The Goal of a Christian School Education

I stumbled upon this the other day. Way back when, I was asked to give the commencement address at the Christian school my kids attended. I re-read it and I was encouraged to see that what I think now isn't so new. It has roots that go back a ways. And, believe it or not, that's really helpful to me right now. So, here it is.

Commencement Address North East Christian Academy

1992

As we come to the end of the school year and, for some, the end of several years as a student at NECA a few questions are floating around I'm sure. One question that some of the students are now asking is something like, ‘When will this be all over so that I can go home?' Some of the graduates may be wondering what life after high school will be like. Some of you parents and relatives may also have a question. It goes something like this. ‘Has it been worth it all?' Sending your children to a Christian school has meant expending a lot of time, energy and certainly a lot of money. If you had sent them to a public school it would have been a lot easier. Think of the dollars spent on tuition that you could have spent fixing the house or car. For those of you that have to provide transportation, think of the miles traveled. As stewards of the Lord's resources it's right to ask, ‘Has it been worth it all?' And that's the question that we'll take a look at.

Well, then, how shall we answer this question? After all, what should we expect from a Christian school that would make it worthwhile to send your kids there instead of to a public school? Right here, I think we come across one of the most basic differences between good Christian schools and good public schools. What is the goal of a good public school? Let's not pick on the worst ones the ones that don't really teach. We have our share of second rate Christian schools, too. Taking the best of the public schools, what is their goal? What do they hope to produce out of the children entrusted to their care? I think that it's fair to say that the public school wants to produce capable, self reliant adults. What I mean by that is a person who can get and keep a good job. Someone who can make a positive contribution to his community. Someone who can take care of himself and not be a burden on society. That's a capable, self reliant adult and that's what the public schools hope to produce.

Now, then, what is the goal of a good Christian school? What does it hope to produce in the lives of those children entrusted to it? The goal of a Christian school is to do more than just make sure that kids learn their math facts better than public school kids. The goal is more than making sure that Christian kids get to pray in school. The goal of the Christian school is more than protecting Christian kids from the immorality that many public schools students are involved in. Rather, the goal of a Christian school is to produce disciples of Jesus. Anything less than that is not worthy of the name Christian.

Now, when I say that I have something very specific in mind. What I don't mean is that every graduate of a Christian school ought to become a minister or a missionary. Making disciples is very different from making ministers. Neither do I mean that the Christian school produces people who only know how to quote Bible verses about getting saved. That's not a disciple either. A disciple can be a doctor or a factory worker, own his own business, stay at home to care for the kids, teach school, do a multitude of things out there in the world. It's not the job that he holds or the way that he talks, but the kind of person that he is.

Let me get a little more specific. There are three qualities of a disciple that I'd like to focus on. There are many other qualities but these three will do for tonight. The first is that disciples are people of faith. There are a raft of definitions of faith that are floating around. Some people see faith as believing what you can't prove. Other people think of faith as the ability to wish for the impossible. I, rather, think that a Biblical faith is agreeing with whatever God says in His Word and acting on it. It's not just agreeing that God has said something and then sitting. Real faith shows by acting on what God says. Neither is it dreaming up what you think God has said and acting on that. No faith listens to the Spirit as He speaks through the Word and then it acts. A Biblical faith is agreeing with what God has said in His Word and then acting on it.

How does that show? Imagine that you're Joshua ready to enter the Promised Land and God has just told you that you're going to conquer Jericho. ‘Great!', you say. ‘And how shall we do this?' And what does God say? ‘March around the city for seven days and then watch the walls tumble.' What does the sinful nature say to that? ‘Whoever heard of such foolishness? Conquer a fortified city by walking around it? The Canaanites will laugh! And what will that do to the morale of the troops?' But what does faith do? It agrees with what God has said in His Word and acts on it. And it conquers the unconquerable. God told Abraham that through Isaac he would become the father of a multitude. And yet, God later tells him to sacrifice by fire that very same son. What does the sinful nature do? It recoils from such a thought looking for some excuse not to do it. ‘What about the promised multitude?' What does faith do? It agrees with what God has said in His Word and acts accordingly. By faith, Abraham took Isaac to the place of sacrifice, believing the promise and obeying the command, and he received him back again.

That's what disciples are like. People of faith. Agreeing with what God has said in His Word and acting on it. Hearing the promises and believing that, at the right time, God will keep His Word, regardless of what others may say. And also hearing the commands and obeying what He says even though it's tough at times.

This is bedrock for a disciple since, whatever else he may be like or try to do, he can't do it without faith. Now a public school cannot make people of faith. At best, they teach their students to put aside until Sunday morning whatever it is that God has said. But this is what a Christian school is built for. To make disciples by producing people of faith. This explains the food collection at Halloween and the Doers Class and the trips to Ball Pavilion. Not just to be nice, helpful people. Agreeing with what God has said in His Word here in terms of loving our neighbors and acting on it. Becoming people of faith.

