A Fool and His Folly

It seems that some people spend a great deal of time trying to find contradictions in the Scriptures. It is interesting that those who know nothing about the Bible and its message of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ are the first ones to dig around looking for some kind of contradiction so they can then say, “See, the Bible is full of contradictions, it is unreliable, and therefore Christianity is false and there is no God.”

 

Wow! That’s quite a stretch in logic, especially considering that the alleged contradictions in Scripture come from minds that are full of ignorance about the true content and meaning of the Bible. Some of the “contradictions” are quite far-fetched, but there is one place in Scripture where it seems to immediately say the very opposite of what it just said. Proverbs tells us the following:

 

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

Lest you also be like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

Lest he be wise in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:4-5, NKJV).

 

The skeptic will very smugly ask, “OK, which is it? Do we answer a fool according to his folly, or not? That looks like a contradiction to me.” While it may at first glance appear to be a contradiction, it is important to remember that the Bible does not contradict itself. It complements itself. Many examples of this can be seen for anyone who is willing to approach the Scriptures objectively and with a mind willing to deal with spiritual truth. (Note:  It has always been interesting to me that unbelievers can find passages like this that, in their closed minds, seem to fuel their argument, yet they are woefully ignorant of the passages that tell them they are sinners in need of a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is their only hope of salvation.)

 

It is quite clear that there is a time to answer a fool according to his folly, and there is a time not to do so. Discerning when to do each one is a matter of Biblical wisdom and, to some degree, a bit of common sense comes into play. There are likely several possible ways to look at this, but I will consider just one.

 

In verse four, we are told not to “answer a fool according to his folly.” When would it be wise to respond in this way? A simple answer would be to ignore the folly of a fool when that folly is directed at any one of us. Believers are not perfect. Every one of us commits sin, does foolish things, and makes mistakes. Often, we let our ego stand in the way, and we get upset when someone says things about us that are simply not true. The fact is that fools will always say foolish things. Some of these things are nothing more or less than flat-out lies, and other things are simply spoken in ignorance by those who are gullible enough to listen to nonsense.

 

My many years in Christian school administration taught me that people will say all sorts of things that are without merit and without any facts to support them. Some of the things I and other school personnel were accused of over the years by certain students and parents would have been funny if they had not been so pathetic. These things included purposely causing a student not to learn to read, discriminating against a student because of the church he attended, being unfair by enforcing the dress and haircut code, coercing the boys' basketball coach to let a player start because he had two older sisters who had been starters on the girls' team, manipulating who did and who did not represent the school in the speech meet, spelling bee, or art festival, etc., etc., ad nauseam. None of these were even remotely true, and they were not things I would have even considered doing. Funny? Not at all. But laughable? Absolutely!

 

As anyone in Christian ministry knows, it is necessary to develop a thick skin against foolish criticism. I adopted the following statement early in my career in Christian school education as a reminder to myself to pay no attention to the ignorance of foolish people.

 

Keep about your work that God has given you. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie, let corporations resolve, let the devil do his worst; but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work that God has given you.

 

He has not commanded you to get rich. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood about yourself which Satan and his servants may start to peddle. If you do those things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.

 

Keep at your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded, and rejected; you may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men. But see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being until at last you can say, "I have finished the work which You gave me to do (Author unknown).

 

As a former basketball coach, I always admired “The Coach,” John Wooden of UCLA. He said the following:  Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

 

I also adopted the following Scripture to remind me of the necessity of pleasing God, not men:  For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10, NKJV).

 

The Scripture makes it very clear that we are to use the good works that we do instead of verbal arguments in order to silence the insults and lies that may come our way.

 

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2:15, NKJV). 

 

…having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed (1 Peter 3:16, NKJV).

 

The result of answering a fool according to his folly when that folly is directed at me will be that I will become like him. Nothing is accomplished by getting into a name-calling contest with someone who has no wisdom. There are very smart people who, because of their bias and ignorance, will do and say very foolish things. There is no point in getting into character assassination, no matter what they may do or say. If we do so, we will, in fact, be just like those who are hurling insults at us. I addressed this concept to some degree in my post entitled “Can Smart People Believe Stupid Things?”

