The Great Commission is a hallmark of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ). “And Jesus came
and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV). Too often, we have focused on the “baptizing”
part and not on the “make disciples” and “teaching them” parts. In Ephesians, Paul encourages the church when
he wrote, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in
the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 ESV). “Instruction” is a key component of the
charge to parents in raising children.
One of the founders of the Disciples of Christ, Alexander Campbell,
directed the parents in many of his sermons to not rely on the church to train
children, but to make instruction a regular part of family time in order to
establish the Christian faith in the family first.
In the second and third century of the church, before
Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, men like Clement
of Alexandria (150-215 AD), one of the bishops of Rome, and Origin (185-254),
headmaster of the catechetical school in Alexandria, encouraged parents and the
church to teach children not only the Scriptures but science, philosophy,
music, literature and history. Origin
reminded his students that the gold the Hebrews brought with them after the
bondage in Egypt (Exodus 12:35) was used to make the holy vessels for the
worship of God (Exodus 36). Likewise,
Origin continued, we should use the treasures of philosophy and literature to
build the sacred faith of Christianity.
In our modern society, almost every aspect of human
experience has become an industry.
Everything from agriculture to technology is influenced, and in most
cases, driven by economics. To sustain
this machine, we have, over time, become cogs in a machine that demands
specific knowledge. I remember as a
child in school, my classmates would challenge our teachers to explain to us
how what they were teaching us would help us “in the real world.”
At a recent gathering of the World Affairs Council in
Dallas, Texas, former diplomat Henry Kissinger was the featured speaker. He observed that before technology, we had to
remember important facts, which required we understand them. Now we can access facts any time we wish, so
that we no longer need to remember them, and thus do not understand them. As a
result, we have more information than ever, but less wisdom.
“The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility
comes before honor” (Proverbs 15:33 ESV).
Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth, reminds us that the true wisdom
of God is found in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:24). Our Christian educators at First Christian
Church are passionate about teaching our children not only knowledge but
wisdom. We pray that we are helping you,
as parents, grandparents and caregivers, fulfill your call to teach the
fullness of human experience. Celebrate your child’s mastery of skills they
will use in the great economic engine of human existence, but also fill your
home with conversations about humanity and divinity. Our vision for the generation that follows us
is to be both knowledgeable and wise.
