In his 2006 book, provocatively titled The Last Christian Generation, Josh McDowell addresses a crisis facing churches today. He quotes surveys from Barna and others that indicate that 70% or more of "churched youth" will find that the church will play a part in their lives when they leave home ... some put that number as high as 90%! (page 13). McDowell believes the solution lies in "revealing to this generation who Christ really is and then leading them to properly respond to him." (page 69) To do that, he believes we need to change our educational model. Note what he says as he relates the Hebrew model of education found in Deuteronomy 6:
The goal of the Hebrew model is not mere memorization of repeatable facts; the goal (as Moses made clear) is to live out the truth. In this approach, truth is designed to lead to transformation. Truth in this educational approach is to be learned by practicing it in real life. According to the Hebrew model, the student has not "learned" a thing when he or she can repeat it to the teacher; it is learned when it is reflected in the student's life. In this approach the testing is in the living. The question becomes not whether the student has the information correctly stuffed into his or her head, but rather "how has the truth transformed the student (emphasis added) attitudinally and behaviorally?"
Without using the phrase, McDowell is essentially describing the mission/vision of the Christian school. In the HCA Student Outcomes document, we say that "a Christian education is, therefore, one that not only teaches students the truths of each academic discipline, but also shows students how and why each truth is part of a larger holistic Truth that encompasses all of reality and reflects God's nature. A Christian education must also equip students to live in the light of that reality so that Truth is not something they simply know intellectually but actually informs the choices they make. This involves more than information--it involves instilling wisdom so that a student's whole being is engaged and influenced by God's Truth."
Where are the future leaders coming from? The Cardus Education Survey (2011) studied students in public, private, Catholic, Protestant, and home schools on a variety of measure. Most interesting was their conclusion concerning church leadership. After looking at measures like attendance, giving, volunteerism, commitment to an infallible Bible, participation in missions trips, they singled out Protestant Christian schools, reaching the following conclusion: "It is clear that the graduates of Protestant Christian school are ideal church members in many ways ... the Protestant Christian school is having an impact on how its graduates participate in church life." (page 20).
The future leaders of our churches are sitting in classrooms of our Christian schools today ... truth that transforms.
