Education Can Build Our Faith

I am the mom of two young daughters, and education is rarely far from my mind. I’m a product of both public and private school. My mom homeschooled my brothers, and my husband and I are a founding family for a public charter school. It is no secret: Our family loves education.

In Luke 10:27, Jesus reminds us that we are called to love the Lord our God with all of our minds. When I was in graduate school, the Lord illuminated my heart to understand this verse more deeply. I realized that to love him with all my mind meant that I needed to approach studying, test-taking, listening to and receiving feedback from my professors, and writing papers with an entirely different attitude. I needed to view these seemingly earthly assignments with eternal purpose. These assignments were more than mere activities. Each one was a call to worship. Similar to how I viewed singing worship songs in a service as an offering to the Lord, I began to view my education as an opportunity to love the Lord with my mind. My educational experience actually could be an expression of love for him, true worship, and an opportunity to daily live out Christ's call in Luke 10:27. In addition, my view on equipping the church to live out this call also began to take shape.

As the Lord began shaping my view regarding loving him with my mind, it became apparent to me that he was indeed raising the standards for me to worship him not only with a portion of my mind but in its entirety. Over the last decade, I’ve become more aware of how the body of Christ is hungry to make this connection between our faith and education.

It is tempting to consider educational experiences as a means to an end, fragmented from our relationship with Christ. But the Lord is raising the standard as he did in Isaiah, “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him (59:19).” As the body of Christ, we have the opportunity to explore how our faith in Jesus impacts our relationship with various aspects of education. Loving the Lord with the entirety of our minds will look different for each person but it is my prayer that each of us will have a posture of surrender to the Lord regarding however he desires to use our minds for his glory.

I recently began serving as the executive director of the Faith and Education Coalition-NHCLC, which was formed to bring evangelical Christians together in support of education equality. We are raising the standards to equip the children in our congregations and our communities to love the Lord with all their minds. We believe in and affirm a parent’s freedom to choose how to school their children. But we also understand that Scripture calls us to love and bless all the children in our communities.

I’m excited to offer education resources to parents, pastors, and church leaders created by the Faith and Education Coalition (and the NHCLC). I’ll use this column as a channel for sharing those resources as well as practical tips and ideas at the intersection of faith and education.

Here are two education resources you can access today:

Faith and Education Coalition Membership: Anyone can join the coalition and receive tips on preparing students for college, information about scholarship opportunities, ideas for reaching out to your local community, and free resources for parents and church members. Learn more and sign up at www.FaithandEducation.com.

Education Sunday, September 6, 2015: Thousands of Hispanic churches across the country use the first Sunday of September to focus their members on the value of loving the Lord with their minds. There are many creative options for highlighting education in your church, and you’ll find ideas and resources at www.FaithandEducation.com. Sign up today to help students focus on answering Jesus’ call to love the Lord with all their minds.

May eternity feel the impact of the body of Christ committing to love the Lord with all of our minds.