Theological Basis for Christian Education and Social Changes

Great Commission and the Teaching/Service Ministries of the Church (Relationship of Didache and Diakonia to Evangelism/Mission)

 Introduction

In Scripture and history, the church has had the strongest, most lasting influence on society, not when it has accommodated itself to the world, but when it has been most true to its own confession against overwhelming odds. In its mission, teaching and preaching has been of more important which can be observed throughout the Scripture. In this setting, through preaching and teaching, God has established the method in advancing His Kingdom. In this paper, we will discuss on how teaching and service contribute to social change in the light of Great Commission.

1. Definition
1.1. Great Commission

According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical theology great commission is, “to make disciples of all nation” which was given by Christ to His disciple regarding after His death and resurrection.[1]

Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:19), the Great Commission is to be taken with the utmost seriousness by all of his disciples, "to the very end of the age" (Matt 28:20). The Great Commission is accomplished through witnessing (Acts 1:8), preaching (Mark 16:15), baptizing, and teaching (Matt 28:20). The Great Commission necessitates taking the gospel message to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), to "all nations" (Matt 28:19). The Good News is to be shared with all peoples, for all are sinners, Jews and Gentile alike, and in
need of deliverance from sin (Rom 3). All peoples, by faith, can receive God's provision and are baptized into Christ. In Christ, all distinctions between Jew and Gentile disappear (Rom 10:12-13; Gal 3:28).[2]

1.2. Didache

Didache means teaching. According to Collin’s English Dictionary, Didache means “the teaching of Jesus Christ and the teaching of Twelve Apostles.” Jesus went to synagogue he preached and taught the gospel of Kingdom of God (Mat. 4:23- 9:35).[3]

According to Harper’s Encyclopedia, Didache is the part of the gospel teaching directed toward ethical instruction and guidance in Christian practices, such as, spiritual disciplines, rituals, organization and practical problem.[4]

1.3. Diakonia

According to Harper’s Encyclopedia of Religious Education, Didache derived from Greek which means “service”, “servanthood” or “ministry”.[5] Diakonia simply means to “serve”. “Diakonia or service to foster moral, intellectual, and theological excellence or virtue in the faithful”. Jesus perceived His message in terms of diakoinia and exhorted his disciples to follow His example. Jesus’ ministry is summed up in the phrase mighty in deed and word, and is one of the fundamental of Jesus.[6]

1.4. Social Change

Social change is the shifts in the attitudes and behaviour of a society, in the fields of economics, social and cultural history, law, politics, religion, demography and sociology resulting in the characterization of a society[7]

1.5. Christian Education

Karen B. Tye presents the understanding of Christian education in four ways; Christian education as religious education, Christian education as a socialization process, Christian education as a personal development approach and Christian education as a process of liberation.[8]

2. Elements in Great Commission

The Great Commission is taken from Mathew 28: 19, 20 from this we will take 3 elements into consideration i.e. making disciples, baptizing and teaching.

2.1 Making Disciples

The Greek word usually translated make disciples is ‘matheteuo’ meaning literally “to make a disciple; to teach, instruct. Christ calls us to "disciple all nations," and this reference to "nations" involves the idea of "cultures" which includes the whole world.[9] Our children expressly should be taught how to live the Christian life by the diligent application of biblical principles of child rearing and discipline. This is "discipling" in the home, as per the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19). This discipline should also include consistent church attendance, to worship Him who has "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18).[10] Many have taken it to mean sharing the gospel and thereby limit the Great Commission to'
evangelism at home and abroad. But genuine biblical disciples hear, understand, and obey Jesus' teaching. The “make disciples” phrase in the Great Commission is about transformation in one’s life.[11]

2.2 Baptising

In order to disciple the nations one must go. The second element which is necessary is to baptize because under normal circumstances the majority of teaching occurs after baptism. Baptism signifies a person’s regeneration by the Holy Spirit, it signifies a believer’s union with Christ in His death and resurrection, it signifies a Christian’s cleansing from sin and it shows the new believer publicly acknowledging his submission to Christ’s ownership and authority.[12]