 

Did I ever make a mistake when I was a Christian school administrator, teacher, or coach? Absolutely! The last time I checked, I am a human being with a sin nature and with many weaknesses. Was I ever unfair to anyone? Not intentionally, but more than once, I found myself apologizing to and asking forgiveness from a student, teacher, or parent when I had too hastily jumped to the wrong conclusion. The truth of the matter is that, while I am far from perfect, I “have a good conscience” (1 Peter 3:16), knowing that I operated the best I knew how with the Scriptures as my guide and with a desire to please the Lord.

 

When we come to Proverbs 26:5, it seems to say the exact opposite of what we saw in verse 4. Instead of telling us not to answer a fool, it says, Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. Now we are suddenly to change course and answer a fool, but notice the reason is different. We are not to answer a fool, “lest we be like him.” Here, we are to answer a fool, “lest he be wise in his own eyes.” Those two reasons are obviously quite different.

 

The Scriptures make it very clear that there is a time to stand up and stand against ignorant statements made by others. The purpose is to defend the faith, sound doctrine, and the character of God Himself. I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3, NKJV).

 

There are many passages that encourage us to be strong and to stand firm in the faith. Following is just one. Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13, NKJV).

 

If our own character is maligned, so be it. If the very character of God is maligned, it needs to be addressed. If the character of God is anything less than perfect, then His Word cannot be trusted. If His Word cannot be trusted, then there is no salvation, and we are all, the entire human race, without hope.

 

We see the Old Testament Prophets, the Apostles, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself taking it patiently when their character was brought into question, but we also see them standing up in defense of the Word of God and the character of God when it was necessary to do so.

 

The Apostles most certainly set an example for us when they refused to bow to the demands of those who would silence the Gospel. Note the account of Peter and John after they were arrested for their faith.
 
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:12-20, NKJV). These men boldly stood up to the foolish demands of foolish men. They did not defend themselves. Rather, they defended the Gospel message.

Later, even though they had been commanded by foolish men not to preach the Gospel, they continued to do so because it was the right thing to do and it was obedient to the Lord. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us! But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:27-29, NKJV).
 
In both of these cases, the apostles most certainly answered fools according to their folly, and to have not done so would have been to allow them to be wise in their own eyes.

 

Other thoughts on Proverbs 26:4-5 are found here, here, here, and here.

PAUL’S VIEW OF HIMSELF: “High Self-Esteem?”

“Self-esteem” is a concept that is very popular today, particularly in education. It is interesting to note that the United States is near the bottom in many academic areas compared to the rest of the world, but we rank number one in “self esteem.” In many cases, we are training our young people to know little or nothing but to feel very good about themselves in the process. They are being taught to stand up for their rights when they should be learning to stand up for what is right.

Even in some "Christian" circles, “self-esteem” is taught as a very important component of the Christian life. Some even push the idea that sin is low self-esteem, while salvation is high self-esteem. This is an extreme teaching, and it is far away from Biblical truth, but it is nevertheless out there. Following are a number of quotes from the book, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, by retired pastor Robert H. Schuller, who ought to know better. 

“…Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem … the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem…”

“Sin is psychological self-abuse ... the most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.' For once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ.”

“To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image – from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust.”

“Jesus never called a person a sinner.”

“The Cross sanctifies the ego trip. For the Cross protected our Lord's perfect self-esteem from turning into sinful pride.” (What? Jesus could have succumbed to sinful pride?  Heresy!!!)

These statements by Schuller are just the opposite of the truth. A person must recognize his terrible condition as a totally helpless, hopeless, vile sinner BEFORE salvation is possible. We stand before God as guilty, lost sinners, and we have no method of salvation other than to “throw ourselves on the mercy of the court” on the basis of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves us by his grace, totally without any merit of our own.  "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:19-20, NKJV).

