Christian Education: Growing in wisdom and stature

Kerala is the most literate state in the Indian Union. However to infer from this statistics that the people of Kerala are also well educated would be far from truth. One needs to only glance at the headlines of the days news paper to realize all is not well in our society. Who is responsible for this sad state of affairs? The Christian community in Kerala ought to share a major portion of the blame because we neglect to do what we know to do. Unfortunately, powers that matter in our State have not understood what true

education is. Hence our schools tend to focus on the delivery of knowledge, skills and information from teachers to students and miss out what is really important about education. The fundamental and broad purpose of Education is to modify the aspirations and conduct of a community of people and sustain them across generations. It is about development of character and mind-set to serve the society at large. Sadly, while the secular establishment has abandoned its responsibility due to the pressure of commercial interests, even those who have a role in the world of Christian Education seem to have forgotten their mandate. It is time that the Church which serves as the sentinel in the Kingdom of God, wakes up from its slumber to assume its responsibility. Where do we go from here? Our guidance and teaching comes from our God who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. When God created man He gave him dominion1 on the earth and the freedom of choice to follow Him or to live according to what he feels is right. When man decides to live independent of God, there is clear and present danger. No wonder then, King Solomon the wisest man ever to be born warned, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.2 God never wished that the human family created in His image should perish. So He chose one man Abraham and his family to teach them His ways that they may live and not die. This family became the nation of Israel whom God disciplines as a Father would his son. It is the plan of God that Israel would become a model to all other nations. When God rescued the people of Israel from slavery and brought them out of Egypt, His first concern was the education of His people even before they arrived at their destination Canaan - a land flowing with milk and honey. We read that when the people

assembled at Mount Sinai to worship, God spoke3 to them through Moses - the commandments, laws and regulations which He expected them to obey carefully. God did not want His people to be ignorant like the people of the nations around them. He wanted them to know that He and He alone is the LORD and God who enforces order in the universe and not a multitude of gods.4 We may learn from a perusal of the commandments what God expected from Israel. First and foremost, God expected His people would love and honour Him as their source of life. Second He expected the institution of family would be respected. Third He expected order and harmony in the society. The various laws and regulations given by God can be categorized broadly as dealing with personal hygiene, maintenance of law and order, care for the poor and needy, protection for aliens and rules for temple worship and its maintenance. Surely God expected5 Israel would become the envy of all other Nations around them if they would only abide by all the laws and regulations given by Him. It was indeed the plan of God to bless other Nations6-8 as they too started to emulate Israel. We know that individuals become families, families grow into communities and communities constitute a nation. This being so, parents have a great responsibility in grooming their children to become good citizens. Just as God expected the nation of Israel to be a model to the world, the Christian community can make a difference in our State and in our Country, if we pay attention to the word of God. There is an intriguing statement of the boy Jesus in the scriptures - And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men.9 The Bible gives us no information about how the carpenter father Joseph and stay-at-home mother Mary brought up Jesus. But this statement says it all. Whatever Joseph and Mary did they must have done right. The scripture repeatedly tells us that the Fear of the Lord is wisdom.10-14 When God gave the laws and regulations to the people of Israel, He gave the responsibility to parents15 to teach their children the importance of fearing God and to walk in His ways. He told them to make tassels16 on the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel that they may never forget His commandments. When Jesus came to our world, He summarised the hundreds of laws and regulations into just two17 commands and told His disciples, if you love me18 obey my commands, my commands are not a burden19. We live in a world where advances in science, engineering and medicine allow us to lead comfortable lives far superior to what our ancestors enjoyed. But when we allow our

comforts to draw us away from God who is the author of life the results are going to be tragic. Today we are seeing much trouble and chaos in our society because there is neither fear of God or fear of authority. Whenever we open Newspapers or switch on Television sets we see and hear only depressing news and the steep moral degradation of society. What shall we do? Let us remember gratefully the sacrificial service rendered by the Christian missionaries who came to India and who among other things started wonderful schools to educate and enlighten Indian children. Let us pray for re-awakening among the leaders involved in Christian education. Jesus said we are the light of the world.20 Let us set our house in order. Let us confess our sins of neglecting to teach 21 our children His ways so that they will remember even when they grow old. Let us restore the priority for Family Prayer, Bible Reading at home, attending Church and Sunday school. Let us be meticulous in obeying the laws of the land, be it paying our taxes or following the traffic rules. Let us honour God through our good deeds and demonstrating to the society around us that we are Kingdom people. If we do these things, surely our children will grow in wisdom and stature and will do great exploits that would honour and glorify God before the world.
Scripture References: GE1:26(KJV) PR14:12 EX20:1-17 DT4:35 DT4:6 GE 18:18 GE 22:18 GE 26:4 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 LK2:52 JOB28:28 PS 111:10 PR 1:7 PR9:10 PR 15:33 DT6:4-9 NUM15:37-40 MT22:37-40 18 19 20 21 JN14:15 1JN5:3 MT5:14 PR22:6 (Unless otherwise indicated, all references are from NIV)
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E. Ebenezer Rajakumar [ID 428]