========================================================================
  WHAT SETS CHRISTIAN EDUCATION APART
  by John Piper
========================================================================

Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of education in
instilling habits of mind and heart that enable individuals to observe,
understand, evaluate, feel, apply, and express reality for the good of
the world. It discusses how education, whether secular or Christian,
should focus on these key elements to shape individuals effectively for
life.

Topics: "The Role of Education in Spiritual Growth", "Shaping Character for Service"
Scripture References: Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 2:6, Colossians 3:23, 1 Corinthians 10:31, 2 Timothy 3:16, Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6, Psalm 119:105, James 1:5, Philippians 4:8

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sermon emphasizes the importance of education in instilling habits
of mind and heart that enable individuals to observe, understand,
evaluate, feel, apply, and express reality for the good of the world. It
discusses how education, whether secular or Christian, should focus on
these key elements to shape individuals effectively for life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Education is the instilling, I'd love to linger there for about five
minutes to say why I chose that word, but I won't. Education is the
instilling of habits of mind and habits of heart that incline and enable
students for the rest of their lives to do six things. One, observe the
world.

Everything, books, insects, planets, mountains, politics. Observe the
world carefully. Two, understand what they have observed clearly.

You can see something and it doesn't make sense at all. You'll see it
for what it really is and then understand it. Three, evaluate what you
have seen and understood fairly.

Four, feel that evaluated reality proportionately. A well-educated
person ought not to have strong feelings about insignificant matters or
small feelings about magnificent matters. It's a proportionate emotional
life.

Fifth, apply all those discoveries wisely. And sixth, express clearly,
accurately, creatively, winsomely with your body and with your mouth and
with your writing in the world for the good of the world, however you
define it. Since we're not talking about Christianity yet.

I would stand in front of a thousand educators who don't know Jesus and
defend that definition for education. Now, say it again, shorter form.
Education is the instilling of habits of mind, habits of heart that
incline and enable students for the rest of their lives to observe and
understand and evaluate and feel and apply and express reality for the
good of the world.

Parents should be doing that. Schools should be doing that. Universities
should be doing that.

Churches and pastors should be doing that. Sunday school teachers should
be doing that. Forums and societies and clubs and seminars and
conferences should be doing that.

Now, what would make it Christian? What would you have to change? What
would you have to add? What would you have to subtract to make that
definition of education Christian? Education as I have just defined it
is Christian if it has four elements to it. So you can talk about your
parenting, your preaching. All of it is pursued in conscious reliance
upon the gracious empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Morning till night, Christian education is carried out in conscious
reliance upon the gracious empowering of the Holy Spirit. Number two,
Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and risen is trusted as the basis of
that empowerment. Doesn't come out of nowhere.

Nobody deserves it. If you're able to rely upon the power of the Spirit
to observe the world rightly, he bought it for you. That's a gracious
gift and Christ is underneath it, crucified and risen.

Number three, you do all of that for the glory of God in Christ. It's
not resting on Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of
God. And number four, it's governed by the authority of the Bible
through and through.

Those four things would make education Christian. So short form,
Christian education is the instilling of habits of mind and heart that
incline and enable students for the rest of their lives to observe and
understand and evaluate and feel and apply and express reality in
reliance upon the gracious help of the Spirit of God purchased by the
blood of the risen Christ for the glory of God and the good of the
world, all of it in accord with God's word. That's what turns education
into Christian education.

========================================================================
Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/UYVWEkz4vSU.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-piper/what-sets-christian-education-apart/
========================================================================