The fact that discipleship begins with baptism, teaches us that the church is God’s primary institution for discipleship and spiritual growth.[13]

2.3 Teaching

The third thing necessary to disciple the nation is to teach them to observe all things that Christ has commanded. The act of teaching means simply “to instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant.” This impartation of knowledge is the essence of what it means to educate; thus, we can conclude that education is at the heart of Jesus’ Great Commission to His followers.[14]

Jesus modeled teaching and commanded His followers to teach everything He taught. The “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” phrase of Matthew 28:20 partners with the “baptizing” phrase just prior in verse 19 to support that main command, “make disciples.” Jesus gave to those disciples and all subsequent believers a “two-handed” task to accomplish the command. Working together like two hands, by baptizing and through teaching we make disciples. The teaching ministry of the church can in no way be separated from the evangelism ministry of the church.[15]

3. Implication of Social Change:

3.1. Didache and Diakonia

3.1.1. Didache:

In Christian Ministry, the important foundation is Education, wherein, didache-teaching plays a crucial role. Martin Luther once said, “Were there neither soul, heaven, nor hell, it would still be necessary to have schools for the sake of affairs here below.”[16] This has a strong connotation on the importance of Teaching and it’s important for social change. It is important to know the right stage of teaching, the right content for effective implications especially on society. So, readiness is important for all ages to accept abstract truth like religion and morality. 

Christian Education is sometimes defines as, “The process of communicating the Christian gospel to others in such a way that all life is surrendered to the lordship of Christ.”[17] Williamson continues to reiterates “It is helping the person to accept the Christian faith as ‘active living out’ of faith in the experiences of their common life.[18] Teaching plays a crucial role in shaping the society in different dimension. Surrendering to the lordship of Christ affirms Christ like character which will eventually leads to become an agent of social change. Educational endeavors aim at the integral development of the human person which will make a person sensitive to human problems, and in that process teaching plays an important role. In Christian Education, teaching makes a person to lives out actively in their day to day life situation. It produced intellectually well-trained, morally upright, socially committed, spiritually inspired men and women for the society. It makes a unique contribution toward a radical transformation of present day social condition.[19] The principles of social justice, equality of opportunity, genuine freedom with responsibility, also respect for religious and moral values prevail and possibility of living a fully human existence is inculcated in a Teaching ministry of Christian Education.[20]

The theology of Christian education (theory) is relationship which is a relationship between God, self and others. This relationship is culminated in a teaching ministry wherein to fit men (sic) to live in perfect harmony with the will of God, to live in a  relationship of love with others, such, a teaching reality is the best method of religious education.[21] Paul’s appeal to the Christians to be a ‘living sacrifice’, Jesus taught more by his being and doing than his speech who followed the method of “do as I do” rather than “do as I Say’, so curriculum of Christian Education is being lived rather than spoken.[22] The essence of teaching in Christian education should involves education for new society, the pedagogy should becomes socially relevant, centre for social development, preeminence to people’s involvement and render intellectual and social services to the community.[23]

3.1.2. Diakonia:

Diakonia is the heart of Christian ministry, John Macquarrie says, “Perhaps there can be no healthy Christian ministry until the diaconate has been restored and its true serving function rediscovered.”[24] Christ as the diakonos directed his ministry to the sick, the handicapped, the outcastes and the rejects of the society. His work was to bring wholeness to those whose lives had been ruined. The same pattern is continued by Apostle Paul and brings people to wholeness as the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor.5:19). Keeping intact the diakonos ministry and servanthood charism, Christian education should focus on community building, renew a reorientation towards the service of the poor and oppressed and reach out the marginalized (majority) of our country. Christ’s diakonia implied suffering, as a saying goes, “to live is to love, to love is to serve and to serve is to die” Jesus did this happily for it was his joy to serve his servants (Lk.12:37). In fulfilling the task and objectives of Christian ministry, we should serve (service) to lift up the community and be an agent of transformation for the society in the midst of suffering and pain. There should be reciprocity of service between Christ and his people; where Christ is, there his servant should also be (Jn.12:26). [25] 

4. Quadrilateral relationship of God, Great Commission, Teaching/Service and Christian Education for Social Change 

Quadrilateral is simply a polygon with four sides or corner. Using this analogy, we would like to present the inter-relation of God, Great Commission, Teaching/Service and Christian Education as its sides and placing the Social change at the center of the polygon. 

