The primary responsibility of a teacher is to lead her students towards the truth of God and into the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Yet all too often we fall victim to a worldly mentality that treats academic knowledge as distinct from the kind of truth that forms us spiritually. We have made the mistake of applying the label “Christian” to our schools and calling it good. Yet Gaebelein reminds us that all truth is God's truth, and therefore truth, by definition, must be integrated and point to God as its ultimate source. We, as Christians, have no trouble recognizing God as the fount of all knowledge and all truth, but often we teach our subject so removed from this idea that our students are little better off than had they received a secular education. The point of education is to direct our students towards God; knowledge is the path.
The key to a thoroughly Christian education is a Christian teacher. As hard as it seems to believe, some Christian schools have found the task of hiring only Christian teachers a hurdle too high. Apparently some are willing to compromise for the sake of competence in the subject. Yet Gaebelein insists that teachers must not only be committed Christians, but knowledgeable of their subject and teachers of the Bible. They must have a thoroughly informed Christian worldview. These kinds of teachers will most naturally infuse revealed truth into reasoned truth as they integrate the truths found in Scripture with the truths found in the textbooks. And they will naturally point out errors in the texts when a conflict arises with Scripture. These teachers, fully immersed in a relationship with Christ, are the only teachers suitable to integrating all truth.
The question then becomes how to practically integrate the material from various subjects with God’s revealed truth in Scripture. Gaebelein starts with the subject he believes most would find difficult to integrate - mathematics. He describes a teacher able to portray the beauty found in the patterns and laws of mathematics that reflect an orderly and rational God. For Gaebelein each subject reveals a portion of God’s character. The teacher who can reveal the beauty of numbers and their relation to each other can also reveal the beauty of a God who made math possible in the first place. Numbers, patterns, rational laws are all the products of a Mind that is rational and beautiful in its orderliness. Two plus two equals four because God created a world that reflects His commitment to order and rules; two plus two will always equal four, in every conceivable circumstance, throughout all time, because God is the same in all circumstances, throughout all of time. He is not random nor changeable. Math is because God is.
Finally Gaebelein calls us to look beyond the walls of the classroom in our integration of truth. In extra-curricular activities, in discipline, in chapel services, in the marketing of the school, and in our personal search for scholarship, Christians must see everything as a way to lead others to the fear and admonition of the Lord. Often we think of extra-curricular activities as just that, extra. But Gaebelein makes it clear that all activities must point to the character of God and lead students into a relationship with him. Discipline must reflect the sacrificial love of Christ. Our chapel services must direct the students towards a loving and holy God. Marketing must accurately reflect the capabilities and vision of the school. Christian schools must be sold as discipling institutions, not places of career advancement. And Christians must avoid the temptation to avoid worldly scholarship pursuits. Some believe ours should be a simple faith and want to avoid high levels of academic achievement. But if all truth is God's truth, more knowledge can and should lead to a deeper love and understanding of God.
Christian education is a high and holy calling. It is not for the faint of heart. “But for those who are called, for those who have for youth a Christ-like love and sympathy, Christian education is a glorious work. It means dealing with the most important and precious material in the world -- growing human souls. Few professions bear so plainly the marks of the Lord Jesus, which are the marks of self-sacrifice.” (108)
