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Education Was, Is, To Be
shareMay 9, 2025
Education. That is our business here.
A topic too broad and nuanced to fully discuss in this setting, but since Sunday is Mother’s Day (in case you forgot, this is your reminder!), I want to touch on this general aspect of education.
Education’s Past
In the beginning, education was the business of mothers and fathers.
From Adam and Eve teaching Cain and Abel about God and His expectations for their sacrifices to mothers and fathers passing on skills like sewing, cooking, farming, building, and singing, one generation has informed the next.
Without discounting the crucial role of fathers, for centuries the deeper, soul learning took place either on momma’s lap or at her feet; her voice bringing words on a page to life, etching and imprinting songs into the mind…
Songs, stories, and truths that would echo for millennia.
The heart of this education was often the words and truth of the Bible, adorned with the love that can only be given by a mother.
Education’s Present
As life got more challenging and new countries began to form, formal education shifted from homes with mothers to groups in schoolhouses with hired teachers.
While something was lost, the mother still oversaw the education and impacted the future.
It didn’t take long for education to begin to morph into the monstrous, billion-dollar industry that it would become.
With each stage, more and more of the personal, family foundations of real education have been replaced by the impersonal, groupthink approach.
Education’s Future
Even as I type this, another new education horizon is beginning to gleam with an AI-generated sunrise. It seems education will be taking one more step toward removing as much of the human element as possible.
Even with all of these shifts, Christians must never forget that God has given us the mandate to educate our children first and foremost in the knowledge of who God is and who they are in relation to His truth.
. . . when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. Deuteronomy 4:10
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The future of the business of education will be more different than we can imagine. I remind our teachers that we are preparing our students for a world that doesn’t exist right now. Neil Postman put it this way…
“Children are messengers we send to a time we will not see.”
As parents and teachers working in partnership, the most important thing we can do is teach them God’s Word. Everything else is secondary to that.
Read it to them. Sing it to them. Recite it with them. Take them to church to hear it preached.
Help them to know that God’s truth supersedes everything in life. We do this with our words, but even more by our actions. They must see it lived out in our daily lives and choices if we want them to follow it.
Mothers play a key role here.
Giving birth makes a physical mother. Giving faith makes a spiritual mother.
Both are difficult. Both matter.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our wonderful mothers who sacrifice so much! We are so thankful for you.
To all parents and grandparents committed to establishing the Word of God in the hearts and minds of the next generation: We stand with you. Don’t become weary in well-doing.
Let’s finish strong together!
Mr. David McClain, Head of School at FCS, shares insights relating to Christian education, biblical worldview, building Christian character, and current events. Read the Weekly Words archives here.