Jesus’ View of Self-Esteem

Jesus said, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:28, NKJV).

Some use this to justify “self-esteem” as Biblical, saying that Jesus was teaching that we must learn to love ourselves first so we can love others. Is this true? Please note the following, based on the Scripture quoted above:

(1)   The emphasis is on loving the Lord first and our neighbor second.

(2)   There is an assumption that we already love ourselves. The reality is that every human is born helplessly and hopelessly in love with himself. This is stated quite well in the following quote from my longtime friend and co-worker, Ed Cardwell:  “I think some people we have known over the years suffer from too much of the world’s ‘self-esteem.’ Just ask any thug, criminal, or general meathead bully. They think they are the most important person in the world, and if they don't get their way you might just suffer severely if you happen to be in their way.” This doesn’t sound like someone who needs to learn to love himself.

(3)   Self-love is not commanded; it is assumed. There is nowhere in the Bible a commandment to learn to love ourselves. That would be like a commandment to teach our children to sin. They will sin by nature. It would be a Biblical absurdity for God to command us to do those things which we will automatically do because of who and what we are. We will love ourselves without any instruction to do so. "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church" (Ephesians 5:29, NKJV).

(4)   Love for God and love for others is what needs to be learned. These things are what Jesus commanded, and His commands are based on things we otherwise would not do without His instruction to do so.

Paul’s View of Self-Esteem

Some say that Paul was very arrogant because he referred to himself numerous times as worth “imitating” when it comes to spiritual growth and maturity.

"Therefore I urge you, imitate me" (1 Corinthians 4:16, NKJV).

"Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV).

"Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern" (Philippians 3:17, NKJV).

"And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 1:6, NKJV).

"For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you … to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us" (2 Thessalonians 3:7,9, NKJV).

Paul did not say these things in arrogance. He had grown in the Lord to the point that he recognized he could say these things because he had learned Godly humility. He had matured, he was imitating Christ, and he knew that if others imitated him, they would also be imitating Christ. Maturity according to Paul is boasting in nothing but Christ’s grace and his own weakness. "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14, NKJV).

Paul didn't start out as a humble servant. Before his conversion, he was quite proud of himself. …though I also might have confidence in the flesh. "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:  circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;  concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:4-6, NKJV).

He was the overseer at the stoning of Stephen.  "…and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58, NKJV).

He was fanatical and the haughty persecutor of the early church.  "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison" (Acts 8:3, NKJV).  "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1-2, NKJV).

In grace, he was informed of his error by "…Jesus whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5, NKJV). Soon Paul recognized the worthlessness of his background and human achievement, and counted all these things "...as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8, NKJV).

Once his view of Christ was proper, Paul's view of himself began to decrease. This continued as he got older. Paul’s view of himself diminished and his dependence on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ increased. Notice the common thread of GRACE than runs through the three steps in the progression of Paul’s view of himself:

(1)   Paul begins by recognizing himself as the very least of all the apostles. He knew he had persecuted the church “ignorantly in unbelief.”  "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; (High self-esteem?) but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief (I Timothy 1:12-13, NKJV). "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:9-10, NKJV).

(2)   Next, he recognized himself as “less than the least of all the saints.” Not only did he see himself as the least of the apostles, but now as less than the least of all believers. "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8, NKJV). He became more and more aware of his own worthlessness as he saw the magnificent grace of God at work in his life. If we humans were already righteous, there would be no need for the grace of God.

(3)   Finally, near the end of his life, Paul recognized himself as “the chief of sinners.” "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15, NKJV). By comparison to the righteousness of God, we are nothing but helpless, vile sinners, and each one of us should see ourselves as “the chief of sinners.” That is quite an indictment of self, but it illustrates the tremendous grace of God. "…But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…" (Romans 5:20, NKJV).

Only by the grace of God was Paul able to be a humble and effective servant of God, although he was the least of the apostles, the least of all the saints, and the chief of sinners. While in his depravity, man thinks he is higher than the highest, better than the best, greater than the greatest. Paul’s self-evaluation is the exact opposite:  lower than the lowest, worse than the worst, less than the least. 

