BY JERRY LUTZ

ERHAPS YOU'VE NOTICED DURING THIS election campaign season in the United States that everyone running for office seems to have something to say about education. Of course the contenders have much to say about taxes, the economy, and labor. But they all have one issue in common: education. Every time they mount the stump, education is part of their speech--and that's as it should be. After all, education is one of the most important issues to Americans.

Someone once said, "Only the educated are free." Maybe that's why we Americans appreciate good education so much. We enjoy freedom. We have the liberty to worship, believe, and do what we choose to do. We appreciate that education brings freedom. It protects us from tyranny, from bondage. Or at least it should.

Gone are the days--and I'm thankful--when education was a luxury, enjoyed only by the privileged few. In our society today, we view education as a fundamental right of every citizen. And smart politicians know this. They know that they don't have a chance of winning their races unless education is one of the major planks in their platform. But in the end they all agree that the children of our nation deserve a good education.

What is a good education?

When I was young and going to school, I learned how to read. I learned how to write. I learned how to do arithmetic. I learned the essentials: the three R's. Many say that that constitutes the fundamentals of a good education. And every successful culture for thousands of years has had those elements as part of the good education they offer their children. But isn't there more to a good education than knowing the three R's? Well, certainly there is. There's music, art, science, language, literature, culture. All of those things certainly must be added to the fundamentals of education to make a balanced, good education.

But for the Christian, is a good education enough? Should getting a good education be his or her only concern?

I started out in public school while in kindergarten, and attended through junior high school. Looking back on that experience, I must say that the state of California did a pretty good job educating me. I had some of the finest science teachers in my junior high school that the state had to offer. My Spanish teacher was excellent; he was a member of the Peace Corps for years. He was an Anglo, but could speak Spanish as if he were born south of the border. I had a math teacher that was second to none. I received a good education from my school, from my teachers. But while I received a good education from them, I did not get the right education. I didn't get the right education until I started attending church school when I was in high school.

What Is a Right Education?
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:14-17, NRSV).

In these verses, the apostle Paul is issuing a personal challenge to his young friend Timothy. He is calling him to be faithful to Jesus Christ. And it is interesting that he should put this in the setting of learning, of education. He says, "Continue in the things you have learned," and in the previous verses he says, "I've taught you many things, Timothy, and from the time you were very small you've heard about God's plan for your life."

As far as Paul was concerned, the true object of education, the true object of learning, the ultimate purpose of education is redemption. The salvation of souls. Now education that includes reading, writing, arithmetic, culture, science, and the arts and literature is good. But all of that serves as a means to an end when it comes to a Christian education. Paul is very clear on the point: the salvation of souls is the true, ultimate purpose in education. This is the right education.

Fortunately, Timothy grew up in a home where at least part of his family believed in God. His mother was a Jew. And we know from what Paul says that from the time Timothy was small he was taught the Scriptures, according to the injunction in Deuteronomy 6, where the Lord instructs the people to always keep before their children His word. So as they grew up, whether walking, lying down in the field, or playing, they had in their hearts and minds an understanding of the will of God for them personally. Because God knew, as Moses understood, that if Israel was to be successful, learning had to begin with the children at the youngest of ages.

Be assured that you will never hear anyone in a political speech say anything about redemption. And that's a good thing. Politicians and civic government leaders should not be delving or meddling into the religious affairs of free citizens, especially in the classroom. It's not their job. We shouldn't expect our public school teachers to teach religion in their classrooms. It's not their job, either. What constitutes the fundmamental difference between a public education and a private Christian education is that we may freely teach the gospel of Jesus Christ without recrimination and without ties to a government that pulls the purse string that says this is what you can and cannot teach. We are free to speak of Jesus in our classrooms.

I appreciate all the teachers, public and private, whom I have had through the years. But the point is that we need our students to receive the right education, and there is nothing more right than teaching about redemption and salvation in our classrooms. It's not enough that we just teach our children what they need to know in order to be good citizens and get good jobs. It's essential that we teach our children about Whom they need to know in order to be redeemed and saved for eternity.

If we want our children to get a good and right education, we need to continue to support our schools; we need to continue to pray for our faculty and staff, for our teachers, for our administrators who do this work on our behalf as parents day in and day out, five days a week, week after week, year after year.

Now does this mean that when we send our kids to church school, they will all find redemption and stay in the church? Of course not. Statistics and experience have taught us that there are those who come through our educational systems and leave; they not only leave school, but some of them leave church, and too many of them leave the Lord altogether. It's a heartbreaking experience for an educator, as well as for parents and pastors, to watch our children go through that kind of experience. But there is no guarantee that because our children go through church school that they are going to stay in the Lord. The deciding factor is the individual human mind and will.

But here's the difference: the odds are much better, much greater, when the right foundation is laid, so that somewhere along the line in life they will remember what they were taught when they were children. It's like the old saying "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." But we've got to lead them. We've got to take them there and offer to them, in Jesus Christ, the water of life that will make sense of their existence. But sending them to church school is not all there is to getting a right education.

Where It Begins
Parents, our teachers need our help. They need our help in educating our kids. We're blessed that there are those who have been called to do this work, but we have the first responsibility in our homes. That's where education begins. We need to form solid family foundations for our children if we expect them to excel and be successful in their lives.

The real question is, Are our children getting the right education at school as well as at home? The task we have before us as parents and teachers is to hold hands in this great monumental work of bridging the gap between religion and theology, between experience and knowledge. The task is to make religion real, practical, and valuable-so valuable in the lives of our young people that they will never want to leave it. I believe we have no greater task.

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Jerry Lutz is senior pastor of the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist church in Silver Spring, Maryland.