Second quality of a disciple: being a servant of God. We live in a society that is so antagonistic toward the very idea of serving others. We hear so much today about our rights as citizens. We are told to assert ourselves. ‘Let people know about how great you are!' And this thing about ‘needs'; how we all have ‘needs' and that we need to be sure that we meet our own ‘needs' since no one will meet them for us. This is the spirit of our age. But what does Jesus say to those who would be His disciples? ‘Whoever would be great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served to serve and give His life a ransom for many.' [Mk. 10.43,44] Consider what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2. ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’ If someone will be a disciple of Jesus, he must follow the example of the Master and become a slave.

My favorite example of a servant attitude is Mary, the mother of Jesus. I don't know if we understand sufficiently what was required of her when Gabriel made that fateful announcement that she would be pregnant. Do you realize that she could have been stoned? That's what the Law required of the immoral. But even if that didn't happen, imagine being there when Mary, as yet unmarried, told her parents that she would have a child. What would she tell Joseph, her fiancé? Can you imagine the hurt on his face as she spoke those ominous words? And think of how she could lose him, forever. And yet what does she say to Gabriel? ‘Behold, the bondslave of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.' What about her rights? Shouldn't Mary assert herself and tell God about her needs? But no! A disciple is a servant.

I've appreciated how this aspect shows at NECA. When the kids would go to Ball Pavilion their schoolwork goals for the day weren't reduced. They were told that being a servant sometimes involves cost. It showed on the soccer field, too. Winning wasn't the most important thing. When the other team didn't have enough players a couple of ours went over to the other side. ‘Regarding the others as more important than ourselves.' If anyone would be a disciple, he must also be a servant. And that's what a good Christian school produces.

Last quality of being a disciple: living in light of the Lord's return. Far too many Christians view the Lord's return as the great escape. ‘Phew, finally get to leave this mess.' Rather than being an escape, it is what keeps us going, living as disciples now, building the kingdom. Being a disciple of Jesus is tough work. In our day it is definitely going against the flow. But as we live in light of Jesus' return we are able to keep at it.

What do I mean by that? Listen to 1 Corinthians 3.12,13. ‘Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.’ Being a faithful disciple is hard. There are lots of times when you're not sure that your efforts are making any difference. You strive, and you work, and you pray, but you just don't know if it's making a dent. But you keep at it because you know that ‘the day will show it'. On the day of the Lord's return, our efforts for Him will be brought to light. Then the quality of our work will be seen for what it is. That's why Paul says these words in 1 Corinthians 4.5: ‘Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.’ Don't pass judgment now, either saying all is great or all is terrible. We await His judgment on the last day. And it is the hope of every faithful disciple that on that day he will hear the words of the Savior, ‘Well, done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.' It is that hope that enables the disciple to endure the struggle now. Waiting for the applause of other people is vain. Either it will vanish when you need the encouragement the most, or it will make you proud, causing you to stumble. What keeps the disciple going when it's the hardest is knowing that when Jesus comes back it will all be worth it.

The Christian school trains the students to live in light of the Lord's return, first of all, just by talking about it, reminding the kids that His coming back is a fact. But, more subtly, in addition to talking about it, the Christian school also trains the students in this by teaching that we don't get all the goodies now. That's what good discipline is. Working hard when it's not fun so that later it can be good. By training the students to be disciplined to work hard now for rewards that come later, it helps the student to develop patience endurance. And that prepares him, as he gets older and understands more, to be able to live in light of the Lord's return.

This is the goal of the Christian school to make disciples who, then, go out into all of society. Some will work in a shop, others in an office, others will work at home, but whatever they do, they do as disciples. They will be involved in our world letting their lights shine, proclaiming that the answers to the issues that confront us are to be found in the Word. Along with getting more of the people of our society into the kingdom by evangelism, they will also get more of the kingdom into our society. That's what those essays were about. Dealing with issues that confront our society whether it’s dealing with homelessness, the disintegration of the family or even the lamentable weakness of the Church and finding answers for them in the Word. That's the work of disciples, the results of the Christian school.

If I'm right that the goal of a Christian school is the training of disciples then that has something to say to each of you. To those of you who are parents, this should serve as a reminder of your role. After all, the Christian school is only intended to assist you in the training of your children. Are you training them to be disciples of Jesus or is merely becoming a capable, self reliant adult good enough for you? To you students, do you see what all this going to school is about? It's not just learning how to read and do math and understand science. You're in the process of being made into disciples. Are you submitting to that or are you fighting it? Do you just want to get your work done and get out, or are you willing to see how all this fits into making you a faithful disciple of Jesus? Mr. Baniszewski and Mrs. Boyd, to you has been entrusted a large portion of the care and training of these students. You have a lot to say about how they turn out as disciples. I would, first, remind you of the weight of that responsibility. One day you will stand before our God to give an account. However, I also want to say that I know that you love these kids and that nothing thrills your heart more than seeing them take their place in our world as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus. I commend you for your work. The last day will show the high quality of your efforts. And to you, graduates, regardless of what your parents and teachers have done, the decision to become and to continue to be faithful disciples is yours. Will you continue to pursue that goal or will you opt for the easier model of merely becoming capable, self reliant adults? The Church of Jesus is in dire need of some serious disciples. Will you work to meet that need?

We started by asking a question. ‘Has it been worth it all?' Is a Christian school education worth all the cost? Well, what's a disciple worth? Is all the time, money and effort that you've put in to produce a disciple too much? When you consider the alternative I can't imagine saying that it's too much.