Other key Scriptures touch on this topic of self-esteem:

"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3, NKJV).

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…" (Romans 7:18, NKJV).

The only Scripture that has both the word “self” and the word “esteem” in it is Philippians 2:3.  "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself" (NKJV).

"…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (I John 4:4, NKJV).

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5, NKJV).

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10, NKJV).

Paul knew he could take no credit for what God had made of Him. He was privileged to be a choice servant of the Lord, to lead many to Christ, to pen roughly half of the New Testament, yet he could take no credit. It was all by the grace of God.

Self-esteem is not a Biblical concept. We need Christ-esteem, not self-esteem. Proper “self-esteem” is not self-esteem at all. It is Christ-esteem. Paul did not have “self-esteem,” but he had “Christ-esteem.”

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, NKJV).

"…that in all things He may have the preeminence"  (Colossians 1:18, NKJV).

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1, NKJV).

Paul described himself and others as:

(1)   "servants" - from the Greek word which means "under-rower."  An "under-rower" was a slave and an oarsman who served in the lowest level of a ship.

(2)   "stewards" - from the Greek word for "house manager." The steward of a household supervised the affairs of a household and was held accountable for the affairs of a household by the owner or master of the house. This word emphasizes responsibility.

Jesus Himself, the great Creator-God of the universe, practiced humility. "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8, NKJV).

Based on the teachings of Scripture, we need to remove all of this “self-esteem” nonsense from our vocabulary and from our teaching. We need to see that the grace of God is sufficient to deal with all of our sinfulness, and that an emphasis on “self” ultimately results in pride and arrogance, which will lead our Christian lives in the wrong direction.

Luther on Christian Schools

“When schools prosper, the Church remains righteous and her doctrine pure…. Young pupils and students are the seed and source  of the Church.  If we were dead, whence would come our successors, if not from the schools?  For the sake of the Church, we must have and maintain Christian schools.” (Martin Luther)

James M. Bramblet Memorial Service

The following bio was read at the memorial service for James M. Bramblet on March 8 by one of his grandsons, James Bramblet, Pastor of Campbell Baptist Church in Campbell, California. It was written by Terry Bramblet, one of James M. Bramblet's sons. The memorial service was held at Lakewood Baptist Temple in Lakewood (Tacoma), Washington.

 

James Mathew Bramblet

 

March 2, 1924 - January 25, 2014

 

Jim Bramblet was born at home near the small community of Kendrick Idaho.  At the time his parents were farming on land owned by his in-laws at a place called Texas Ridge.  Jim’s sister was convinced by her older brothers that he actually arrived in the doctors black bag.

 

When Jim was 15 an evangelist came to the community and a revival started; including the salvation of both Jim and his future wife Vivian.  As we understand it all of his family was saved except for one older brother who was away at college.  As a result of this evangelistic campaign eventually all three of the Bramblet brothers spent their lives serving God.

 

After completing high school Jim decided to attend Bible School at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland Oregon.  It just so happened his future wife had moved to Vancouver Washington, just across the river. While at school he received his Selective Service notice and ended up in the Navy for the next three years.  During those three years, Jim and Vivian were married and their first child was born (Timothy).

 

After the navy and after finishing at Multnomah Jim and his small family moved to Moscow Idaho to take advantage of the “GI Bill” at the University of Idaho.  During this time two more children arrived (Terry and Janet).  Jim spent his weekends and summers preaching in a little town called Elk River, Idaho.  His plans were to become a pastor or missionary upon completion of school.  God had other plans though.  After graduation he was asked to teach at the Elk River High school, which he did for two years (a fourth child came along, Bill).  God was leading him to think about Christian School education and after the two years teaching in Elk River he was asked to become the principal of a small Christian School in Portland Oregon called the West Hills Christian School.

