Why We Need A Christ-Centered Model of Education

I hope your summer is going well. Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy, for guiding our community through a crisis, and for giving us a strong board, mission-aligned teachers, and supportive families, and an opportunity to deepen and sharpen our vision–To raise up Gospel-culture shapers transformed by the grace and truth of Christ.

More than ever before, education is a spiritual war. More than ever before, the future of our children and our nations lies with education. Within the last decade, we have seen the rise (everywhere) and fall (in some parts of the world) of anti-Christian cultures (e.g. anti-God, anti-family, anti-truth, etc) around the world.

More than ever before, it is an opportunity for us to be clear about WHY we need a Christ-centered, discipleship model of education. It is because a comprehensive, Christ-centered education is the only way we can train up leaders who can transform the culture for Christ. It must be comprehensive, both spiritually and academically. Only students who have experienced the transforming power of the gospel and tasted the freedom that comes from experiencing the truth of Christ have the conviction and courage to tackle the evil problems of our age. And only the students who have been trained in the “tools of learning” of languages, literatures, and Christian philosophy will effectively engage with the current culture to transform it. During this summer, Veritas faculty & staff have been discussing and developing specific instructional design that will help us train our students to delight, discern, and display the glory of Christ. We are working on Veritas 2.0.

One of our recent 8th grade graduates during the Spring Concert

More than ever before, families need to consider the realistic outcomes of education for their children. In the book Rethinking Discipleship, a book we are reading this summer as board, faculty, and staff, the author Alan Pue responds to the most common excuses parents give in not raising their children in a comprehensively Christ-centered, discipleship model of education. Some of those excuses are: 

• Our kids need to experience the “real” world, 

• I just don’t see the difference, 

• It costs too much money, 

• Church and school are separate realms, 

• My kids want to be with their friends, 

• I attended a public school, and I turned out all right.

• My kids learn all they need to know about God from me and our pastors

Mr. Alan Pue is one of the legendary Christian educators of our time. He has successfully transformed the landscape of Christian education in America and is a mentor to many Christian educators, including me. I would like to encourage you to get a copy of this book and read not only his solid responses to the excuses, but his story, his example, and his vision of how Christian schools can change the direction of our culture and our nation.  

May the Lord richly bless your family this summer!