So, maybe it was a strange way to start off this discussion in my head, with a fairy tale… but I think it shows a lot of my concerns about the current state of the Church in the States today.
But this is supposed to be a conversation- both sides of the issue battling it out in my head, in this blog (including the comments- I really do need other people's input to figure this out)- so that means we need some arguments for Christian Education as well as against it. I'm planning on trying to dig some more up, but here's what I have so far, and I think that it will at least be a good start:
As Christians, we're to be the Salt of the Earth. Salt is used to preserve and flavor food by being sprinkled or rubbed on food (or, as I learned yesterday, dissolved in water which the meat is then soaked in, called "brining"); for our purposes, the basic principle here is that the salt is everywhere- it permeates the meat.
The salt isn't concentrated- it permeates the meat evenly.
We should be doing that as well, as the Church. We should be everywhere.
At first glance, then, it would seem that Christian Education is the exact opposite of this; it's a concentration of Christian kids and Christian teachers in certain schools, resulting in lowered concentrations of Christians in other schools- a dilution, if you will. Christian Education seems just like a bubble from my fairy tale.
Here's an alternate theory: what if Christian schools aren't bubbles at all, but are actually saltshakers? Saltshakers are concentrations of salt even higher than that found in meat which is treated with salt, but they are also far from unproductive. They store salt until it is time for it to be used.
This alternate theory, then, is that Christian schools are saltshakers; they are for training and preparing Christian students to go out into the world and be the Salt of the Earth.
More on this in posts to come, but what do you think? Are Christian schools, by nature, bubbles or saltshakers? Or does it depend of execution? Can a Christian school choose whether to be a bubble or a saltshaker? Do you have stories about one or the other kind of experience, or about being in a public school "diluted" by the existence of Christian schools?
Posts
A Response to Charlie Kirk's Assassination
1 month ago
Well, it's a pretty safe bet that Christian schools are private schools so perceived benefits of private schools [smaller class sizes, less gang influence, better quality instruction] would apply in this case.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have with the salt-shaker analogy is that the shaker actually does nothing but moderate the pace at which salt is introduced to the food - the Christian school merely moderates the rate at which Christians are introduced into the world.
ReplyDeleteAlso, salt is ~already ready~, it's just contained when put into the shaker. So for this analogy to be correct, then all Christian Education does is hold us. Again, it suggests it doesn't do anything.
Perhaps, to keep the salt analogy, we should look at salt refining plants. We're brought in as large, unusable chunks. A lot of potential, but as we are unable to do much. CE works on us and breaks us down until we're able to be used as God has intended us to do.
Analogies only go so far. I think it's ridiculous to take Jesus' words about being the salt of the earth, and apply them to salt shakers, which probably didn't exist in Jesus' time (as we know them now).
ReplyDeleteWell, to be perfectly honest, my experience in the public school was not a good one. I was in no way "salt of the earth"! Praise God I only went through 5th grade (homeschooled for the rest). I think that for most kids, not all, public school is more damaging to their Christian faith or witness than it is beneficial. I feel that children should be taught by their parents, or if that's not possible, by Christian educators. They have to have some salt in order to do any good. In other words, let them be taught during their impressionable years, and then let them become the "salt of the earth".
ReplyDeleteIt's like when you're making candles. When you are melting the wax it needs to come to a certain temperature range before you add color and scent, and then you can pour it. The hotter it is in that range when you pour it, the shinier it is when it has cooled. The slower you pour it, the less bubbles there are.
There needs to be a certain level of maturity before kids can be effective. And there needs to be a transition period when they are slowly exposed to the world. I think that a lot of kids experience culture shock when they graduate from high school, or get there first job. There have been some things within the last 6 months that have shocked me. Things that I never knew happened in public schools (thankfully I never had to experience it, God only knows what I would have ended up like), but because I have a level of maturity in Christ, I was able to process it in a way glorifying to Him.
I hope that was understandable!
I think Christian schools are, by and large, a political solution. They exist because Christians feel the public school is not friendly to Christians any more. Then you have those parents who don't think Christian school is adequate enough and they start homeschooling their kids. If the end point of this dialogue resolves Christian parents and Christians of their calling as believers and places it solely on the Christian school, that is quite problematic because the school can't educate you 24-7. Is it impossible to meet dedicated Christians in a public school setting? Not at all! One could even say the public arena is better because that's the real application of your faith. Also, if you view the Christian school as the ONLY place to get Christian education, you would be sadly mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI really don't want to start an argument, but, I beg to differ. Christian schools used to be the only form of education away from home. It was only when the church turned the schools over to the government that we were given "public schools".
ReplyDeleteThe public schools aren't friendly to Christians any more! They teach so many things that are contrary to Scripture!