Many outside of the nautical world may not know this universal distress code (“••• ——— •••”) anymore, and perhaps our modern technology has relegated it to “Davy Jones’ locker? Yet I believe it needs some revitalization and renewed emphasis today. Traditionally, those nine electronic clicks signaled “Save Our Ship” (S.O.S.), and were telegraphed as a cry for help from a ship in trouble. I would like to recast it as “SAVE OUR STUDENTS”.
You see, I hear much in the media these days regarding the legacy of debt, bureaucracy, and moral vacuum we are leaving for this next generation . . . and this writer can hardly disagree. So I have taken to using this traditional means of notification to become a renewed call for help in our need for a revival to HIGHER LEARNING. I believe that the educational question is THE crucial issue before us as a nation, as a culture, and as a people . . . particularly the people of God. Throughout the Old Testament, God has been quite clear in His telegraphed message regarding the training and instruction of the next generation. ” . . . So the next generation will know the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done” (Psalm 78). “Be careful and watch yourself closely so that you do not forget . . . Teach them to your children and their children after them” (Deuteronomy 4). We have not been very faithful to that challenge and admonition, and now we must call out in distress, “Save Our Students”!
I recently attended a meeting where a state education official shared with the audience the plan to improve education in our time, raising the standard to be one of the top in the country. The essential ingredients of this vision for excellence was, of course, the “big three” ~ more $, teacher/school accountability, and student achievement through standardized testing. As I sat and absorbed it all, I was sad that we continue to seek the solution in purely monetary, accountability and achievement terms. To me, it was like holding back the (oceanic) tide without any real foundational seawall . . . perhaps reminiscent to Jesus’ parable of the two builders in Matthew 7(?).
Let me be perfectly clear at this point. There will be no significant change in both educational structure and academic achievement until we recognize and return to a Judeo-Christian basis for our student’s growth and development. This means that since the Bible tells us that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge”, and that “In him (God) we live and move and have our being”, then it seems to me to naturally follow that a child’s education must have a faith center and integration into all that we can learn. Those Biblical principles not only give a centrality to learning, but a reference point for living. After all, education is not just achievement but preparing for life.
While I do not expect the unbelieving world to embrace my conviction, I am quite disappointed and perplexed that, for the most part, the Christian world, evangelical Church, and even the Christian based colleges do not either! Then again, in my Christian school experience, I have had numerous encounters with folks who did not express faith, yet “saw something” in the Christian school that they wanted or needed in their family life and children’s’ education . . . go figure.
I do not claim to be a prophet . . . and certainly not one of doom, I know that God has laid it upon my heart to sound a prophetic call in this matter. I sense in my spirit and through my experience that it is time, in the words of Sting, for “sending out an S.O.S. to your heart!” I believe that in the time and culture in which we live, it will be the link, the bond, and the relationship between the Church, the home, and the Christian school movement that will be a “cord of three strands that will not easily be broken”. This can no longer be just a slogan, but a living reality in the life of the Church, our homes, and the education of the next generation. This movement that I have been a part of for the past thirty years may not continue to exist without the other two. Too many Christian schools are closing, too many administrators are calling it quits, and too many young people have to go or return to an educational environment that is, at best, God neutral. That is, and should be, unacceptable to those of us that claim the Kingdom of God for our children.
The S.O.S. is to HIGHER LEARNING. Until we really grasp the true significance of this, we will continue to view Christian education as an option, we will continue to wring our hands in frustration about the state of education in this country, and we will continue to raise succeeding generations that have not been nurtured in a Kingdom perspective of life and learning . . .
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one . . .”
Bill presently serves as Headmaster of Wilmington Christian School in Hockessin, Delaware. Previous to this, he worked as an educational consultant to Christian schools in Eastern Europe and Russia. He has written numerous articles on the subject of educational philosophy and discipleship, and is a conference speaker who is passionate about the role of Christian education in the establishment of the next generation. He and his wife (“Berta”) reside in North East, MD. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.