The Need for the Christian School

The Need for the Christian School THE NEED FOR THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
By Don H. Morris In answer to a query concerning the need of Christian schools and the right to require students to study the Bible in these schools, David Lipscomb once wrote: “There are some things so simple and self-evident that it is difficult to argue them. If a man were to ask me to prove 2 and 2 make 4,1 could not argue with it much. . .. For a parent to require a child to wash its face and keep its body clean and not require it to learn and obey the Bible is to teach that the body is worth more than a pure heart and a clean and holy spirit. For a parent to require a child to learn spelling and reading and arithmetic (and, may I add, the essentials of engineering and science and language arts and business in demand today) and not require it to study the Bible is to teach by a forcible object lesson that it is more important to be qualified to live in this world than to be fitted to live in Heaven. There is no evading these simple truths.”

Brother Lipscomb continues: “This all applies to the family and the school. It is just as much the duty of the parent to see that his child is taught the Bible when away from home at school as it is to require it at home. The teachers in the school occupy the position of the parents to the child and are under the same obligation to require the children to study the Bible and to teach the Bible to the children that the parents are. ... He (the Christian) is to teach ‘every creature’ in ‘all the world’. How can he excuse himself fiom teaching children under him from day to day and from month to month? . . . The Bible places the study and the teaching of the word of God above everything else. And he is not a true fn‘end to the Bible, to God, or to men who gives it a secondary or inferior place. A Bible or Christian family or school is that-which places the study and practice of the Bible above everything else.”

Whai a forcible definition, and how adequate it is! I repeat the quotation. “A Bible or Christian family or school is one that places the study and practice of the Bible above everything else.” In 1892, the year the Nashville Bible School was established, David Lipscomb wrote in the Gospel Advocate, and again I quote: “We are doing what we be lieve should be done in teaching every child, whether he intends to farm or merchandise, pleach the gospel or practice medicine. All alike read the Bible teaching; need to learn to appreciate religion above all else, and to carry the teachings of the Bible into their lives, whatever they do and wherever they go. Every Christian parent ought to seek for every child just such instruction as we try to give at the Bible school. Every church, every community, ought to have a Bible school. And every Christian parent should seek, if possible, a Bible school for every child, girl or boy. Our religion should be earnest, the highest aim and only end worth living for. ... A Christian man must be a Bible man, and all his work will be Bible work; his farm will be a Bible farm, his workshop will be a Bible shop, his school or college will be a Bible school or college.” But someone thinks—he dare not say it—“Brother Lipscomb wrote years ago, before the days of modern education.” I answer by saying that if time and its changes toward materialism and reliance upon self and steel, in education and out of education, means anything, it means that we need Christian schools as much or more now than we did a half century ago. Not long ago I was talking to one who might be called a hard-headed business man. A member of the Lord’s church, he was, and yet he was a man of business. He said to me bluntly, “The man who does not believe in Christian education is crazy.” And so I say that in these days when there are so many things that are uncertain, when so many of our plans go awry, and when we cannot even “ask to see the distant scene,” we stand together and re-affirm our faith in Christian teaching and re-dedicate ourselves to the purposes and the necessity of the Christian school. The purpose, the need of a Christian school is based on three simple advantages: First, it provides Bible teaching. The Christian must be a Bible teacher, whether he is in his home, field, shop, pulpit, or office, in the school—college—in which he teaches. The purpose of the Christian college is to provide a place where this teaching can be done in an organized, effective way in Bible courses, just as the teaching of literature or one of the arts may be done. In Abilene Christian College, for example, nineteen courses in the Bible are offered, and others are offered which touch in one way or. .another on Bible themes. Students register for more classes in Bible than for any other subject. One time the purpose may be to emphasize an appreciation of God’s word and will. Another time it may be to present the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity, or a history of Bible events, or the error of man’s way, or the essentials of Christian honesty and daily living, but the purpose is always to teach the Bible. Now, if we had in Abilene today a school where none of the teachers except the Bible teachers were Christians and where there were very few students who were members of the church, but where the Bible was taught to the students by Christian men, this one thing in itself would make it a far above the average school. And so, to state this purpose of the Christian college—Bible teaching—is to state the need of the Christian school. The second simple advantage of, and contribution to the purpose of the Christian school is that it has Christian men and women as instructors. If a wise man is looking for a school, grade school, high school, or college for a boy or girl, one thing that he wants to know about the schools considered is the type of instructors under whose guidance and influence the student is to be placed. Many a parent has said to me, “One advantage that my boy will have at San Marcos Teachers College is that Dean Speck is there/’ Others have said, “Brother Sweet can help my boy at College Station,”, or “Brother Wilburn Hill can help him at Ok-, lahoma A. & M.” The purpose of the Christian college is to provide the student with an environment where godly, consecrated men and women, with all of the humanities that they might have, are to teach every class, every hour, and every day. I quote now from a maxim of education and human experience: “As is the teacher, so is the school.” This is true everywhere and anywhere. And you will find it true also that as is the school, so will be, to a great extent, the men and women who have been its students.

