The importance of Christian education seems to have fallen on deaf ears over the years. There is a struggle in Churches over finances and membership. Christians get lost in the battles amongst themselves and forget about fighting the real enemy, Satan.
I believe that importance of Christian education is undervalued because Christians do not support their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Some Christians might do this unknowingly, while others have a hidden agenda. There is no doubt that some once flourishing Churches are struggling to maintain attendance numbers. The older generation of weekly attendees in the past has moved on to heaven. The new generation is not in attendance like their previous generations.
When attendance drops, money in Churches becomes tight. Some pastors see Christian education as another expense that a family has to make. The more expenses, the less money left to donate to the Church.
On the other hand, some pastors see Christian education as the competition. Is there competition for Christian's? Yes. The church only has a child under their teaching for an hour or two a week. How much can an hour or two a week impact a child's life spiritually? At home education by family members is also a critical epicenter for teaching the word of God. Sadly, there are a lot of families that attend Church on Sunday and sit idle the rest of the week.
Mark 10:13-16 NASB “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
Seeing the importance of Christian Education in our Children's lives.
I understand the importance of Christian education first hand. We send our kids to a Christian school. I grew attending a public school, so the idea was very new to me when our children reached school age. After seeing how Christian education positively impacted the children of some of our friends, we choose to pursue this avenue with our kids.
Since school takes up such a huge part of our children's lives, we want to put the word of God into their teachings continually. There is a Biblical way to integrate education so that the children can see God working in every aspect of their lives.
Building Christian relationships with children their ages allows them to have accountability partners and be accountability partners.
The more tools we can give our children to spread the word of God, the more people they can reach. We are raising up the next generation of Christians. With the pressures of the world around them, we need to make our children spiritual warriors.
Churches need to step up to the plate and get involved in supporting Christian education. They need to support their young constituents as they will soon become the next generation of leaders in their church.