Blinders

by My Anonymous Friend

I've been thinking about this concept for a while now. It comes up in Luke 9 as Jesus asks His disciples who people say that He is. People actually think He might be John the Baptist who was beheaded only days before??? What about the blinders of Christians after Christ? Augustine had so much right but he believed women had the same value as cattle. The Stoics had a supreme reverence for God but completely missed out on the joy of celebrating the life given to us here and now. The reformers dismantled the evils of the church and affirmed the doctrines of justification by faith but were happy to execute Christians if they believed in a different mode of baptism. The modern church made such a helpful commitment to the inerrancy of scripture and absolute truth but often quenched the Spirit's work as a real experience. The emergent church brought community, relationship, humility, and dialogue to the forefront of Christian practice but moved away from the firm foundation of biblical doctrine.

These are only a few examples; there are many more. How about my own blinders? I have teetered back and forth on some philosophies, some doctrines, and pragmatics of Christianity my whole life...a new book, a new set of influences, a new church, a new job, new life circumstances, etc. I think the reality of Christians' blinders is that if we major on one aspect of the faith, we are susceptible of missing out on or simply getting another aspect wrong. We shouldn't disregard everything Augustine or Luther said because of their blinders, but we should seek the truth in what they said, and add it to the toolbox of our Christian thought and practice. In terms of what they got wrong, we should identify it, and renounce it. If history shows that even the greatest Christians had blinders, how am I to proceed on my journey of redemption? I still come back to the two concepts I want to build my life around--humility and fierce resolve. Humility to accept my own blinders and shortcomings, but a fierce resolve to stand firmly on the aspects of truth I know to be absolute.

The Bible at the Center of Education

I saw the following on the website of the Association of Christian Schools International in 1998. It briefly describes where Christian schools have been and ought to be. Things are changing rapidly, and when it becomes no longer true that the Bible is the center of the schools, the last best option for Christian parents is home schooling.


…Christian schools are among America's oldest traditions. It may surprise some that Christian schools have many more years of tradition in America in educating the public than any other form of education. Christian schools predate state-funded government schools by 207 years.

Christian school educators maintain the long-standing tradition of placing the Bible at the center of our schools as the standard by which we educate and train the next generation. Noah Webster said it well: "Education is useless without the Bible." Those are strong words in today's educational environment. America's twenty-sixth president, Theodore Roosevelt, would have wholeheartedly agreed with that idea. He said, "To educate a child in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."

(ACSI Website, http://www.acsi.org/)

"Teacher" or "Learning Facilitator?"

More and more, the word "teacher" is being replaced by other terms, such as "educator" or "learning facilitator." This just seems to be one more symptom of the not-so-great changes that are taking place in education, including Christian school education.

"Teacher" implies that there is someone who actually knows something and imparts that knowledge to others who do not know it. Of course, that means we have to admit that students don't already have all the answers inside of them, and that wouldn’t be very politically correct.

“Learning facilitator" implies that instead of teaching, what goes on in the classroom is the pooling of ignorance. I guess that is probably true.

In light of this, I can certainly say, “Eye use to kuddn’t even spel “ejukader,” and now eye are wun.

Why I Believe in Biblical Education

Valerie Hixson is Ralph and Kathy Petersen’s daughter, a graduate of a Christian high school, a former public school teacher, the wife of a public school principal who is also a graduate of the same Christian high school, and a home school mom.

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Why I Believe in Biblical Education  Valerie Hixson, May 2007

Proverbs 22:6 is an often quoted verse that has words of instruction and promise for us. “Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” God has given this responsibility to parents, not to the state.

I am a mother of three children. I am constantly challenging myself to train my children, not just teach them. My dictionary says to train means to prepare for a contest. It means to instruct by exercise. It means to drill. It means to form to a proper shape. It means to discipline for use. I can teach my children the way they should go and then someone else can come along and teach them a different way to go. I need to do more than just teach those godly ways; I must train them all day every day. I am surprised at times to see people spending so much time and money training their dogs to sit, heel, and stay, yet their children run wild. It is my God-given responsibility to train my children in the way they should go. I need to train them to fear the Lord as long as they live by keeping all His decrees and commands. I need to impress God’s ways on their hearts, talk about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road and when we lie down and when we get up (Deut. 6:2-9).

Knowing the importance of training my children, I am certain that Biblical education is the only education I will have for my children. I have experienced public school education for five years at the University level and was a public school teacher in San Jacinto for five years. My parents made the sacrificial decision to train me in the way I should go and put me through Baptist Christian for my schooling. I am very grateful for their decision during my childhood because when I went to college, I did not depart from the way I should go. I quickly learned that public education is an open door for Satan. Children are great sponges for absorbing worldly views. In college, I was forced to take classes such as “Human Interpretations and Values,” “Perspectives on Genders,” and “Moral Choices for Life.” As I was teaching, I came across homosexuality, witchcraft, drugs, and violence in my first grade classroom.

I had my students for seven hours a day. I knew that I would teach them the best that I could for seven hours a day. I trusted myself as a teacher, but I would never put my child in my classroom. Other kids can teach ungodly things. Textbooks contain ungodly things. You may ask, “Are you going to protect them from everyone and everything?” Obviously I cannot do that but I will try, to the best of my ability, to protect them from ungodliness and instill Christian values as long as I have them in my care.

Training my children is important to Christ. Jesus emphasized the importance He placed on children by saying, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea" (Mark 9:42). I have a great promise that lies ahead. “Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This life is short. We are here for one purpose - to glorify God. I desire to train my children through Biblical education. I recognize that home school is the best form of Biblical education, but I have promised my children that they could go to school. My children will still be trained at home, and I look forward to Baptist Christian School coming alongside of me and assisting me in their godly training.

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Note: Valerie is now the mother of five. Her twin sons were born in January 2008.