If we had, too, in Abilene a school where no Bible could be taught in a formal way, but where all the members of the faculty were members of the church of Jesus Christ, this alone would make it a good school. To state this advantage, this purpose, is to emphasize beyond measure the need of the Christian college. The third natural advantage of the Christian school is that, in the main, it attracts students who are Christians or who are from Christian homes. The records at Abilene Christian College show that at the beginning of the fall semester over a period of years an average of more than 80% of the students were members of the church. This fall semester 90% were members and of the 10% who were not members, more than 1/3 were baptized before the close of the semester.' If wc had in Abilene today a school where no Bible could be taught, where no member of the faculty was a member ofithe Lord’s church, but where 90%, 80%—94% now —of the students’ were, church members, this by itself would make an unusually desirable school.

Now, the purpose of the Christian school is not just to assemble these three advantages as so many static, lifeless, admirable parts of a beautiful piece of handiwork. The purpose is to take these basic fundamentals —Bible teaching, Christian teachers, and Christian associations, along with that which will prepare for efficient living in the businesses of life—and by planning, by direction, and by consistent effort and prayer, to lead those who attend the Christian school to live as determined, humble, and consecrated Christian men and women. The degree to which we here and at other places accomplish this purpose establishes the need of the Christian school.

You will note that the purpose of the Christian school is positive and not negative (for the protection and guarding of students) only. From a standpoint of results desired, the aims of the Christian college may be analyzed as follows: The first aim is to exalt truth. Someone has said, “The true Christian college is alive and honest, and it is intent on finding, knowing, leaching, and exemplifying Truth.” Let us never fail to hold up this standard around which those who lead in our schools may always rally and stand.

Taken from this standpoint, a second fundamental aim of the Christian school is to build character, to cause men to act according to truth—to put truth to work.' The'.third-important aim, and this is a natural corollary of the other two, is to cause the men and women who attend these schools to give themselves in service. We ask for, we beg for the assistance of all as we work toward the accomplishment of these ends. If there ever was a day in the history of the world or the history of the church when Truth, pure and strong and kind and immovable, needed to be exalted and held up, and if there ever was a time when men and women of character were needed for the services of the world and humanity, that day is 1942. So, we need our Christian schools and we need to protect and hold them in such a way that they may render the best for the generations to come. Our Christian colleges often fail in reaching in every particular all of these desired ends. Their leaders and instructors, the best of their students, make mistakes, but to illustrate the fact that to some extent at least these goals are reached, I quote you from a rather enthusiastic estimation of the values found in Christian colleges from an ex-student of one of our schools: “Thus through words, but chiefly example, the students imbibe the spirit of the teachers. Furthermore, in a four-year college the freshman comes into a society in which the rest of the student body, except other freshmen, have moved for one, two, or three years and have drunk deep of the spirit which, emanating from the faculty, permeates that society. They associate with many young men and women of powerful personality who not only are not ashamed of Christ, but who glory in his cross. They see that men can be scholarly without renouncing religion as a thing of ignorance and superstition. They are inspired with the vision of service which makes foreign missionaries, faithful gospel preachers, well-qualified elders, and faithful fathers and mothers, who bear into the world the spirit of Christ handed down from godly men and women. They see that faith is a thing not merely to be guarded, but a force powerful in leading to deeds of beneficence, to a life of willing sacrifice.” So far I have been calling your attention to the prin-ciples underlying the purposes of and the needs for Christian schools. We have said that there must be teaching, that there must be the proper direction and influence and associations for youth wherever he lives and whatever he does. This means, of course, that every Christian has a responsibility for seeing that the proper influences and teaching are provided for the young who are entrusted to parents, and entrusted, too, to every member of the church.

