Faith Revolution

The following paragraphs are from an essay I wrote after attending a seminar on education and reading a work by John Gatto entitled The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher.

CONVENTIONAL EDUCATION IN THE CHURCH

Considering Gatto’s work, The Seven Lesson School Teacher, and Thomas’s presentation at the seminar, the discussion now turns to conventional education in churches and how it is designed to hinder rather that advance the principles of a sound education. Instead of being a place of life transformation where individuals are free in community to grow and be changed into the people that God intended them to be, the church has become a place where, to fit in, people must conform to certain standards or an unwritten, but certainly expressed code of conduct. Therefore, the educational process has become one of conformation rather than transformation. People require conformation. God performs transformation.

A brief look at Gatto’s seven lessons and the cynical demeanor in which he spoke/wrote reveals the following in the context of the church:

Confusion

Family units in church are broken up into age-graded segments and then are taught the importance of the family. Generally the curriculum is not integrated and there is often no connection between the messages given by the pastor and the educational classes. It’s just a hodge-podge of a lot of information with some life application thrown in.

Class Position

People are plugged into age graded classes, where they “belong”. Apparently, young people couldn’t possibly learn from older class members and certainly older people have nothing to learn from the younger members. Young members also have no part in a worship service. Members are given and expect preference over visitors and members of the community in every aspect, right down to parking spots.

Indifference

People leave church at the precise moment the Spirit of God is at His greatest work, at the end of the sermon. Week after week the church has the same old format. Nothing ever changes. One lady was heard, when inviting someone to church, saying: “Come to the early service. Why wait until the late service and waste your whole day in church?”

Emotional Dependency

Within most churches there is a group that wields great power and believes that they are entitled to the best positions to control the operation of the church and its services. Usually they are the ones with that are entitled because they and their families have been there the longest and have given the most to the church. It is the names of their family members and sometimes themselves that are plastered all over the little memorial plaques in the foyer and throughout the church. Can someone new possibly fit in?

Intellectual Dependency

The pastor and staff are the paid professionals. It is their job to impart knowledge and wisdom. Learning cannot possibly come from anyone but the pastor and a few choice older leaders who know it all because they have been there for years. These leaders are often even more qualified than the pastor and they will determine the direction of the church.

Provisional Self-Esteem

To be a “good Christian” there is often a written or unwritten code of conduct that is a little bit of the Bible and a lot of the ruling class’s preferences. Any new attendees and certainly new members must conform in order to be accepted as a long-term member of the church.

One Can’t Hide

The church, through all the above, can take the place of the Holy Spirit in bringing conviction upon the lives of its members. Much of the time, this is done outside the Biblical mandate of church discipline. Good members place the church first in their lives and are there whenever the door is open and sometimes when it isn’t. If one does not perform this way, then God is unimportant to them. Proper spiritual conduct also cannot take place outside the four walls of the church. All church functions must be approved by appropriate member of the ruling class.

This type of thinking and operating system has resulted in the stagnation and death of many, many churches in twenty-first century America. Worse than that, people are not meeting the real, living God. They are not given the opportunity to grow. Many souls are perishing.

A BIBLICAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION

In his article Educating for Shalom: Our Calling as a Christian College, Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. writes that the goal of Christian education is “to equip ourselves with the knowledge, skills and the attitudes that can be thrown into the struggle for shalom, the battle for universal wholeness and delight”. To the extent that Plantinga means the process whereby people, society and culture become more Christ-like, this author would agree. It seems that the Bible would be a particularly good place to turn to lay a biblical foundation. In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he talks about education, the importance and source thereof:

“But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do”

(2 Timothy 3:14-17, NLT).

Concerning the furtherance and passing on of education Paul tells Timothy:

“You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others” (2 Timothy 2:2, NLT)

Therefore it is the opinion of this author that the foundation that must be laid is the foundation of the importance, above all else, of the learning, true learning of scriptural truth in the churches and homes. This foundation receives much “lip service” but little application in the lives of Christian families today.