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Deepening Commitment to Christ

Secular education asks what students know, not who they are. Christian education asks not how much students know but how closely they are following Christ.

In Christian education what goes into the head must move to the heart, compelling deeper commitment and greater obedience. Spiritual knowledge is never intended for the head alone, never focused on skills alone, facts alone, principles alone. All knowledge must be dedicated to the glory of God.

While we may be tempted to assume that commitment is the hearer's responsibility alone, we know better. Teachers have a role to play, especially in calling people to obedience concerning what they have heard. I have found that I have a better chance of creating committed students when I challenge them with the implications of what they are learning, spelling out the application in specific terms.

Growing in Christ

I want to see in my students the fruit of the Spirit. Mere knowledge is not my goal, but character.

Several years ago the headlines trumpeted the stories of a serial rapist in a town near Dallas. When the police finally nabbed the criminal, we got the bad news that he was an alumnus, a graduate of the seminary. He had studied, passed the tests, projected the image, gone off to pastor, but he had failed to develop character.

I can instruct in such a way that people are satisfied with listening while not doing. I can make them comfortable with increasing spiritual knowledge while they lack commitment and obedience. I can enable hearers to be puffed up with knowledge rather than humbled by their disobedience to that knowledge. If hearts are not being renewed along with minds, I have failed.

Showing Competence to Live Out Faith

I am dedicated to giving my hearers the skill, knowledge, experience, and character necessary to bear fruit for Christ. In the Gulf War, the military stressed in briefings and interviews the professionalism of the modern American soldier. "The soldiers did their job like professionals," they would say. "We have trained them to be the best in the world." Military professionalism is valued for good reason: commanders know that a soldier's survival, as well as that of his unit, depends on his level of competence.

I feel the same way about equipping believers as a sergeant must feel in boot camp. I know that no Christian can become capable and qualified for the Lord's service without being taught certain skills. I don't want anyone to finish my class and be incapable of accomplishing God's purposes.

I think a Christian must be competent in three areas:

• Knowledge. Paul admitted that he lacked rhetorical skills and personal presence to impress the Corinthians, but he stressed that he did have truth, crucial knowledge that was far more important.

A student without a grasp of the Bible is a warrior without weapons. I am a teacher because I'm convinced knowledge makes a difference, especially in how believers live and how well they help others.

Knowledge is more than the accumulation of facts. It includes the intellectual ability to critique contemporary books, song lyrics, and movies. So when discussing a modern book or movie, I regularly ask my students, "What are the values of the piece? What are the presuppositions? What is the scriptural perspective on this? What difference would it make if we acted on this way of looking at the world? How can we counteract the negatives?"