 

For the rest of their lives Jim and Vivian would be involved in starting or working with five Christian grade schools, two high schools and one teachers college.

 

Jim also believed in hard work.  Working with and for Christian schools often meant that he had no income during the summer months.  He would try his hand at about anything, construction, farming, working at a graveyard, and even building rock walls.  One year the whole family worked in the fields picking various fruits and berries.  Sometimes at the schools he was not only the principal but the main teacher, the janitor and the bus driver.

 

Jim Bramblet was a consistent man of God throughout all of his adult life.  He was the same at home as he was in public.  He loved to serve God and passed that along to his children and grandchildren.  He is survived by four children, twelve grandchildren, twenty-six great grandchildren, one missionary, three preachers, at least one teacher and many home school moms.

 

Several weeks before Jim died he was talking to some of his children about his future.  Did he want us to have the doctors work to help him get better or should we have them just keep him comfortable.  His first reaction was that he wanted “God’s will”.

 

We will miss his companionship and his wise advice.  We were blessed to have him as our dad.

 

…..So that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

 

You can read an article entitled "In Memory of James M. Bramblet" here.

In Memory of James M. Bramblet

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

 

On December 1, 1988, the day Dr. J. Vernon McGee died, my wife Janet’s late husband, Ken Bonebright, came home and said to her, “A great man died today, and the world never even noticed.” The same could be said now about the death of my father-in-law, James M. Bramblet, on Saturday, January 25.

 

Jim Bramblet was not as well-known as Dr. McGee, but he was a great man and great servant of the Lord in his own right. He was a pioneer in the Christian school movement of the second half of the 20^th Century. Even though I had heard of him before I met and married his daughter Janet in August of 2003, I had no idea what a great man of God and a giant among Christian school educators he truly was. It has been my privilege and blessing to get to know him and benefit from his insight and wisdom. He is one of my heroes in ministry.

 

Janet had the privilege of helping take care of her mother in Tacoma, Washington for the final week of her life before she went to be with the Lord on October 4. We had her dad living with us here in Colorado Springs for the final three months of his life. He would have been 90 years old in March. We are planning a memorial service for him in early March in Tacoma.

 

During his more than 40 years as a Christian school educator, Jim Bramblet started a number of schools in Oregon, Washington, and California. He also taught in the state of Idaho. In addition to his work in Christian schools, he was also an interim pastor for a while.

 

During his college years, he began to understand the difference between secular education and truly Christian education. He said, “I had taken a course on the philosophy of education at the University of Idaho and realized it was all wrong … that it was not Christian. I began, from then on, to change my way of teaching so that it was definitely Christian rather than secular. … as far as I’m concerned, Christian schools are there to help parents educate their children.”

 

“Scripture makes if very clear that God created everything. In other words, all truth, then, is God’s truth. If it’s not God’s truth, it’s not truth. So then we need to realize that mathematics is not a secular subject, English is not a secular subject. History is not a secular subject. Even physical education is not a secular subject. Our God has created us in every aspect of our lives, and this too needs to be passed on to our children in every subject. This doesn’t mean that if we are teaching them mathematics, that every lesson is all about God. But they need to understand that God created mathematics. That he gave the truth about mathematics to us, and as they work these problems, they need to know that they are thinking God’s thoughts after Him. If they make a mistake, then they’re not thinking God’s thoughts. God stands for truth, and they need to try to strive to find the correct answer. And they need to understand that they’re dealing with things of God, because when God created the universe, He did it mathematically. Scientists who study the universe have to know mathematics. God created the universe after a mathematical formula. It’s very easy to demonstrate that, and the students studying math need to understand that so that when they come out of math class, they should have confidence that they’ve been studying the truth of God. It’s the same thing when they come out of their science class. They’ve been studying the things that God has created, and there should be rejoicing over all the wonderful things that He has made. … If it is taught correctly … they will appreciate knowing that they are not just studying dull old subjects, but that they’re studying the truth of God.”

 

These are just a few of his responses in an interview I did with him several years ago. You can read the entire interview here.

