What is a Christian School?
Let’s reflect on the blessings of Christian education. As Proverbs 1:7 states: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The “fear of the Lord” is a way of saying you are not your own and you are accountable to someone beyond your parents and your teachers. All authority is derived from God and all things find their ultimate source in Him. King Solomon said that whoever finds wisdom finds life. We need to recover that sense of fear which is the beginning of wisdom and be reminded that God is at the center of the universe and we orbit around Him.
Christian education puts God at the center which helps students form a Christian worldview. Teachers at HCA seek to transform all activities and studies into an expression of biblical wisdom, training the students to walk as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Barna Group indicates that a person’s worldview is firmly in place by the time they reach the age of 13; George Barna concludes that if you want to shape a person’s life, it is during the crucial ages of 5-13 that lifelong habits, beliefs and attitudes are formed.
Heritage has the privilege of serving Christian parents by providing a Christ-centered education with academic excellence in a nurturing environment. This includes guiding our children to think Christianly, and thus be Christ-like. And in so doing, to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. The training of our children’s minds affects how they think and thus how they live.
As Joel Belz, founder of World magazine states:
“Most evangelical Christians continue to leave the primary task of teaching their children . . . to the secularist state. Secularism is never as neutral as it sounds. It is a high-octane religion of its own, imposed on Christian at their own expense. These high priests of ultimate American values, from Kindergarten through the great graduate programs of the state universities, tell us what is politically correct. They tell us what to believe about our origins, about what is wrong with the human condition, and how to make everything right again. Those are not merely educational concepts; they are the most profound of all religious issues.”
HCA provides a Christian education so that the truth of Christ can be reflected in all of life; this includes training young minds to make wise choices in their lives and provides a Scriptural perspective so students can understand and analyze the world through the lens of God’s Word—the ultimate Truth. Our hope and prayer is that our children will grow in the love of the Lord and will gain the mind of Christ. In so doing, they will be equipped for works of service in God’s kingdom.
In summary, what is a Christian school?
- It is not a school where the Bible plays a marginal role.
- It is not a Bible school—the curriculum is not limited to the study of the Bible, but embraces God’s revelation in all of Creation.
- It is a learning institution where Christ is present and in charge of all of its operations—not just the academic ones.
- It is not a place to shield our children from sin, for sin is present no matter where we are.
(CSI: The Nature and Task of the Christian School)
Rather, it is about training and equipping our children to serve God in all areas of their lives.
