OUR BLOG
Posted 13 June 2022
Why Christian Education is the Next Generation’s War Cry
Renuka’s Story
By Renuka George
On Monday, my kids and I spent the afternoon having a pizza picnic in the backyard when my 8-year-old son, Tobias, told me (what he described as) his biggest secret. He told me about something he’d experienced months ago that through one of his school lessons, God had reminded Him about it, and he asked God to help him process that negative experience.
“…and guess what mom? God helped me!!”
Those weren’t just his words but his utmost conviction. It’s in moments like these, when you’ve paused long enough from the busyness of life, that you realise the weight and impact of the choices you make for your family. I credit both our ability to have backyard picnics on a Monday and his mature and godly thought process around something so personal to him, to the model of education we’re so grateful to have at Kingdomcity School.
Having worked in education for over 12 years, I had front row seats to the rapidly evolving million-dollar industry. For generations we’ve trained ourselves to believe that valuable education is synonymous with a name-brand curriculum, or a state-of-the-art facility, or a carefully curated portfolio of extra-curricular activities. But in fact, you wouldn’t need to look too closely today to work out that our school systems have never been more vulnerable to socio-economic climates, political agendas and just the sheer depravity of our broken world. With each passing generation, parents lose more involvement, more of their voice and more of their ability to intervene as frenzied institutions step in and shape the future, one child at a time.
Of course, there’s the age-old argument… But I went to a regular school and I turned out ok, right? Wrong!
Truth is, a child beginning school in 2022 has far greater battles to fight than a child that began school even just 10 years ago, let alone comparing it to our time. Not academic battles – acceptance battles; identity battles and moral battles. Battles that will have a far greater bearing on their lives than their ability to do Math. Our school systems, when not held accountable, can often create nuclear micro-groups in which young minds are robbed of security and holistic belonging. Children are classed by allergies or by abilities, classed by clinically diagnosed conditions or by the need for assisted learning, classed by race or by social-statuses. Barriers, if left unchecked, that foster insecurities, pride, unhealthy competition and self-promotion.
And that is why God’s life-giving Word is the answer.
Not God’s word in addition to, or as well as, or alongside education, but God’s word interspersed through every aspect of it, forming the very core of learning. Skill, knowledge, and human development was God’s idea. From Adam to Noah to Abraham and through the kings and prophets, He teaches His people in great detail not just the mysteries of His creation but strategies to be pioneers and leaders in every sphere. He teaches Science and Agriculture (Adam and Eve); to Math and Physics (Noah’s Ark); to Literacy (Moses); to Design and Architecture (The Temple and Ark of the Covenant); to Politics and Governance (The Israelites); to Business and Commerce (Jacob and Jospeh); to Music, Dance and Fitness (Samson and David); all the way to revolutionary leadership, supernatural ministry and Kingdom establishment (Jesus and the Holy Spirit).
It is our job as Christian parents to train our children in a way that points back to the God that created the universe and all its binding principles in one breath – not just as a token, once a week in church, but as the very basis for all learning and development. Of course, there’s logistics and scheduling and perhaps even needing external assistance – I’d be the first to admit I’ve needed help to make it all work! But the adjustments we’ve had to make as a family to accommodate Tobias’s schooling is vastly outweighed by our conviction in what Kingdomcity School provides for him.
The Lord has put in the hands of our children the ability to draw these mysteries out and exalt Him in all that they do and achieve, but he’s put our children in our hands.
I choose Christian education for my kids because that is what it will take to fortify them against the schemes of the enemy and set them up to be everything God created them to be. And also, so we can keep having picnics on Mondays!