 

Jim Bramblet has gone on to be with the Lord and with his beloved Vivian. His impact on so many children and young people over the years will pay eternal dividends. We can be sure the Lord’s words to him are, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

 

 

To read articles by James M. Bramblet, click here.

Interview of James Bramblet by Ron Livesay

My father-in-law, James Bramblet, is a true pioneer in the Christian school movement. Even though I had heard of him before I met and married his daughter Janet in 2003, I had no idea what a great man of God and a giant among Christian school educators he truly is. It has been my privilege and blessing to get to know him. I appreciate his insight and wisdom.

The following interview was conducted at his house in Tacoma, Washington on July 31, 2005. Many thanks to the administrative secretary here at the school for converting the tape of this interview into a transcript.

RL: This is Ron Livesay. I’m interviewing my father-in-law, James Bramblet, and I’m going to ask him to introduce himself and tell a little about himself before we get into some of the specific questions.

JB: My name is James Bramblet and I’ve spent most of my adult life as a Christian school worker, covering a period of well over 40 years. I started way back – I’m an old man now – and I started way back when I was quite young. I started several schools, was on the board of ACSI for a while, working in Oregon, Washington, and California. I have some very definite ideas about Christian education.

RL: How did you get started? When did you know the Lord wanted you involved in Christian education and how did it all develop?

JB: The first I ever heard about Christian schools was when I was 19 or 20 in Bible school at Multnomah. A person came to chapel and told us about the school he was starting, a school in Portland – Portland Christian. I’d never heard of that before. I thought I was in Bible school to become a missionary or a pastor. I began at that time to think about Christian schools. And then before I graduated, I decided I would go back to Idaho where I came from. There were a lot of communities in Idaho without a church. So I would find a job as a teacher in one of those communities and start a church at the same time. Turned out I didn’t end up doing that.

I finished Bible school, went to the University of Idaho, majored in education and became a teacher. I worked as a teacher in Elk River, Idaho for a couple of years, and by then I had four children. I didn’t particularly want them to go to public school. I saw what was happening there, so I contacted Portland Christian to see if there were any job openings there, and I was put in touch with a new Christian school in Portland. I was interviewed by their board to become principal and teacher at West Hills Christian School. That’s when I began to realize that’s what the Lord wanted me to do.

While I was there, I took a course … on the philosophy of Christian education … and it changed my mind. I had taken a course on the philosophy of education at the University of Idaho and realized it was all wrong … that it was not Christian. I began, from then on, to change my way of teaching so that it was definitely Christian rather than secular.

RL: Could you summarize what you mean by Christian or Biblical philosophy of education?

JB: Yes, I think it’s summarized best in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This has several things about Christian education. First of all, it says who is responsible for educating children – …it’s fathers who are the ones responsible. So, as far as I’m concerned, Christian schools are there to help parents educate their children.

The second thing we have in this verse is the definition of the word “educate.” It’s “bring up a child.” We have a phrase, “lead out,” which is not right. It’s not what the word “educate” means. They deliberately changed the meaning of the word “educate.” When you go to the modern dictionaries, it says “to lead out.” But when you go back 100 years, dictionaries say “to bring up a child.” The difference is that the responsibility is given to the parents. If the parents turn that responsibility over to a teacher, then the teacher has that responsibility. But you’re not “leading out.” Children are born sinners, so if you “lead them out” then you’ll be leading out the sin. What we have to do is “bring them up.” We have the responsibility to enforce with them a Christian standard and teach it to them.

That’s the second thing, the meaning of the word “education.” Then, in the “nurture and admonition,” that’s two different kinds of education. One has to do with discipline or moral training, the other has to do with instruction of the factual things you teach. We’re responsible for both. In order to have moral training, that’s what we call discipline, that’s part of education, that we enforce Christian standards on these children. We don’t allow them to decide what they’re going to do. We have Christian standards, both in the Christian home and in the Christian school, and those standards are enforced.

