The Value of Christian Education

There are four definitions of the word “value,” two nouns and two verbs and I want to emphasize one of the nouns. The Oxford Languages dictionary defines value as, “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something (i.e. "your support is of great value").

Christian education is valuable because of its importance to each student. There are many ways to educate people, bringing them from ignorance to understanding. Some examples are public schools, homeschools, online schools, Montessori schools, independent schools, Christian schools, and other hybrids. There are even some who educate themselves, called autodidacts. Out of all of these options, Christian education has the most value.

Its value comes from the fact that it teaches the truth. Everything that is taught is verifiably true. Most of the content does not mention Christ or the Christian tradition, so it is a matter of identifying what is true and passing it along to students. The Christian worldview demands intellectual honesty. Teaching history is a field that is influenced by one’s worldview. The 1619 Project is being taught in many schools even though most credible historians insist it is a false history. If education teaches what is false, it condemns the learner to errors that will require re-education to overcome. It would have been better to learn what was true from the beginning.

Public education touts itself as being free from any ideology so that it is more objective. Yet, public employees are prohibited from mentioning their Christian faith or anything that might appear to affirm it so students are not given all the facts. That hardly counts as being objective! Thankfully, many Christian teachers carefully work the truth into their lessons. In a Christian school, everything is taught to give students factual truth, so they are fully informed. For example, the teaching of creation and evolution is distinctively different in a Christian school. It teaches both ideas but public schools are prohibited from teaching creation. The irony is that modern science exists because Renaissance scientists believed in God and they wanted to know more about him by examining the world he had made. Today, the scientific community works to exclude committed creation scientists.

Finally, Christian education offers a comprehensive worldview that explains everything important for people to understand. For example, math comes from a perfect creator, English reflects a God who communicates, science gives evidence of a designer, and history teaches the unfolding plan of God. Other worldviews offer piecemeal explanations such as claiming that history is cyclical or that evolution is random chance. Some attempt to be comprehensive but they lack overarching unity that explains everything. This is best exemplified by the existence of evil for which secular worldviews have no explanations. The sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden is the best explanation, though the Christian still must reconcile evil with a good God.

Christian education is of ultimate worth because it explains the existence of the human soul and how every person can be reconciled to God. People are created in the image of God but inherit a sinful nature from Adam. There is no need to despair because God has provided a way of escape through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible calls this the Gospel, or Good News, which is the best news.

The value of Christian education is seen in each subject taught and gives students a gift that pays dividends throughout their lives, and into eternity.