Chapter Ten
Education in The Local Church
Education
in the church is essential because the church is bombarded continually from
secular sources bent on its destruction. The
church has been under attack since its inception, and this barrage will continue
under the Lord returns for His Church. This
spiritual warfare is not unusual or a surprise to the Christian.
Regarding the Church Jesus said, The gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. This presupposes a definite battle. The Apostle Paul realized this attack was not only corporate
but also individualized. Therefore,
education should cover those areas which would teach Christians how to live
their lives, and how to use their spiritual weapons of attack.
In this day and age, as in all of church history, there are areas of
conflict for the Christian: liberalism, cultism, spiritual ignorance, humanism,
situation ethics, New Age antics, and a multitude of other destructive forces.
Therefore, it is necessary for the church to establish a "beach
head" of educational programs which glorify God, brings believers to
spiritual maturity, reaches the "whole" person, produces competent
leadership, and gives people a vision for winning a lost world to Christ.
Education should be a continuous process focusing on the personal
presence of Christ in the life of the Believer.
Many have attempted to give an adequate definition of real biblical education. One
man said that education is "God using His God-called leaders to put His
children through the process which is known in theological terms as
sanctification."1 Total
education must involve a variety of teaching areas.
These key areas of education are: worship, fellowship, service, doctrine,
and the practical outworking of theology. Having
these needs met, the believer will experience the greatness of God when
difficulties and tribulations occur. Every
believer, regardless of age, has the same needs, but at different levels of
discernment.
One city in America, with 100,000 plus people, had seven men arrive
to start a church (over a period of 10 years).
During that ten year period all the churches closed their doors.
An eighth church was started in the same city.
The pastor of that eighth church found a "common denominator"
for the failure the previous seven churches: A lack of Biblical teaching.
New Christians had not been discipled in the Word of God.
They had received the Lord as their Savior, but failed in their Christian
lives. This is a tragedy!
We should take warning and educate our churches in the very truth that
will set them free. For this to
occur the individual pastor must be confronted by the Master Teacher (Holy
Spirit) and then pass on what he has learned to his congregation.
Dry sermons that soothe the conscience or sermons received in the mail
from a book store do not take the place of messages which have been taught by
the Spirit of the Living God! "Three times in church history there has been a veritable
surge of adult religious education, each time there has been an accompanying
religious awakening."2 From the landing of the Mayflower at
Plymouth there has been an educational system for adults. It was only six years
after the Puritans landed in Plymouth they had established Harvard College.
Thus Christian education should provide the Christians with an
accurate and pertinent concept of who God is.
The Greek word for "nurture" or disciple is paideia (paideia),
which means "the blending of instruction and discipline."3
It carries with it the
idea of upbringing or training and instruction and
correction. The pastor is
the key to this education and is personally responsible for organizing a program
of education for his church. The
Lord Jesus taught His disciples to first "teach" all nations
(get them saved), then baptize them, and then teach them to teach others
(Matthew 28:19-20). This
discipleship has a directive from the Master and it is the "Magna Carta
of the church."4 Teaching
people takes time and energy, and the "obvious learning" is not always
easily discernable. It is this
sacrifice of time that is essential for the church to be strong and vibrant.
Gene Getz paraphrased Matthew 28:19-20 in this way:
"Go everywhere and bring men to Christ (that
is make them Christians), and then baptize them and teach these Christians the
truth that I have taught you."5
Education in the church also involves teaching Christians how to
worship the Lord. The necessity to
worship is seen in I Chronicles where David thanked God for the safe return of
the Ark of the Covenant. As the Ark
was being brought into the city David said,
"Give unto the LORD the glory due his name:
bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of his
holiness."
I Chronicles
16:29
Worship, then involves a willingness give of
ourselves and to see God in His rightful place as King and Ruler of our lives.
We worship Him for who He is, for what He has allowed us to accomplish,
and for what He will accomplish on our behalf.
Often an irreverent spirit exists in many churches: children running
through the church as if it were a playground, people throwing paper and trash
on the floor, loud boisterous behavior just prior to worship services, hymnals
and Bibles on the floor, and a general lack of respect for the house of God.