The other one has to do with instruction. It says it is “of the Lord,” and there is a Christian way to instruct about the facts. Many Christian educators, so called, have been deceived by the world into thinking that there are such things as secular subjects. The only reason they seem to be secular is that they’ve been secularized. Scripture makes if very clear that God created everything. In other words, all truth, then, is God’s truth. If it’s not God’s truth, it’s not truth. So then we need to realize that mathematics is not a secular subject. English is not a secular subject. History is not a secular subject. Even physical education is not a secular subject.

Our God has created us in every aspect of our lives, and this too needs to be passed on to our children in every subject. This doesn’t mean that if we are teaching them mathematics, that every lesson is all about God. But they need to understand that God created mathematics and that He gave the truth about mathematics to us … and as they work these problems, they need to know that they are thinking God’s thoughts after Him. If they make a mistake, then they’re not thinking God’s thoughts. God stands for truth, and they need to try to strive to find the correct answer … and they need to understand that they’re dealing with things of God, because when God created the universe, He did it mathematically. Scientists who study the universe have to know mathematics. God created the universe after a mathematical formula. It’s very easy to demonstrate that, and the students studying math need to understand that so that when they come out of math class, they should have confidence that they’ve been studying the truth of God. It’s the same thing when they come out of their science class. They’ve been studying the things that God has created, and there should be rejoicing over all the wonderful things that He has made … And they will appreciate knowing that they are not just studying dull old subjects, but that they’re studying the truth of God.

RL: Obviously you’ve seen a lot of changes in the schools since you were a pioneer in Christian schools. What changes have you seen over the years?

JB: One the of the things that has dragged down Christian schools is that so many want to have the approval of the state – have state certified teachers and state approval of the schools. But the problem is that the people who are in the secular philosophy of education, really started by John Dewey, purposely wanted to get rid of Christian emphasis, so in order to get a state teacher’s certificate, you have to go to one of their colleges and be brainwashed into this secular idea of education – just as I was at the University of Idaho.

… John Dewey said this very clearly, “If we are going to have a really democratic country, we’ve got to get rid of the Christian idea that there are two kinds of people, the saved and the lost.” He said we must have a religion that’s for everybody. And this business of “dividing the county, between the saved and the lost … we have to get rid of that.”

RL: One of the things we hear so much about today in modern education and modern psychology is this concept of self-esteem – that we don’t have to worry so much about what the students learn as we do about how they feel about themselves.

JB: This idea of self-esteem – I call it a cult. It has taken over the thinking of so many people. It isn’t in the Bible. It didn’t start in a Christian place. It started in modern psychology. Then we had Christian psychologists who picked it up and brought it over into the Christian realm. When we look at the Bible, we discover that “self” and “esteem” are only used together in one verse of Scripture. That’s in Philippians 2:3, where it says, “let each esteem others better than yourselves.” That’s not self-esteem, that’s other esteem.

All through the Scriptures we are told that we’re sinners and that we need to be saved. This doctrine is trying to get around that. I think we live in a day when Satan is attacking in this one particular doctrine of human depravity. This is the thing the world hates – telling them they’re sinners – to say as Dewey didn’t like people saying, “the saved and the lost.” And it’s an attack on our Christian standards, and it should be recognized as such. When we try to teach children to esteem themselves, we’re teaching them to be proud. We’re teaching them to think higher of themselves than other people. And that’s exactly what Satan taught Adam and Eve in the garden. “You’re better than God says you are.”

I consider this doctrine of self-esteem to be a great threat to our Christian standards, and I wish more pastors and teachers, and teachers in Bible colleges, would pick this up and really teach strongly against it. There is plenty of Scripture on this subject. It can definitely be demonstrated from the Bible that it is a false doctrine that is doing a great deal of damage in our churches and in our Christian schools and also in our society.

Martin Luther on Schools

Why do we need Christian schools?  Martin Luther certainly addressed that issue.

"I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of Hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt."

Go Lady Warriors!

