Christian Education
Mark Cronemeyer
Bible Baptist Christian School, a ministry of Bible Baptist Church, has been in existence since 1980 and exists for a very specific stated purpose: “to grow Christ-like character that is scripturally disciplined, others-serving, God-loving, Christ proclaiming, and focused above.” Our K4 – 12 school just recently went through a rigorous re-accreditation process through our Christian school association, the Georgia Association of Christian Schools. This accreditation site visit occurs every five years and reviews twelve clearly defined standards, ranging from the establishment and implementation of our philosophy of education, to the teaching procedures our educators implement and a verification of our operational manuals as well as evaluating how well we follow our own operational manuals. The process of preparation for this re-accreditation takes over a year and in reality takes the entire five years from one accreditation cycle to another to be ready for the actual site visit. The process concludes with a site visit by five experienced educators who interview students, parents, board members, and faculty members as well as observe classes. Our school was thrilled to not only be re-accredited by the committee, but also to receive many positive comments by the team members.
I had to chuckle when one of our sharp-eyed committee members walked in one of our classrooms and noticed that one of our fire extinguishers, though properly charged, had not been re-tagged for the year 2016. A number of people had looked at this item, but although they physically saw it, no one had recognized the deficiency. The committee member “saw” what we observed, and yet did not “see,” It was easy to “fix” that deficiency, but the incident reminded me that this is exactly what often happens with the gospel. Many people know about it, they know of it, and perhaps have even heard a clear gospel presentation, but they really do not “know” the gospel or the “know” the God of the gospel. They may know much about God, yet do not truly know Him. Mark 8:18 asks the question, “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” Jesus speaks of this all too common occurrence when he talks about the affects parables often had on people. You may recall that parables were stories Jesus shared with his followers to explain truth.
Yet Jesus, in Luke 8:10 states “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” Though this statement may be confusing to some, it explains that the ability to see and actually observe and to hear and actually listen, process and understand is critical for every person. There are many things in life we may overlook, just as we overlooked our fire extinguisher’s missing tag, and there are indeed many important things in life. One can can be in a right relationship with God, yet oblivious to the maintenance of his car or home. One may have an immaculate, well-appointed home, or a clean and well maintained car, yet have no time or interest for the very Creator of the universe. The true priority of life is to know the gospel, the God of the gospel and to share it with other people.
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that our spiritual relationship and preparedness is the most important discipline. Jesus, in commenting on his friends Mary and Martha, put it like this, “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. “ Luke 10: 42. If you recall the story, Martha was detail oriented, busy, hard-working, and what she did was not wrong, but her attention to details, in the estimation of the Creator of the universe, was not focused on the most important detail, Christ Himself. It is possible that in life, we may miss important issues, such as the need to update the tag on our fire extinguisher due to an oversight or just carelessness, but it is good to be reminded that amidst the busyness of life we simply cannot miss the gospel.
Exposure to the gospel does not mean acceptance of the gospel. We must not only know of the gospel, we must embrace it as the very source of our abundant and eternal life. In addition, if we have accepted the truth of the gospel, let us be so aware of other’s need for this good news, that we share it generously and unselfishly as we go about our day. We cannot miss this most important detail of life!