Oh, that we would see His majesty His holiness, and His righteousness!
The prophets trembled and fell to the ground in His presence, the
apostles were awed and fear gripped their hearts as the Savior touched them and
falling on their faces as dead men to sensed the reality of the presence of
Christ! Yet we continue in an
easy-going worship of the Living God. He
has not changed! But we have lost the real fear of God that is necessary for
proper worship. Jesus spoke to the
woman at the well saying, "Ye worship ye know not what" and told
her that God was seeking His people to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John
4:23-24).
To worship in the spirit suggests strongly that we are to be in His
will as we come in prayer and praise to Him.
To worship in truth is to recognize His verity and faithfulness and act
upon it with integrity. These two
concepts are the keys to understanding worship.
Any definition of worship should include these two important concepts.
Although worship is a "face to face involvement with the living
God..."6 we must the definition still further.
Worship can be defined as "Praise and adoration of God based
on a willing spirit and in absolute truth; exhibiting itself in thanksgiving,
singing, and spiritual music, and recognizing God's greatness and mercy toward
us, resulting in the glory being given to God”
(Dr. Dennis McCain, 1984). This
worship is not uncontrollable emotion, or "letting yourself go"
spiritually, self-centered, or hypocritical.
Our worship is to be acceptable to God and is "rather an attitude
of heart and mind which comprehends God for what He is and rejoices in the
realization."7 It is therefore, imperative that we educate our people to
commune with God in a biblical, truthful, and spiritual fashion.
FELLOWSHIP IN THE CHURCH: Cf. Psalm 133:1-3
True fellowship promotes a wonderful unity and love into
the hearts of God' people. Unity is
the direct result of close fellowship with God and His people.
There must be a genuine fellowship established with the Lord
before any real fellowship can be established with others in the church.
This fellowship is based upon true doctrine, correct standards of
separation, and good philosophy and ethics.
Those whose doctrine is in conflict with the doctrine of the church will
not experience true fellowship. “Fellowship”
(Greek: koinoneia)
means sharing or
communicating that which we have in common with one another so that each
believer is strengthened in prayer, faith and worship.
Believers need "Good Bible teaching that will give them
theological and spiritual
stability; they need deep and satisfying relationships both, with each other and
with Jesus Christ; and they need to experience seeing people come to Jesus
Christ as a result of corporate and individual witness to the non-Christian
world."8 People
also need love shown on a regular basis from other Christians.
It is for this reason that Christians should attend church on a regular
basis. I have never seen anyone
live a successful Christian life, having victory over sin, without attending
church regularly. It is not possible to have the same mind with people that you
have not seen or to experience the compassion of people if you have not had
fellowship with them.
SERVICE IN THE CHURCH: Psalm 2:11
Service to God involves a holy fear of the Lord, an upright life, an absolute loyalty, contrite spirit, and a true love for God and man. The rewards are tremendous to contemplate: Divine honor and recognition by the Savior, an inheritance, His blessing here on earth, and an eternal reward. How could we not serve Him Who was the Servant of all?
To hear the words "fear of the Lord" causes some to pull back
from serving for a wrong purpose. This far from the truth.
A godly fear of the awesome power of Almighty God should cause us to see
the ignorance of wasting time and talent that God Himself has given.
God does not waste time as the souls of man perish, nor does He sit idly
as His servants destroy the testimony of His Son.
"Fear the Lord and keep his commandments" should ring in
our ears while we serve Christ. Many
are sitting in the pews of fundamental churches across America with no fear of
God, no eternal purpose in mind, no clear cut plan to serve Christ and no
apparent desire to give to the work of the Lord.
Our walk with the Lord has been less than faithful.
King David wrote the words of the Lord, "Mine eyes shall be upon
the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a
perfect way he shall serve me" (Psalm 101:6).
The Lord looks down over His people and sees the faithful and loyal,
laboring in the land. Oh, that He
would see YOU laboring in the land for His names' sake!
It is the loyal and upright who will serve. Who is it that responds when there is a need?
It is those who love the Lord Jesus and desire to see His work go
forward. The church needs 100%
involvement in service to be 100% effective in the world.