Here it is … the first day of basketball practice … and I am not there. I finally came to a decision a couple of weeks ago … a decision I really knew I needed to make. I stepped down as varsity girls’ basketball coach and left the team in the very able hands of my long-time assistant.

As I saw the season approaching, I found myself doing something I had never done before … I was dreading it. I was dreading spending two hours a day in practice. I was dreading the games two nights a week, especially the away games and late return times on school nights. I was also dreading what it might do to my effectiveness in the classroom.

I always told my teams that basketball is a game, and games are played for fun. I also told them that if they could not have fun and enjoy it, they should not play. I know that applies to coaches, as well. Even though basketball, as well as other sports, can be a great vehicle for teaching biblical principles, what I do in the classroom as a Bible and math teacher is of far greater significance than anything I might do in the gym.

I knew a long time ago that when the time came to step away from coaching, I would just do it with no regrets. I thoroughly enjoyed my 22 seasons of coaching at the varsity level and several other seasons at the JV and junior high levels.

Coaching is very tiring and time-consuming, and we all reach the age where we have to slow down and realize we can no longer do everything we used to do. I step away with many fond memories of past seasons. The Lord was very good to me and to my teams over the years, and I thank Him for the experience.

Now I say to the team, “Go Lady Warriors! Play with all your might as unto the Lord! Have a great season!”

Christian Schools and the Nature of Man

…The importance of Christian moral training is pointed up by the commands of God to give moral training to our children. When God had given His moral instruction to the children of Israel, He commanded them to teach them to their sons and their sons’ sons (Deut. 4:9) and to teach them diligently to their children (Deut. 6:7).

One of the chief concerns of Christian parents today is that their children receive Christian moral training. Christian parents are seeking information and instruction so they can give this moral training to their own children, and they are seeking schools that will continue this training. This concern of Christian parents for the moral training of their children is one of the main reasons for the phenomenal growth of Christian schools in recent years.

The idea that right and wrong are relative rather than absolute has controlled the thinking of our secular society and our secular schools for many years. As a result, moral training outside of our Christian institutions has become impossible. If we, the adults, do not know what is right and what is wrong, we cannot instruct our children in this area. Thus, in modern educational philosophy, moral training is not part of the program. Teachers are left to flounder concerning moral training even though education, by its very nature, has a moral dimension.

Christians relate all morality to God. All goodness is God’s goodness and He tells us in the Scriptures exactly how He wants us to conduct ourselves. Like Joseph, we need to learn to say, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). All authority is God’s authority (Rom. 13:1). God has delegated some authority to parents (Eph. 6:4), to the state (I Pet. 2:13-15), to the local church (Heb. 13:7), and to employers (Eph. 6:5). Thus, disobedience to these God-ordained authorities is disobedience to God.

The Scriptures make it clear that concerning the moral training of children the parents are given the authority and the responsibility to carry it out (Heb. 12:7-11; Eph. 6:4; Prov. 13:24). Some people today seem to think that this authority belongs to the state. In Romans 13:4 we are told that the state bears the sword. The sword is an instrument of death. In other words, the state, and the state alone, has authority of life and death over its citizens. Neither the home nor the church was given this power. The problem rises when the state attempts to use this power in the area of education. One can force people into a schoolroom with the sword, but to get them to learn by threatening with the sword is not very practical. Neither is moral training a job that can be done by one bearing a sword.

The persuasive power of the home and the church rests in love, which commodity was not given to the state. Much of the present-day confusion concerning the matter of authority over children stems from the fact that the state has thrust its authority between the parent and the child. As Christian school teachers, we need to remember that God delegated the only authority we have over any individual student to the parent and by the parent to us.

If any family’s moral and ethical standards are so divergent from the Bible-based Christian standard that the student does not fit into the Christian school program, then that child should not be in the Christian school. The power to expel must remain with the school authority in order for moral training to take place.

Excerpted from Chapter 5, “Christian Schools and the Nature of Man,” of An Introduction to the Christian School, Copyright © 1985 by James M. Bramblet.