DISCIPLING CHILDREN THROUGH EDUCATION
Hosted by Greenacre Baptist Christian School
About the Seminar:
Date: Saturday 20 August 2011
Time: 9.00am – 3.00pm
Venue: Greenacre Christian Community School Hall,
Cost: $30.00
What to bring: Lunch. Morning Tea will be provided.
RSVP: by 25.8.11 to Jennifer 0410 477756.
A taste of what to expect!! An extract from Mark’s paper titled “Discipleship: The Aim of Education”.
The discipleship of students should be the aim of our schools and learning communities. Education is a key part of the process, but not the end goal of discipleship. Discipleship focuses on students knowing God, His character, nature and ways and building relationship with Him. It focuses on assisting students to hear and obey His communication as they are helped to develop in their gifts and talents growing in their capacity to minister in all spheres of society and their understanding of their unique call and destiny. Often much of this process of development comes about by formal, non formal and informal education.
Biblical Christian education finds its roots in the Hebrew culture and their education which was dominated by God. All education whether religious, occupational or military centred on the Shema (Deut 6:4-9 Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.),
They also studied the Torah, the law or first five books of the Old Testament and later the wisdom literature. In Hebrew education there was no distinction between knowing something and applying it in life.
The foundation of many education systems around the world is the liberal idea of education coming from the ‘enlightenment’. The enlightenment started in the 17th century and is sometimes referred to as the age of reason.
Liberal education finds its roots in Greek and Roman thought
The term liberal education comes from the Latin ‘liberalis’, meaning “appropriate for free men”. Liberal education was directed toward the upper class male and its purpose was to create an elite educated citizen who could take their place in society. Unlike Hebrew education, in Greek education, ‘thinking and knowing’ were separated from ‘doing and being’. The learning of subjects was for the training of the mind not for application in life.
In Greek and Roman times liberal education was contrasted with the servile arts which represented specialised tradesman skills and knowledge needed by persons who were to serve the elite. This is contrasted with Hebrew thought who celebrated the craftsman (Ex 31:1-6) and administrators (Acts 6:1-4) seeing their giftedness as coming from God.
The liberal model coming from the Greek model suggests that only the educated should lead both through position and influence. It suggests that as we grow in knowledge we will gain understanding and as we grow in understanding we will eventually become wise. Education creates the road to wisdom and it is the educated wise (those with much formal education) who should lead us in all spheres of society. It is only the “educated wise” who are able to create and develop new knowledge. Those with higher levels or degrees of education have greater authority to lead and to create new knowledge and reinforce existing knowledge
The Bible on the other hand states that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ not the acquisition of knowledge. (Pr 1:7; 9:10). Anyone from the newest believer to the youngest child has the capacity to create new ideas and ways of doing things with God!
God is just and therefore the measure of excellence and success that He uses must be universally attainable. The aim of discipleship is a fruitful life and the measure of success is fruitfulness. All can attain a fruitful life measured by obedience to God and His call and destiny. Our education system should be directed toward assisting students to live a fruitful life loving God and others.
About the Speaker….
Download the Discipling Children Through Education Poster(A4)
