The Good Ole Days

More Than a Number, Day 1

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)

              America was once known for its pioneering spirit. Families dreamed of open ranges where they could settle and make a home for themselves. Lush farming land and gorgeous stands of timber drew pioneers. The determined and physically strong were the ones who succeeded. These were the ones who knew how to hunt, grow crops, and survive in the wild. Most of the original settlers never learned to read, yet they successfully tamed a nation.  

              Once settlers moved into an area, one of the first constructions was a church and a trading post. They understood the need for goods and supplies, and they also recognized their deep need for Jesus. Ultimately, churches became the epicenter of many towns. Pastors were taught to read and teach the scripture, often attending seminary prior to their assignment to rural congregations. Many pioneers could not read and did not own a Bible, so they depended upon the religious leader in the town for their spiritual knowledge and formation.

              As the settlements spread and grew, the preachers began holding classes at the churches to teach children how to read, write, and do basic math. Along with preachers, young, unmarried women took on the task of teaching younger children in the area how to read. If a family settled away from the community, either the mother or father, if they were fortunate enough to know how to read, was responsible for passing on the gift of literacy, using the Bible as their guide.

              Literacy was a privilege of the rich and religious for a long time. Slowly, the average person was given the opportunity to attend small, local schoolhouses, often in the church buildings or primitive one-room buildings. But if the family needed them back on the settlement to work, education took a backseat. Literacy, while a wonderful gift, was not a requirement in this pioneering world. Those men and women who were granted this gift understood the importance of sharing it and made sure their loved ones were made literate. But those who had to survive by working the land were not afforded the opportunity.

              While I am a huge fan of compulsory education, I’m not fond of the turn education has taken since this pioneering generation of settlers first began. Education is not a one-size fits all. Back then, it was a treasure and a privilege to learn how to read. Parents were thrilled when they had someone in their home who could read, write, and do math computations. We’ve somehow lost the wonder and excitement of literacy. Students are placed in boxes of expectation and forced to learn instead of looking forward to the privilege of being educated.

Do the Heart Work

1.      Do you consider literacy and other education a privilege or an expectation? Explain.

2.      In what ways can you show your students the excitement and privilege that education brings?

3.      What is the purpose of education?

Digging Deeper

              In Bible times, education revolved solely around the scriptures. The learned men were esteemed when they rose to heights in religious circles. Knowing God’s Word and hiding it in their hearts was the biggest goal and privilege of the time. Is that our biggest goal for education now? Is literacy more important than salvation? How can we mesh the two in our classrooms?

Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (NIV)

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

If You Get Spare Time

              Are you more devoted to educational requirements or godly requirements? Take a deep look into your heart and honestly assess where your priorities lie.  As teachers, this is a difficult and delicate balance. Believers are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to be a light in our classrooms. Ask yourself some hard questions today about where your heart lies.