Colossians 1:15-17 clearly portrayed the divinity of Jesus Christ. Bill Bright rightly pointed out that “the Great Commission is given to all believers by God himself”. Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest person who ever lived, has caused the most changes (Societal Changes[26]) for good in the entire history of mankind through changing the lives of hundreds of millions of men and women. The core and nucleus of the great Commission is transformation. Dr. Samuel Zwemer[27] says, “The gospel not only converts individuals, but changes society. On every mission field from the days of William Carey, the missionaries have carried a real social gospel (Christian Education as a medium). They established standards of purity and hygiene, promoted industry, elevated womanhood, restrained antisocial customs, abolished cannibalism, human sacrifice and cruelty, organized famine relief, checked tribal wars and changed the structure of society.” Jesus gave the Great Commission not only to His eleven disciples, but to everyone who has believed in Him through the centuries. Therefore, every Christian should be vitally and continually involved in helping to fulfill the Great Commission as a way of life through the investment of their lives, their talents and their treasure.[28] The teaching/service (didache-diakonia) ministry is one of the most important medium to fulfilled the Great Commission and this ethos of ministry should reached the unreached, communities, society and all people (for transformation) to shed light from darkness to light, underprivileged to privilege, hopeless, marginalized and to the pathos of pain and suffering with a new ray of hope vis-à-vis affirmation by Christian Education with a motto of ‘Educating for New Society’ under a slogan of ‘Education for Life’ towards a conscientizing content[29] and pedagogy for social change is the need of the hour. In this new paradigm, flexible and module system curriculum should emphasize, focus on holistic, global and eco-centric, whole life oriented and life-world affirmation. 

5. Reflection:

From the above discussion, we have seen that social action cannot be divorced from the great commission and is subservient to it. Those who don’t recognise the necessity of facing social evils are not faithful to their Christian faith and life. Opportunities for social action will inevitably spring up as members are holistically discipled in the faith. Social change occurs through those who have been transformed by the gospel—through transformed communities of God's people who become salt and light in their societies. It is fruit rather than substance of
mission. Communication of the gospel in its richness is the most significant "social action" that missionaries can undertake. The purpose of the change is not limited to find peace or relief from the ground realities of oppression and damage, but in the eternal transformation of the person, community, in their very being. Most of the times, the church, especially theologian get confused in determining what the mission is and often reduces the mission to social action or societal transformation. 

There is always a grave danger in juxtaposing the great commission and social action, buying the Marxist’s ideology of societal transformation being the ultimate goal in all the actions. The Cross has to be at the center in defining mission and also evaluating the methods and goals of mission. Jesus died not merely for the society to be changed thereby deceiving ourselves into the heresy of universalism. “We are not all missionaries and noteverything is missions, and if we don’t get these definitions correct we will not be effective in carrying out the mission Christ gave to the church.”

In all our actions of participating in great commission, we ought to remember that perfection of the people, society cannot be reached in this world itself by merely conducting various programs, awareness camps etc. We are not called to do all that God will do, and what we are called to do in missions is not equal to all the good we want to do as Christians. All the action taken in transforming the society has to be seen and evaluated in the light of Christ’s second coming; perfection is attained when Christ establishes His kingdom in fullness.

Conclusion
From this paper, we come to the conclusion that necessary distinction has to be made between mission and social action. Mission should always be narrow in its goal and inclusive in its methods. However, Cross of Christ and His Kingdom should be at the center in bringing change in the society in which teaching and service are the most necessary methods to be followed in following Jesus and apostle’s model. 

Bibliography

‘Didache’ in “Harper’s Encyclopedia of religious Education”. Eds. by Iris V Cully and Kendig Brubaker Cully, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1971.

Akers, J.N. 'Great Commission’ in "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology". ed. Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker House, 1997.

