Is Christian Education Really 'Ministry'?

TEACH Journal of Christian Education, Jul 2013

Christian education is replete with terms and expressions that purportedly describe its character—‘Christ-centred education’, ‘teaching from a Christian perspective’, ‘Biblebased curriculum’, ‘redemptive discipline’, ‘servant ministry’, and so on. They are typically spontaneous expressions. To Christian educators, it seems a reasonable and proper way to describe the enterprise in which they are engaged. While each term or expression has particular connotations, the ideas they represent cluster around the notion of what constitutes ‘ministry’. It is not uncommon to hear Christian education referred to as ‘the ministry of teaching’. But is it just fanciful jargon and cliché? Or is Christian education really ‘ministry’?

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https://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1196&context=teach

Is Christian Education Really 'Ministry'?

TEACH Journal of Christian Education Is Christian Education Really 'Ministr y '? Don Roy Avondale College of Higher Education ResearchOnline@Avondale Follow this and additional works at: https://research.avondale.edu.au/teach Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation - Article 4 TEACHR Is Christian education really ‘ministry’? Don Roy Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Avondale College of Higher Education, Cooranbong, NSW “To think with a Christian mind challenges one of our greatest weaknesses: our tendency to live compartmentalised lives in which we separate the sacred from the secular Christian education is replete with terms and expressions that purportedly describe its character—‘Christ-centred education’, ‘teaching from a Christian perspective’, ‘Biblebased curriculum’, ‘redemptive discipline’, ‘servant ministry’, and so on. They are typically spontaneous expressions. To Christian educators, it seems a reasonable and proper way to describe the enterprise in which they are engaged. While each term or expression has particular connotations, the ideas they represent cluster around the notion of what constitutes ‘ministry’. It is not uncommon to hear Christian education referred to as ‘the ministry of teaching’. But is it just fanciful jargon and cliché? Or is Christian education really ‘ministry’? This question prompts many others: What do we ”In this paper we are endeavouring to identify and mean by ‘ministry’? How many ministries are there? Are all ministries the same or share anything in common? Are different ministries of equal status? explain the essence of ministry, whether the concept applies to Christian education, and the ramifications for its practice and administration. However, when the discussion is done, a final question is also pertinent. If, indeed, Christian education can be described rightly as ‘teaching ministry’, then how well does current practice in Christian schools measure up to this ideal? Primary considerations It is fundamental to our discussion that we pursue it with a biblically informed consciousness, or what Harry Blamires and others call ‘a Christian mind’.1 This is more than a casual label. It is undeniable that in the West, we live in a secular age and are impacted by its profound effect.2 The impact is greater than we realise, and we need to be ever vigilant to secularism’s subtle inroads and consciously resist following blindly, practices that conflict with biblical principles and values.3 To think with a Christian mind challenges one of our greatest weaknesses: our tendency to live compartmentalised lives in which we separate the sacred from the secular.4 At its worst, spiritual sensitivity is diminished as secular modernity prevails. Despite the fact that Christian educators frequently speak of ‘a balance between the spiritual, mental, physical, social’, the reality is that it is often fragmented and piecemeal. For example, the ‘spiritual’ activities of a Christian school frequently stand distinct from the formal curriculum in which subjects are taught to criteria dictated by external public authorities. Can genuine Christian education rightly be described as ‘ministry’? The Bible provides us with an orientation and frame of reference to provide answers to this question, and also to all the ‘big questions’ relating to what is real, how we know, and what is good and of value. The answers to all these questions stem from the historical flow of Scripture. Together they form a powerful metanarrative, described variously as ‘The Cosmic Conflict’, or the ‘Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation’ theme. In the face of postmodernity’s disparaging attitude to core metanarratives, Christians assert that this metanarrative is the basis of a distinctive, normative worldview that is the centre of their personal faith. The heart of that faith embraces and responds to an understanding of who God is, what He has done, the origin of humanity, humanity’s dilemma, God’s response to that problem, and humanity’s ultimate destiny. Appreciating what it means to be human Fundamental to our discussion is a clear understanding of what it means to be truly human. Unlike widely held assumptions of humans evolving from some primeval state, this discussion endorses the biblical account of humans being uniquely created by God himself.5 As creatures, humans are seen as primarily dependent on him as the source of life, meaning, understanding and purpose in their capacity to display intelligence, decision-making, creativity, emotion, physicality, individuality, sociality and spirituality. In so doing they are intended to be image bearers, designed to reflect in some small measure, aspects of what God is like. But personality is more than merely the sum of those parts. These qualities comprise an interrelated whole, the human soul, which ‘lives, and moves and has its being’ in the Creator.6 Recognising humanity’s predicament A fundamental problem confronts every member of the human race. It (...truncated)


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Don Roy. Is Christian Education Really 'Ministry'?, TEACH Journal of Christian Education, 2013, Volume 7, Issue 1,