resting, receiving, observing, living and enjoying community. More than anything I see love – deep love for one another – between teachers and students, students and students, parents and students. I see educational processes planned and implemented from the premise of what is loving, wholesome and gracious for children. I imagine these and more.
What do you visualize when you think of Christ in Christian education?
Ideas, stories and beliefs are powerful things. These form the foundation of our lives. Sometimes we may reject an obvious theory but fail to recognize the implications of that theory in our day to day lives. Like for example the theory of evolution – Christians will outright deny this and claim Creation by a living God as the true narrative. Rightly so. But do we recognize our immersion in the idea of the survival of the fittest, a major factor of the theory of evolution. Our lives are lived from the premise that we need to be excellent, be the best to survive in this world. We not only believe this for our careers but for our spiritual lives as well. We read and interpret the Bible from that basis.
We read the narratives of David, Daniel, Joseph as great examples of lives lived excellently but fail to recognize that they did not chart out a plan to reach high positions. They simply walked with God and followed his lead. Prophets like Jeremiah, Hosea, even the son of God Jesus did not experience grandeur. On the other hand, in their obedience to God, they lived in poverty, suffering, and pain even death. They too walked with God. So when we imagine Christ in Christian education, parents, teachers, school leaders must examine what we understand about Christian education. Perhaps it is just the world’s patterns and practices neatly wrapped in Christian sounding practices. Early on in the 1970s, Australian Christian educators published the book No icing on the cake. Dr.Michael Goheen in his foreword to the ebook version writes :
The striking metaphor of Christian icing on a secular educational cake captured our imaginations. It remains my favourite image for faithful Christian education. It challenges a dualistic approach that simply adds moral and devotional icing to an otherwise humanist education. It graphically portrays the importance of having the gospel speak to every area of the educational enterprise.[1]
The challenge, therefore, is to reexamine all of education and its processes. When Christ is in Christian education, cut throat competition will be replaced by compassion, drive to perform will be replaced by grace-filled living, covetous nerve-wrecking ambitions and goals will be replaced by joyful journey and embracing of ones gifts and talents. If one desires to embark on a journey with Christ in Christian education, then thought must be given to not just the content but also the teaching-learning methods, not just discipline but also administrative processes – the whole of education.
How do you feel about such an education system? Does it feel invitational or scary? Pay attention to where you sense resonance and where you feel resistance and talk to God about it.
All of this is a journey, a long one at that. It is not a one time, quick-fix event. The good news is we have Christ with us on this journey. He is more excited to see Christ in Christian education.
[1] Mechielsen, Jack. No Icing on the Cake: Christian foundations for education in Australia. Brook-Hall Publishing Foundation. Kindle Edition.
Photo by Johannes Plenio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/foggy-path-1102908/
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