Covenant Christian School

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

      1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (ESV)

When I teach advanced mathematics, I strive to help the students better understand the concepts that are behind the mechanics of the math. Algebraic calculations regarding the change in volume of a sphere given a fixed change in radius are a lot easier to understand if the student grasps the concept of the sphere. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that prizes results, regardless of the methods employed. The culture says it doesn't matter how you get the right answer, as long as you get it. But, I question if this is the correct attitude to have about our children's education. We certainly want them to "get" the right answer, but we also want them to "get" the right understanding.

In the early 1990s, I was the Assistant Weapons Officer on the cruiser Long Beach, and the Tomahawk cruise missile was part of our weapons suite. While many people oohed and ahhed over the precision with which a cruise missile could strike a target, those of us involved in using this weapon understood that the missile could only reach its target if it knew precisely from which point on the earth it started. This principle has an application to education. We cannot confidently know the "how" of achieving our education goals if we do not know the point from which we "start" and the "why" that explains the worthiness of our goals and the efforts that will be required to fulfill them.

Throughout this school year I hope to share with you not only the goals of education at Covenant Christian School, but also the "why" and "how" of achieving those goals. Lord willing, I hope to have a new post each week to encourage you and persuade you to greater thoughtfulness of Christian education in general, and Covenant Christian School in particular. I pray these posts will help you perceive to a greater degree the glory, power, and majesty of King Jesus in his creation.

To start with, I would like you to briefly consider the verses from 1 Corinthians 3 that appear above. Admittedly, these verses are general and broad. But since I would like to work to the specific and narrow case for Christian education, this is as a good a place to start.

Paul states that we are not to boast in men because God knows the thoughts of the wise, and these thoughts are futile. Rather than leaving us hopeless at this point, Paul states that all things are ours and we are Christ's. This is the first important foundation block in building our argument for the why of Christian education. We and our children are Christ's; we are not the world's. To paraphrase the wording of the answer to Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism, we with body and soul, in life and death, are not our own, but belong unto our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. Our starting point is not ourselves. Our starting point is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our King and the King of our children is not some liege lord of a romantic fantasy who rules over a tiny portion of his creation, content to let the remainder of his subjects to exist apart from his gracious rule. Our King is the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. As Abraham Kuyper properly stated, "There is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'"

May King Jesus bless us in this great work he has given us an to which we have applied ourselves.