Bosch, David J. “The Scope of Mission.” Int. Rev. Mission 73.289 (1984): 17–32.

Bright, Bill. Transferable Concepts. California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1981.

Descartes, John. Education for Social Change. Bangalore: Centre for Social Action, 1987.

DeYoung, Kevin, and Greg Gilbert. What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission. Illinois: Crossway Books, 2011.

Gentry, Kenneth L. The Greatness Of The Great Commission. Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1990.

Horton, Michael. The Gospel Commission: Recovering God’s Strategy for Making Disciples. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011.

Longkumar, Limatula. Christian Education for Transformation. Kolkata: ESPACE, 2017.

Macquarrie, John. Theology, Church, and Ministry. New York: Crossroad, 1986.

Murch, James Deforest. Christian Education in the Local Church: History, Principles, Practice. Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co., 1958.

Murry, Ezamo. An Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2011.

Spitters, Denny, and Matthew Ellison. When Everything Is Missions. United States of America: Bottomline Media, 2017.

Srinivas. M.N. Social Change in Modern India. Hyderbad: Orientt Blackswan, 2009.

Tye, Karen. Basics of Chritian Education. Leiden: BRILL, 2010.

Williamson, Williams. Language and concept in Christian Education. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970

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[1] J.N.Akers, 'Great Commission’, in "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology", ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids:
Baker House, 1997), 484-485

[2] http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/the-great-commission/

[3] http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/the-great-commission/ 

[4] ‘Didache’, in “Harper’s Encyclopedia of religious Education” Eds. by Iris V Cully, Kendig Brubaker
Cully (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1971),188

[5] ‘Dikaonia’ in, “Harper’s Encyclopedia of religious Education”, 188.

[6] https://www.wordnik.com/words/diakonia

[7] M.N. Srinivas, Social Change in Modern India (Hyderbad: Orientt Blackswan, 2009), 19

[8] Karen Tye, Basics of Chritian Education (Leiden: BRILL, 2010), 32.

[9] Kenneth L. Gentry, The Greatness Of The Great Commission (Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1990),
128

[10] Kenneth L. Gentry, The Greatness Of The Great Commission (Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1990),
122

[11] ps://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/jbtm/01-2_094.pdf

[12] Brian Schwertley, “The Great Commission”, 13.
http://www.reformedonline.com/uploads/1/5/0/3/15030584/the_great_commission.pdf

[13] Brian Schwertley, “The Great Commission”, 14.
http://www.reformedonline.com/uploads/1/5/0/3/15030584/the_great_commission.pdf

[14] John Morrison, “The Great Commission And Christian Education: A Pointed Challenge to Christian Parents
and Church Leaders”, 6

[15] Walter Norvell, “The Great Commission Imperative of Teaching: Why Christian Education Should Be On the
Cutting Edge of the Church’s Mission Today”, 97.
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/jbtm/01-2_094.pdf

[16] Limatula Longkumar, Christian Education for Transformation (Kolkata: ESPACE, 2017), 55.

[17] Williams Williamson, Language and concept in Christian Education (Philadelphia : Westminster Press, 1970), 80.

[18] Williamson, Language and concept in Christian Education, 80.

[19] John Descartes, Education for Social Change (Bangalore: Centre for Social Action, 1987), 193.

[20] Descartes, Education for Social Change, 193.

[21] James Deforest  Murch, Christian Education in the Local Church : History, Principles, Practice (Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co., 1958), 68.

[22] Williamson, Language and concept in Christian Education, 130.

[23] Descartes, Education for Social Change, 224.

[24] John Macquarrie, Theology, Church, and Ministry (New York: Crossroad, 1986), 159.

[25] Ezamo Murry, An Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling (Delhi: ISPCK, 2011), 19.

[26] emphasized added

[27] Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952) was the Apostle to Islam, Great missionary, statesmen and scholar.

[28] Bill Bright, Transferable Concepts (California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1981), 126.

[29] It has two dimension-(i) intentional action education process and (ii) continuing process involving praxis as dialectical relationship of action and reflection.