Education Through Christian Eyes

Word for Education

In many ways, Christian teachers are like Mary. They are in a very visible situation where all eyes are on the wedding they are attending. Let’s face it, everyone is looking at education and judging it, and quite frankly, the wedding has run out of wine. Unfortunately, the Christian teachers, unlike Mary, are busy looking for natural ways to fix the problem. Mary could have done a lot of physical things, expected and accepted things, to fix the wine problem. She could have watered it down, mixed it with less fermented wine, or simply rationed it a bit by slowing down the service. She didn't. She immediately went for rectification, not pacification. She went for a complete change, not a coverup. She reached for Jesus. She didn't ask; she acted. She knew what needed to be done and she knew who could do it. Her response was to look at the group in trouble and say, “Do what Jesus tells you to, and it will be fine.” Then, in faith, she exited. What a beautiful picture of letting go and letting God. She just put everything in the hands of Jesus and walked out. I have been looking at our education system. It, like the insufficiency of wine at the wedding, is a picture of extreme need. In the face of scarcity, what have we done? We have rationed, watered down, and tried other things. We have done everything except reach for Jesus. Let’s go back to the wedding and think about the purification jugs. Anything put into those jugs was intended to purify the people. What does it mean to purify? Purification is the removal of anything that might separate one from God. The water in the jugs was most likely used to purify through ritual bathing and/or hand washing. This was prescribed through Jewish law. Of course we recognize the way John the Baptist used water to purify the people of their sin and prepare them for the coming of Christ. In his first miracle, Jesus, understanding the importance of the purification of man, defiled the purification pots. Or, he simply demonstrated the change in purification that was coming. The pots were filled with water. There were no prayers, magic words, or rituals; yet the water became wine. That which was used for purification from elements that lead to the separation between man and God became wine, the symbol of life and community. Of course, the wine would come to symbolize the freedom from all sin and death when Jesus used it during the Passover meal. The water, which symbolized temporary purification, became wine, the symbol of eternal cleansing. We need eternal and complete healing in our schools! Of course, the perception is that Jesus isn’t invited to our “wedding.” Before we can talk about how to fix the deficiencies in our schools, we Christian teachers and administrators need a reality check. Wherever we go, Jesus goes. He promised that he would never leave or forsake us. He promised a helper, the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. Surely, the man who said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up” and then did just that, is able to fix the schools that we have broken. I know, we must maintain a separation of church and state. As I write this, I am fighting the urge to end the previous statement with LOL (laugh out loud). As long as Christians are in schools, government, etc., there will never be a separation of church and state the way that statement is currently interpreted. That statement was intended to protect the church from the government, not the government from the church. Back to the issue. How do we bring in Jesus to fix the problems? We do this individually. We carry him into the situation within our vessel. Is it too simple to say he is the wine and we are the pots? If we are carrying the wine of life within us, then the purification, the solutions, the vitality that pours from us has the ability to bring eternal solutions to temporary problems. It then becomes our personal responsibility to dip into the life of Jesus within us and to pour his healing and wisdom into any—no—every situation we face in our classrooms and our schools. This does not mean we preach Jesus. It means we live him. We must know the Bible, understand the character of God and be connected in a way that we can live out Christ by making decisions, speaking and working in a way that brings glory to God. Friends, if we live Jesus, the wine pots will be full and our schools will be the symbol of excess and prosperity. This requires that we, as Christians, go back to what we know to be the truth in educating. The foundational truth is that each and every child is created in the image of God with a purpose. The problem is that the purpose of that child is not stamped on them somewhere or provided in a manual. Never fear, God can and will show each teacher the needs of his or her students. God is really the originator of differentiated instruction. I know this because he always meets his people where they are and he calls himself, “I AM.” God also understands the egos, politics, and finances that go into maintaining an education system, and he is quite capable of fixing that. Just think about how God solves problems. Take, for example, the situation of the Israelites recorded in Exodus: they have been enslaved by the Egyptians for a very long time, they are treated badly, and they are impoverished with nowhere to run and no one to lead them. What does God do? He takes an unlikely man, gives him a voice and the power to back that voice, and sends him to retrieve a nation.