A Note on Christian Education -- Part 1

(I'm calling this post "part 1" because I don't want anyone to think that it contains everything that I might say about Christian Education.)

Next month I am going to attend a conference focused on Christian Education. The organizers of this conference are the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Their conferences are a thing that I have been wanting to attend for a few years now, but this particular one is right up my alley. 

https://events.flfnetwork.com/conferences/school-wars/

I wouldn't be able to afford to go to this, if it wasn't for the kindness of Gabe Rench, which was brought about by a providential social media comment. Now, not only am I going, but my wife will be able to attend with me! We've even been the recipients of an additional donation, which will cover our hotel costs. I am full of both gratitude and excitement over this opportunity and I'm genuinely hoping it will be a personal encouragement in our Christian Education endeavor and a motivator to keep-at-it... but... I have one particular thing to say in regards to this whole thing. One thing that I wish, if given access to a microphone and a platform, I could say at an event on this topic: this is hard.

Christian Education Wildfire

I believe in Christian Education.  I really do. And I would love for a conference like this to spark a wildfire of passion for Christian Education across this country. That is a real hope, not only for me, but I would assume for the organizers of this conference as well. I am sure that they, along with the others who will be attending, are hoping and praying for a conference like this to have that affect: a wildfire affect.

But I also know how conferences like this work... how they work with, and in, the attendees. It excites. For sure it excites with the truth that is presented.  It is slightly similar to that internal excitement you experience when you see a great quote in a book or one that is shared in an online post. But at a conference, when a statement is made, that excitement is exponentially magnified in the resonating echo-chamber of a crowd. It is a level of excitement that can only happen in the presence of a communal reception of a truth. There is nothing like a large audience of like-minded people being receptive to statements on a truth that they already believed on some level, but is now being confirmed by those who have enough presence to draw an audience -- that is a special sort of excitement. It is wildfire excitement. 

But what happens after the conference is over? 

Christian Education Ember

What happens? You have to travel home. Whether near or far, those blazing torches of newly ignited passion for Christian Education, when separated from each other, can go from quickly spreading flames to a slowly burning ember. This reality, to be sure, is most likely expected and anticipated by the organizers of such an event. No doubt, with purposeful forethought, the event will most likely end with some sort of encouraging challenge, meant to capture and catapult the burning embers back out into the world with enough fuel to keep the fire burning. And I hope it does, I really do. But to keep my analogy going, everyone knows that one of the best ways to put a fire out is to scatter it, and no matter what we attempt to do, this particular scattering is necessary, not only because of the nature of a conference, but also for the overall successful vision of Christian Education being spread across the country. 

So, spread we must. Back to our homes, families, communities and churches.  This is where it gets hard. 

The Christian Education Slow Burn

For this to work, to really work, it will require the flame of distinctly Christian Education to spread, not only to the attendees, but to a whole assortment of others upon their return.  

First and foremost, Christian Parents will need to believe in this whole-heartedly and sacrificially. They will need to recognize that Christian Education is important, but they will also need to realize that their own children's education ought to be Christian. Their eyes will need to be opened to the reality that education cannot be neutral -- that neutrality in education is agnosticism, at best. Then they will need to be ready and willing to sacrifice financially to help make it happen. They will need to know and believe that this won't end at a financial sacrifice, but may include an end to the sacrifices being made at the idolatrous idol of kids' sports. 

Wow. Can you already feel the quenching reaction to me even suggesting such a thing? To put forward Christian Education as an option isn't an issue. To go the next step and suggest that Christian Education is the better option, might garner a few eye rolls. But to go further and even hint that Christian Education is something that Christian families should do... that is unacceptable and unchristian and unloving and antagonistic. Questioning parents' choice on education it tantamount to the unpardonable sin in some communities, and those bright-burning embers of Christian Education can be quickly snuffed out by communities with priorities higher than an education that is distinctly Christian. 

The Christian Education spark will then need to spread to the churches: specifically to the pastors of those churches. These men will need to speak to the reality of our cultural moment and the need of the sunrise to sunset responsibility that families have to raise up their children.  Preaching to families the parental expectation of passing on God's commands, saying, 

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:7–9, ESV)

Wholesale buy-in of Christian Education in our local churches is essential because the churches themselves will play a key role in the creation and sustaining of Christian Schools. This is true, not just for that one little church that decides to offer their facilities, but will require all of the Bible believing churches in any given community to get behind this cause: with money, presence, and rhetoric. 

Finally, and maybe the most challenging, is the need for teachers. You can get parents and Pastors with their churches on board, but if you don't have any teachers, what good is it? This need is accentuated by the reality of a teacher shortage affecting the entire nation. It is hard enough to find teachers, but to also hire a teacher that will typically make half of what they could at the public school down the road, feels like an insurmountable barrier. 

I could speak on each of these three challenging needs to a greater extent, (and I might attempt to do that in a later post) but I must say one more thing about teachers -- about teachers and staff. I've alluded to this already, but let me say it again with greater clarity: It is with these individuals that the slow burn of Christian Education faces its greatest challenge. These people will need to exhibit the longest endurance in the cause, with the smallest amount of compensation, partnered with the least amount of gratitude. And here's the thing: The Wildfire of Christian Education will be snuffed out without these people. Parents come and go because their children eventually graduate. Church involvement and support will wax and wane in their extent. But without the long-lasting endurance in the thankless job of being a Christian School Teacher, it will all fall apart. 

Conclusion

The theme of this conference is being promoted with a Star Wars influence. Everything from the way the "School Wars" title is presented to the images of Douglas Wilson being portrayed as a sort of Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi master. So I would add one of my own: 

I'm genuinely excited about this conference and I'm hoping it will be a shot in the arm for the days, weeks, months, and years of my own Christian Education Slow Burn.  I'm also hoping that it will give me some additional fuel so I can come back to my own community ready to fan into flame a burning desire for distinctly Christian Education, not only in parents and pastors, but also with those would-be potential teachers and staff. 

But most of us will feel like we're all alone on Tatooine. 

This is important. It is more important than most people understand. Pray for us.