Why Education? The End

This will be the final installment in the "Why Education?" series. You should know, I loath writing conclusions. (Note: I even loathe having a "final installment" in a series. I am not sure where this comes from. My issues with finality I'm sure will come up in therapy someday.) My hatred for writing them exceeds my hatred of pretty much any other task (except maybe flossing).

In college I would spend two hours writing a paper and four hours writing a conclusion. Or I would write the whole paper, try to write the conclusion, fail at the writing the conclusion, and then re-write the entire paper to fit whatever conclusion I had managed to piece together.

Very bad, I know. Shame, shame, shame, hisssssss, booooo.

Upon re-reading this particular conclusion from my senior year at Biola, I think it has a distinctly under-whelmed, ready-to-be-done-and-graduate-already tone, but I think the points are still valuable. And in it I also pull the old, "When you run out of things to say, fill the space with a Lewis quote."

Classic.

So on that note, what is the task of the Christian educator anyway?

Educators who have been bathed in the glory and beauty of Christ are able to understand reality in a way that those without Christ cannot hope to imagine. Followers of Jesus have access to Reality itself. Not only can Christian educators possess all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, we also have a secret weapon--- Christ Himself interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. If we believe the Bible is true, then we must take seriously its promises about the work of Christ on behalf of those who are His. Christian educators can provide students with the most robust understanding of what it means to be human and educated because we catch glimpses of the telos of every kind of education---Christ Himself. The responsibility, therefore, of a Christian educator goes far beyond what is expressed in any state or national standards.

To reclaim education, we must view our task in light of Scripture. This means not perpetuating the idea that a student is defined by his or her marketability or level of achievement. Every student is made in the image of God and has a place in His kingdom, regardless of ability. This eternal truth is the source of a student’s value—not his “human capital.” We must also have a proper understanding of truth and knowledge. Through revelation, reason, and through observing the physical world, we believe that we can have actual knowledge of reality. Truth exists and we can know it. We must understand, believe, and teach this.

Rather than view learning as an “indispensable investment required for success in the ‘information age’ we are entering,” let us must seek to develop passion for truth, goodness, and beauty in our students (NCEE, 1983). We have the task of teaching students what it means to flourish as human beings, to teach them the means of “right living.” Our call is ultimately to help students become more fully conformed to the image of Christ Himself. Much of this depends upon modeling a Christ-infused life—a life with meaning and joy. It requires hard work, patience, and the help of the Holy Spirit. The task is daunting, but the consequences are dire if we ignore our call. In the words of C. S. Lewis, “We all want progress . . . If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man” (Lewis, 1952, p. 28).