Re-thinking a College Education? Let's Rethink All of Education!

Let's begin with a little dose of philosophy. Why? Because the horror and dismay you are feeling and witnessing in our world all begins with something you can't see but is a reality that must be understood and honestly faced.

All reality is interpreted according to one's "nondemonstrable" faith principles.  

A nondemonstrable faith principle is a principle that cannot be universally or empirically demonstrated. 

The principle of gravity, for example, is a demonstrable principle that can be universally or empirically demonstrated.  When I drop a book onto the floor, I demonstrate that gravity exists. When I warn a person not to jump out of a 6th floor window, I am keeping that person from experiencing the hard demonstrable reality of gravity.

But if I say that God created gravity when He created the world, I am not able to demonstrate that reality empirically.  That is because the existence of God is a nondemonstrable faith principle.  

There are those who do not believe God exists and He did not create the world or the principle of gravity.  That belief is just as much a nondemonstrable faith principle as the belief that there is a God. Why? Because, no one can demonstrate empirically that God does not exist.

So, the next time someone asks you to prove God exists, you can challenge them back by asking them to prove God doesn't exist. For, the difference between the two principles is between faith and faith - not faith and fact - nor faith and science - nor faith and scholarship.

When a parent has to make a decision between public (government) education and Christian education for their child, they have to ultimately choose between those two opposing faith principles.  There is no neutral ground.

Faith principle: There is no God.  Therefore, the student is to be viewed as merely a physical being who reacts to the stimuli in his environment; He has no soul but is simply a product of his environment. He, therefore, is not to be held accountable for his actions. There is no absolute, unchanging truth; something is true only if the student discovers it helps him cope with the world or if he simply chooses it to be true.

Faith principle: There is a God.  Therefore, the student is be viewed as God reveals him to be in the Bible - made in the image of God.  Because of that reality, he is able to transcend his environment. Science and scholarship do not conflict with this faith principle but rather lead the student to discovering more of God's truth.  Because he bears the image of God, the student has a soul that is accountable to God for his actions. The student is also morally responsible and rational - able and empowered to live not just for himself but for One greater than self - Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that we cannot see the wind or tell where the wind comes from or where the wind goes but...we can see its effects.  It lifts Charlie Brown's kite into the sky on a windy day in spring; it give relief on a hot summer day; it blows the leaves off the tree branches on a brisk autumn day; it bites your nose on a freezing wintry day.

Today we are witnessing the violent winds years of a postmodern post-Christian public educational system. The dumbing down of our children, the irrational insanity towards our current president, the murder of the unborn, gender confusion, criminals in our government who are no longer held accountable, rebellion and chaos on our city streets. Suicide, depression, abuse, drug addiction, hopelessness.  This destruction is all the result of indoctrinating several generations to interpret the reality of a world by a nondemonstrable faith principle that says - there is no God.

Oswald Chambers once wrote that "half-baked Ephraims" are of no use to God.  You can't live your life with one foot in the world and the other in God's kingdom.  You can't expect your children to spend hours every week absorbing the ingredients of a godless faith principle and have them come out of the oven living a godly faith principle. 

Today parents are re-thinking the value of a college education after seeing the rebellion and the enormous debt these colleges are turning out.  It's time to start re-thinking the entire educational system beginning with pre-school and kindergarten. It's time to re-think the hard reality of our own nondemonstrable faith principles.