Aim of Our Church-Schools

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 11, 1912

Aim of Our Church-Schools

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17: 3.

The Lord points out to us the ultimate aim of true education in these words of Isa. 54:13: “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” Why must our children be taught of the Lord? The Saviour answers in the words quoted above: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Our children are to “be taught of the Lord,” that they may know him, whom to know is eternal life. The sum of all education is, in the sight of God, a knowledge of himself.

We are told by educators of the world that the principal aim of the public-school system is to prepare the children to become good citizens of this government. I think all will admit that they are carrying out that purpose. Do we, as representatives of another government, see in that system a fulfilment of Christ's words, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”? If those greatly interested in human governments, see the importance of establishing and supporting public schools for developing good citizens; should not we be as zealous for the government which we represent, and show our zeal by providing and maintaining schools that will prepare our children for citizenship in heaven?

God never intended that his people should delegate to the state their sacred trust of training the “lambs of the flock.” He gave Israel a system of education, which, if it had been carried out, would have placed them above all other people in the world. “This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say: Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deut. 4:6. Ancient Israel failed, but God's plan did not; and it is his purpose to carry out that same system in his closing work. And we have the wondrous privilege of having a part in the great plan of God, to train the children and youth.

When the Lord was about to lead his people out of Egypt, he said: “I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.” He then gave instructions that the lintel and side-posts of the door of each home be marked with blood, as a sign to the death angel that he might pass over that house when he went through to smite the Egyptians. Ex. 12:22, 23. The blood upon the lintel of the door represented the blood of Christ, which saved the first-born of the Hebrews from death.

This experience was written for us. In “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 195, we read: “Before the overflowing scourge shall come upon the dwellers of the earth, the Lord calls upon all who are Israelites indeed to prepare for that event. To parents he sends the warning cry: Gather your children into your own houses; gather them away from those who are disregarding the commandments of God. . . . Get out of the large cities as fast as possible. Establish church-schools. Give your children the Word of God as the foundation of all their education.” This is what we are seeking to do in our church-schools. We must give our children “a systematic knowledge of the principles of revealed truth, which will fit them for what is coming on the earth, and prevent them from being carried away by every wind of doctrine. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. The decisive hour is even now at hand.” “The subject of the sanctuary and investigative judgment should be clearly understood. All need a knowledge for themselves, of the position and work of our great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill.”

Does God design that the children shall have an important part to act in this closing message? From that valuable book “Education,” page 262, I read: “God's purpose for the children growing up beside our hearths is wider, deeper, higher, than our restricted vision has comprehended. . . . Many a lad of today, growing up as did Daniel in his Judean home, studying God's Word and his works, and learning the lessons of faithful service, will yet stand in legislative assemblies, in halls of justice, or in royal courts, as a witness for the King of kings. Multitudes will be called to a wider ministry. The whole world is opening to the gospel. Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God. From Japan and China and India, from the still darkened lands of our own continent, from every quarter of this world of ours, comes the cry of sin-stricken hearts for a knowledge of the God of love. . . . And it rests with us who have received the knowledge, with our children to whom we may impart it, to answer their cry. To every household and every school, to every parent, teacher, and child upon whom has shone the light of the gospel, comes at this crisis the question

put to Esther the queen at that momentous crisis in Israel's history, ‘Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’”

“When properly conducted, church-schools will be the means of lifting the standard of truth in the places where they are established; for children who are receiving a Christian education will be witnesses for Christ. As Jesus in the temple solved the mysteries which priests and rulers had not discerned, so in the closing work of this earth, children who have been rightly educated will, in their simplicity, speak words which will be an astonishment to men who now talk of ‘higher education.’ As the children sang in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ so, in these last days, children's voices will be raised to give the last message of warning to a perishing world. When heavenly intelligences see their men are no longer permitted to present the truth, the Spirit of God will come upon the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation of the truth which the older workers can not do, because their way will be hedged up.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 202.

On page 205 of the same book, we have this special instruction to those who are called to teach the children: “Special talent should be given to the education of the little ones. Many can put the crib high, and give food to the sheep; but it is a more difficult matter to put the crib low, and feed the lambs. This is a lesson which primary teachers need to learn.”

Since our system of education embraces the development of the spiritual, the mental, and the physical powers, the church-school should lay a strong foundation for the building of perfect character in the children under our guidance. As a result of the all-round training in the church-schools, we have a right to expect, first, the inculcation in the mind of the child, of simple faith in the Word of God; second, the thorough teaching of the common branches in the most practical way; third, the giving of special attention to the care of the body, to simple treatments for common diseases, and to the principles of healthful eating and dressing; fourth, instruction in sewing, gardening, and other forms of manual training which tend to create a love for God's great outdoors.

How important it is, then, that as teachers we realize the sacredness of our calling, to train the youth to become missionaries for God. “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world!”

As teachers and parents, let our aim be so to train and develop the children, “that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” And may the dear boys and girls be to this cause and this message what God designs they shall be, “as the dew” to the parched vegetation in time of drought. This drilled company of young people will greatly help in the completion of the work committed to us.

“They that be teachers shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.”