Let us go to the Book for help and admonition. The Bible is full of warnings and injunctions that emphasize the principles underlying the purposes and the need for the Christian school. The apostle wrote: “Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Hosea said, “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone” (Hosea 4:17). And the one of wisdom wrote: “Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise; But the companion of fools shall smart for it”. Proverbs 13:20). The importance of the right kind of teachers, whether they be in the church or school or home or wherever they may be, is suggested over and over again in God’s Word. James 3:1 : “Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” Paul said to Timothy: “And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul wanted faithful men as teachers which would indicate the danger of placing especially the young under the influence of unfaithful teachers. This scripture, too, emphasizes the practicability of and the necessity of providing for those who desire further education—those who will be leaders— the inspiring and directing influence of a Christian college. The teacher, yes! Paul had his Timothy and his Titus and he himself taught two years in the school of Tyrannus, so '‘that all that were in Asia heard the word of the Lord." Where shall we go for scripture and example on teaching? To almost any page of the Bible, Old Testament and New. A few familiar passages will suffice. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy grates.”

Jesus once answered personal criticism from the Jews by saying, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Everyone that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). The Master said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the
earth.”

Since the first couple lived in the garden, men have been led into temptation, and into ways everlasting, ac-cording to the teaching that has influenced them most, and according to the teachers that have won their confidence. Adam and Eve listened to Satan rather than to God. The children of Israel sometimes obeyed the prophets of God and sometimes followed after the prophets of Baal. These were all written for our example.

I am reminded that teaching is for the church. Yes! But teaching is a universal principle. Its obligation rests upon the home and upon the individual, and the necessity of its being genuine and Christian rides upon every highway and sits in the classroom of every teacher. And the consequences of teaching, good or bad, follow after it wherever it is. We need Christian schools. This business of teaching and the importance of teachers and associates is not just a doctrine to which we may nod our approval. For a congregation to give voice to the importance of teaching and to the necessity of spreading the gospel of Christ and at the same time to fail to provide the most efficient type of local teaching program possible and the congregation to fail, though its membership, to assist and direct the lives of its youth, and/or for a congregation at the same time to fail to go beyond its own borders shows at once poor judgment and a lack of faith in the doctrines of Christianity. For an individual and certainly a teacher not to take advantage of his opportunity to lead students aright reveals the same condition. For parents to trust to chance, or to their own youthful desires, for their children to study the Bible, and for parents to fail to see to it that those whose care has been trusted to them are led and taught in the right way in school, for parents, I say, so neglectfully to face these solemn duties shows a lack of Christian zeal and interest both in the individual child and in the Lord’s cause.

It should be said that the Christian college is not re-sponsible for and does not deserve all of the credit, or all of the criticisms, for the success, or mistakes, of those who may pass through their halls. First of all, the church in an organized way must teach and lead. The individual Christian must teach and lead and encourage and reprove as he finds opportunity, and he must make opportunities. The home must bring up its children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. As has been indicated, the greater part of the students who come to our Christian schools have already had the advantage of Christian teaching in the home and in the church. But what a pity it is to take students who have been so influenced and taught and place them in educational situations where that which has already been given them may be either endangered or nullified. Rather would it not be the sensible and the wise and the Christian thing for those of us who are older to provide Christian schools for such students and to lend our influence toward the patronage and support of such schools? And so, we must keep our Christian schools. We must keep them Christian with all that that word means, and we must keep them alive, and going, and serving. There should be other Christian schools built as time and money will permit. Those established must have more and more the support in money and in good will of those who believe in Christianity and in the Lord's church. To show the immensity of our task, there has been spent at Abilene Christian College during the past 36 years for buildings and equipment alone hundreds of thousands of dollars. Men who were young when the school was started are now in their 60’s and 70’s, and scores of them have given themselves almost literally that what we have might be, and that more might be built in the future. Mistakes have been made, but when we consider the frailties of life, the work has been done with as little selfishness and as much sacrifice and good judgment as could be expected in any enterprise. The results have been over 10,000 ex-students, with approximately 9/10 of them active members of the Lord's church. More than 40% of the students who have entered without religious affiliations have become members of the church before they left school, and more than 4/10 of those who have entered as sectarians have become members of the church of Christ before their graduation. Of the hundreds of couples that have met on the campus and married, only one or two has ended in divorce. As I have said 1/3 of those not Christians who enrolled last September already have been baptized. All of those who have entered the school have been protected against the temptations that come from the teaching and campus life of materialistic insiitutions, and most of those who have passed through the halls of the institution have gone out with a better understanding of the right and more zeal for its proclamation than they had at the time they enrolled. In the days that are ahead much will need to be done. Educational standards will have to be met; the remaining part of our debt must be paid; new buildings are needed now and will have to be built. Problems of a war-torn world will come m a special way to schools like ours. With appreciation for every dollar and every life that have been contributed and spent here, and for every prayer that has been prayed that our work may continue in the righteous purposes for wh-ch it was founded, we ask that you and all of the friends of youth and the Lord’s way may continue to give, that Christian schools like ours may continue to h've and serve.