We are not going to play favorites here as both the Christian school system and the secular one make the same mistakes. Some schools, teachers and officials are good in both systems but sadly, those are overshadowed by others who do not perform as they should. Too often, schools in both systems tend to favor teaching ideology instead of educating the students correctly. This is so in spite of the warning given in the book of James.
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (NASB 3:1)
We know this as we have seen education first hand and have tracked the misdeeds of teachers, administration staff and education officials for several years. These people, even in Korea, treat students as objects not worthy of the best information possible or teaching as just another job. It is no longer a profession worthy of their best behavior, best effort, or having any character or integrity. It is now a means to an end, hopefully by padding their bank account and pension fund.
Teaching has lots a lot in recent years and there is enough blame to go around. No one group is solely to blame as all have contributed to the demise of education– even in Christian circles.Sadly, we saw this in our own undergraduate alma mater as well.Then when you see stories like the following article:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/teacher-accused-feeding-puppy-snapping-140248186.html
Teacher Accused of Feeding Puppy to Snapping Turtle in Front of Students
{and the title is enough of an example}
You know that something has been lost in teaching. It doesn’t matter the level because all levels have been infected with the same disease. In the book, Hitler Furies, a study on the female Nazis of that era, it was stated that Hitler introduced dumbing down into the German education system. It is much harder to manipulate and control educated people. The most successful educational program in the west since the 1980s has been the strategy to dumb down the students.
We have seen this first hand as well. But it was not limited to just the students who got a lack of an education. The teachers were dumbed down as well. We saw that over the years in Korea as teacher after teacher heading towards that country were not smart, lacked education and some could barely string a sentence together. There is something missing from education. Probably several elements are no longer in the profession. But again, that is not true in all cases.
As we thought about that article linked above, it was brought to our attention what God wanted done with his people. But many believers will probably miss their importance because the instructions are found in the Old Testament not the New. Non-believers won’t normally know these passages unless they read Deut.in their spare time. But then even if they do, will they believe God’s word pertaining to how their profession should be handled? It is highly doubtful.
But the book of Deut. is filled with verses providing God’s instructions on what should be taught in his people’s schools. Here are some of those verses:
“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (NASB 4:1-2)
See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ (NASB 4:5-6)
10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to [b]fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’(NASB 4: 10)
“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. (NASB 6:1-2)
6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up (NASB 6:6-7)
And on these verses go.
God has said very clearly what he wanted taught to his people and their children. These instructions have not been voided by the New Testament.
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, (NASB 1 Tim. 1:3)
Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you (NASB 1 Tim. 4:16)
holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. (NASB Tit. 1:9)
The firs set of verses has what is missing from teaching that takes place today in both the secular and Christian school systems.
so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God,
The fear or respect of God is what is lacking. No one that we know of, is doing this today. God is not feared and his ways are not taught. While the secular world and some Christians run around looking for human answers to school shootings, we have that answer here from God himself. The fear of God would stop many shooters from committing their evil schemes. Plus, if they were taught the ways of God then they would know that taking a life is wrong and should not be done.
When you make God’s rules appear as human origin rules, then it is easy for people to forget about God and ignore these human based rules. If people are not taught God’s ways, instructions and commands, how will they learn how to live properly? Ho will they treat their fellow human correctly if they do not know the better way to live?
These lessons start in the home where the parents teach it to their children and their grandchildren. Eventually, those lessons will reach politics, science, education and so on. God’s OT instructions and commands are not just for an Old Testament group of people who lived 4000 years ago. We bring the fear of God back to the lives of families, education and so on then we bring back the other missing elements in education.
You may ask what are we doing about this instead of just posting the thoughts God wants us to share on the internet? We have lived these principles in Korea as we taught. We had problems, criticism, attacks, but in the end, because we obeyed God and taught the way he wanted us to teach, we were rewarded as well. Maybe someday we will post some pictures recording those rewards.
We have been preaching in the Philippines using God ways. Now we have been asked to be the preacher of one church full-time as well as start a new Bible College. We opted for the latter. We are working on setting up a new Bible college that will have God’s instructions as the guiding force behind our teaching. Do not worry we do not plan on asking for money. We will need books though, lots of them. We will make that request when the time is right. Eventually we will be looking for teachers but that is a ways down the road. We will need prayer as well.
But we do what we can to practice what we are teaching in these web pages. This means we may not have time to post here but that remains to be seen. Christians need to take action and it is not done by teaching interpretation or ideology. It is done by following the Holy Spirit to the truth. Then accepting that truth and teaching it to others.
If you want a better education system, then it begins with the fear of God.
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