Greetings Beloved!

Education is for all the people of God and is the life-long, life-based, and life-oriented process of forming and transforming persons, communities, organisations and institutions into Christ-like maturity, for the purpose of serving God and his purposes in the world. -Arthur Jones

The purpose of this article is to shed light upon the ever increasing necessity for believers to foster a worldview that is aligned with the values of the kingdom of God and the person of Jesus Christ. A myriad of specific issues pertain to this great necessity, and this would be a very long article if I were to address them individually. Rather than medicate the symptoms, my desire is to point to the cause of the disease: Education

From where is the source of your learning?

In John 17:2-3, Jesus declares that the knowledge of God is eternal life. “That they would know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

If the popular phrase, “Knowledge is power” is true, it is no more evident than here. The most essential understanding is that of God, who is revealed to us plainly in the person of Jesus Christ. This very reality elevates the purpose of knowledge. Knowledge, or understanding, is not intended to be a mere academic pursuit, but rather experiential knowing. The goal of knowing is to produce a transformed heart, renewed mind, and the ability to differentiate between things worthy and things vain by way of knowing the One who made all things for His purpose and glory.

In summary, the person of Jesus is the root of all things worth knowing.

Science, philosophy, art, mathematics, language, government, culture, and ethics should all be grounded in the person of Jesus as He is revealed in the Scriptures. Through our knowing and understanding of Him we should interpret all other learning. Many would say this is over-spiritualizing education, but I would argue that a fear of being over-spiritual actually makes a person dull and unteachable.

The sum of life and all of its pursuits is complete and utter vanity. All good things come from above, from our Father in heaven. The perspective from which our education is derived is essential to creating a life that is worthy of the years that have been given to it by God. On this subject, I am not speaking of whether our education comes from secular or religious sources. What I do speak concerning is the perspective from which we interpret information obtained from any source.

For instance, math and science do not tell us who God is. Rather, in the knowledge of Jesus Christ it is revealed to us that God is a God of order, beheld even in the wonders of science and mathematics. Culture and ethics as interpreted by human consensus do not determine right and wrong. We see right and wrong exemplified in the mercy and justice of Jesus Christ. God is not a compartment of philosophy or art, He is the source of all correct thinking and creative beauty.

This view of education is vital to preserving a Scriptural worldview in our lives and for the generations to follow. All things learned are given to us for the purpose of better knowing Jesus and making Him known. When we do not know Jesus, knowledge and understanding are fleeting at best, a clanging cymbal that will resound until it fades away into worthless void. If we know Jesus and interpret all understanding through our knowing Him intimately and rightly, our knowledge can be used to store up treasures in heaven that will never pass away.

Our education, how we learn and to what extent we learn, will determine whether or not our lives will become aligned with the Kingdom of God and the person of Jesus Christ. True learning results in faithfully obeying the commandment to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Similarly, the fruit of learning is seen in one’s faithfulness to obey the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself.

God has a very specific and evident plan for this life we now live in the world. His goal is to redeem mankind and impart to them the incorruptible, lovingly kind, and wholly beautiful knowledge of God. We must learn and align ourselves to the purpose of God. All other reason for learning is vanity.

-J.S. Marek