Discipling Little Ones? Christian Education Requires Christian Teachers

Pastor Voddie Baucham was right when he warned us prophetically, "If you send your children to Caesar for their education, don't be surprised when they come back as Romans." Though, he was not foreseeing something unexpected or counter-intuitive. He did not have some secret gnosis. He was simply reading his Bible, then reading the room.

Why do you think we've seen such rampant apostasy through GovEd? It's because children will naturally imitate their teachers, whether foolish or wise.

Education itself is fundamentally mimetic. It deals in the currency of teaching and learning, of modeling and imitating.

As you've heard it said, "a disciple, when fully trained, will be like his master" (Luke 6:40). He will be LIKE his teacher.

This is one of those principles that the Marxists get, yet we somehow miss. We find once again that "the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light" (Luke 16:8). They understand that, if you want to control the next generation, all you have to do is replace their teachers.

So, what kind of teachers were shepherding your children this last year? What about this next year?

As Christians, you are commanded to provide your children with the paideia of the Lord, a full-orbed education and discipline that is meant to shape them into the image of Jesus Christ. As you will hear today in Episode 6, this obviously includes being formed by Christian teachers. "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ," said the Apostle Paul.

Anyways, education is much more than 2+2=4.

Education is whole-souled formation.
Education is the shaping of loves.

We cannot escape the fact that our teachers WILL shape our child's loves. From the way the teachers dress, to the way they joke, all the way out to what they do in their own leisure. All of these details inevitably force their way into the classroom because the teacher is a real human being endowed with real authority. There's no avoiding it.

Yet, the broader Christian community still carts their children off to the local Public School, forgetting that a child who bakes in that environment 6 hours each day, 170 days each year, for 12 years, cannot help resisting the unrelenting call of their teacher, "BE LIKE ME."

It's a no-brainer then that we would deploy our forces to defend this important hill: Christian education must supply Christian teachers.

In fact, it wouldn't be "Christian" education without them.

P.S. Did we miss you at the 2024 NCP Conference? Feeling a little FOMO? Don't worry–we have you covered. Simply follow this link over to our St. Brendan's Patreon channel for the link to all the conference talks. We want you to be equipped to build Christian boroughs in your place with your people.