It is the total church that must respond and serve if this world is going
to hear the Gospel. Gene Getz said,
"How can Christianity make its greatest impact on the world in the last
third of the twentieth century? Only through total involvement by the
people..."9 The
Lord Jesus taught His disciples that absolute loyalty was needed in order to
really serve Him.
"No man can serve two masters: for he will
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon." Matthew 6:24
If Jesus taught this kind of loyalty in order to serve we
should also teach this loyalty to our disciples. Many Christians are not aware of what it really means to
serve. We must teach, the Holy Spirit must work in their hearts, and then they
will serve Him who has redeemed them with His blood.
God also requires that His servants be humble in His sight.
He knows our hearts and the inner recesses our mind and imagination.
He is the Omniscient One! The
Apostle Paul recognized this great truth as he addressed the elders of Ephesus:
"Serving the Lord with all humility of mind,
and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of
the Jews."
Acts 20:19
Paul was once the servant of sin, but yielded
his body as a servant of righteousness. Lastly,
God wants us to have a true love for Him. This special love that only comes from
God is necessary in order to serve effectively. Each of these elements is collectively important. However, if
one is missing there is no evidence of service.
It is the combination of these five elements (a holy fear of God, an
upright life, an absolute loyalty, a contrite heart, and a true love for God)
that provides the honest servant with impetus to serve the Master. Serving
without love or loyalty is short-term and will only bring dissatisfaction.
DOCTRINE IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
Along with educating our church regarding worship and service, we must also teach them correct doctrine. Good doctrine is foundational to Christian living. If we are to reach the world for Christ we need righteous living based upon sound doctrine that is harmonious with the Word of God. Discipleship in the area of doctrine "joins pastors and congregations into a formidable force for propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ."10 All these areas: worship, fellowship, and doctrine, foster spiritual maturation and enhance the work of the church. The Bible indicates that the basis for Christian living is sound doctrine, as found in the 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Notice that doctrine is listed
first in areas of importance to the believer, and that
doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction as given for a specific purpose: "that
the man of God may be perfect..." This is the essence of the real discipleship of
Christians. They are to be taught
doctrine for the purpose of establishing them in the faith.
Each person must be perfected and prepared to do the work of the Lord.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
There is a crisis in America today.
This crisis is so deep and persuasive that it threatens the future of our
nation. Our children have been
neglected for years. They have been allowed to receive an education outside the
church and family, and therefore, have received the values of the world.
I believe that the home, church, and Christian school should cooperate
extensively to meet the needs of its youth.
We should concentrate our efforts on educating all the people in our
church, not forgetting that the next generation will be "running
things" when we are gone. History is "witness to the fact that no tribe or
nation survives for long when it neglects to pass on its values."11
Our children are an heritage from the Lord and a gift from God, and
they need godly values instilled in their lives.
The Christian school places the child in an environment conducive to
learning, provides Bible training, studies in academic areas, removes the child
from humanistic and secular philosophy, and provides a supplemental learning
situation in harmony with the church and home. The reason that Christian schools
have multiplied so rapidly is that pastors and Christian workers have seen the
complexity of the American problem: we are not only "in bondage to a
huge machine (institutionalism)"12 but we have
"departed from our foundation."13 I believe that the
greatest contribution that churches and Christian schools can make is to
strengthen the home. Christian
education is a necessity for this generation and is an integral part of the
local church.
Footnotes for Chapter 10
1. K. Gangel, Leadership For Church Education (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1970), page 42.
2. G. Getz, Education in the Church (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1970), page 10.
3. G. Getz, op. cit., page 254.
4. W.A. Henrichson, Disciples are Made Not Born
(Wheaton: Victor Books, 1977), page 5.
5. G. Getz, Sharpening the Focus on The Local
Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), page 22.
6. E. Towns, op. cit., page 308.
7. K. Gangel, op. cit., page 27.
8. G. Getz, op. cit., page 80.
9. ibid., page 80.
10. Ibid., page 30.
11. R. Zuck, Childhood Education in the Church
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), page 9.
12. Ibid., page 9.
13. G. Getz, op. cit., page 217.
