Christian Education vs Secular Education

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I’ve been a part of four different Christian schools in the Atlanta area over the last 20+ years. I’ve really dedicated my life to Christian education. I’ve been a part of new and growing schools as well as old established schools. Each one talked about academic excellence but no one really defined what that meant.

As I've been thinking, my mind went to the struggle that schools face of academics versus spiritual issues. There are lots of Christian schools that claim they provide academic excellence in a Christian environment. What does that mean? I think for a lot of schools that means providing a secular education in a Christian atmosphere, even though the terms secular and Christian are not logically compatible. This is probably the reason we do not hear of Christian schools claiming to offer a secular education. No Christian school would want to admit to that, so they disguise what is actually happening under the name academic excellence. Yet if academic excellence is silently defined as success according to standards set by a non-Christian mind, it is all too likely that secular education in a Christian environment is the best that they can really claim. The pursuit of academic excellence can hardly be judged to be wrong in itself, nor does it automatically lead to a secularized education. It does so when the non-Christian mind is allowed to set the standards and when high-test scores to enable students to attend the best colleges take precedence over the time it takes to teach students to be servants in a lost and broken world. The worst possible thing to do is to pursue success according to the world’s standards and to attempt to make it look otherwise by couching it in some kind of “religious talk”.

There is nothing wrong with a Christian school pursuing academic excellence as long as they maintain a Bible-based, Christ-centered philosophy. God’s Word needs to be the foundation upon which every principle of the school rests. Policies and procedures must reflect their commitment to the Word. They cannot compromise their biblical integrity for academics. Their concern with the purpose of education goes beyond the immediate function of providing the students with an opportunity to get into best colleges. (Thus giving them the opportunity for a good job and more of the “good life”.) Their concern with students goes beyond helping them score well on tests and prove their intellectual capabilities. Their concern as teachers goes beyond being an effective classroom manager whose students perform well on required tests. Their concern is that all these tasks and purposes be carried out within the framework of an eternal perspective. They must prepare them not only to serve in this world but also prepare them to stand before God in eternity. If they fail at this task, nothing else matters.

So let’s call it what it is. If you are providing a secular education, call yourself a college-prep private school. If you are a Christian school, then everything you do should be done from a Christian worldview. Everything should have at its root core to bring people to Christ. Every student should hear the gospel, study the Word, share their faith, etc… Every activity on campus should be used to further the kingdom. How many schools really do that?
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Some of these thoughts were influenced by the book 'Kingdom Education" by Glen Schultz.
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