Kingdom-focused, Bible-based education is a God-given responsibility of parents

by   Andrea Higgins                                                                                                                               Vol. XVIII, No. 2, February 2005

It was time for action. Decades of secular influence had eroded the biblical foundation upon which education in our country had been built. So in 1996 Southern Baptist leaders decided to do something about it. Their directive to LifeWay resulted in explosive growth in Christ-centered teaching through the establishment of LifeWay Christian school resources.

The LifeWay ministry developed "Bible Quest Curriculum," a line of teaching tools to help Christian and homeschool teachers instill a biblical world view in their students.

Director Glen Schultz conducts seminars and consults with the growing number of Christian school teachers and administrators to help them integrate a biblical world view into their curriculum. In addition, each summer, LifeWay Christian school resources hosts the "Building a Kingdom School Institute" for Christian school educators.

The LifeWay ministry seeks to shift the emphasis on biblical education from a Sunday-only event to seven-day-a-week training for children.

Schultz said his lifelong study of both Scripture and education has convinced him that educating children is nothing less than a sacred responsibility, which he is fond of calling "God's homework assignment to parents.

The 1996 Southern Baptist Convention marked what Christian educators consider a watershed event – a change in the paradigm of Christian school philosophy. Schultz, author of Kingdom Education: God's Plan for Educating Future Generations, said it wasn't so much a revolution as a reformation of ideas.

"It's going back to the original standard," he said. "It was laid out in Scripture. But it's new to this generation." Schultz's book is required reading now for many seminary students studying Christian education. Kenneth Coley, director of Christian School Administration at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, is one professor who includes it in his course syllabus.

Coley said the 1996 SBC annual meeting marked a "quantum leap forward" for Christian schools and a double threat against the pitfalls of public instruction. "That fall was pivotal," Coley said. "Up to that point, there were many outstanding Christian schools in Southern Baptist churches, but the Convention had not made a bold move forward to participate in the creation or resourcing of those schools.

"Historically, Southern Baptists were really way behind the huge wave called the Christian school movement.”

It was the first time in the history of seminaries that there was a move to have a full-blown Christian school focus as part of the curriculum, Coley said.

With statistics indicating that an alarming 80% of teenagers leave the church within two years of graduating from high school, Schultz said parents realize that the idea of deprogramming up to 60 hours a week of secular influence from school and other sources isn't realistic.

"We can't just go and say we're Christians and we're going to believe the Bible about tithing, the family, the church and other issues, but not about education" said Schultz. "I know people are frightened about that, but to me, we must be obedient to all of God's Word."

Schultz said this year alone 1,500 teachers will have received LifeWay's biblical worldview integration training, which provides practical lesson planning strategies.

Schultz said Christian schools also have begun asking for help with parent training materials so they can partner with the school and church in the education of their children.

"I see a groundswell of young parents who are saying, 'We're fearful. We need help,"' said Schultz. "Instead of simply telling them to go to a Christian school or homeschool, we teach them biblical parenting principles so they have the truth to make good decisions."

[Reprinted from Facts & Trends, a free publication of LifeWay Christian Resources, Nov/Dec 2004. Email: facts&trends@lifeway.com, website: www.lifeway.com/factsandtrends]