Theological Basis for Christian Education and Social Change: Church in the world
1.
Introduction
Christian Education plays an important role in helping the Church to understand the relationship between faith and action. The Church in the world can be a medium of sharing God’s love to those who are unprivileged in the society. This paper attempts to find out the theological basis for Christian Education and Social Change and its implication for today’s world.
2.
Definitions
2.1
Church
It is defined as a
building used for public Christian worship. It is also known as the house of
God, the Lord’s house, house of prayer etc.[1]
2.2 World
The world is the planet earth and
all life upon it, including human civilization. In a philosophical context, the world is the whole of the
physical universe, or an ontological world. In a theological context, the world is the material or the profane sphere, as opposed to the
celestial, spiritual, transcendent or sacred.[2]
2.3 Christian Education
Christian
education is designed to help individuals, young and old to grow in Christian
likeness and to aid in realizing the kingdom of Love and righteousness among
men, its purpose is to bring about the development of Christ like persons and a
more Christian society.[3]
2.4 Social Change
According
to K. Device, social change means the alternation or modification that occur in
a situation over a time in social organization i.e. the structure and the
function of society. It is the change in human interactions and interrelations.
Jones also defines it as a term used to describe variation in social
interaction, progress or social organization.[4]
Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behaviour
patterns and cultural values and norms.[5]
3.
Biblical Understanding of the
Church
The word church in the Bible comes from the Greek
word ecclesia, which means a called out company or assembly. Wherever it is
used in the Bible it refers to people. The emphasis is on its unity and the
basis of this unity is made clear: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We see
the word church used in three different ways: Firstly, as the body of Christ,
the church is often defined as a local assembly or group of believers (1
Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1-2). Secondly, it is defined
as the body of individual living believers (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians
1:13). Finally, it is defined as the universal group of all people who have
trusted Christ through the ages (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:23-27).[6]
4.
Church and the World
The
same love that binds the church together as a body also binds the church to the
world. “For God so loved the world that they gave his only son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the son
into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved
through him” (John 3:16-17). There is always a risk to the church as it seeks
to live in mission in the midst of the world. When it involves itself in social
issues, it incurs the wrath of those whose wrongs it condemns. Living in the
world, it may become like the world, churches in non-Christian cultures are
confronted by a problem how much to withdraw form society, and yet how to be
identified with society enough to play a vital role in the lives of the people.
When the church, like its Lord, gives itself in sacrificial, redemptive love to
the world, it has the power and transform and recreate. [7]
4.1 Nature and Purpose of the Church
The
early Christian church recognized that four functions were inherently
essential, recorded for us in Acts 2:41, 42, as Follows: Evangelism (vs.41),
Education (vs.42), Edification (vs.42), and Fellowship (vs.42). Rooted in the
deepest tradition and practice of the Christian church is education. The
Apostle Paul likewise adopted the goal of Christlikeness as the character goal
for the church. “Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach… that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus (Col. 1:27, 28).[8] The
church is composed of the body of Christ, the corporate body of believers. The
goal here, therefore, is to form a great missionary society in which the goal
is to enlist every disciple of Christ in this body and develop them into
efficient Apostles. The method to be employed is witnessing and evangelism,
expressed in the Great commission. In order to facilitate this objective, the
Church, as the kingdom of Christ, moves out into society as a spiritual leaven
with a spiritual program called the kingdom of heaven.[9]
4.2 Church as the light of the world
Light
is seen as an important metaphor in the Bible “God is light” according to I
John 1:5, and Christ is described in the fourth gospel as “the light of the
world” (John 8:12, 12:46). God is also described as light in eschatological
context (Isaiah 60:19-20, Rev. 21:10-11), God moreover has come in Christ to
bring light into the darkness (John 1:4-5, 12:46, Ps 27:1). Paul’s metaphor
also extends to Christians, who were described as the “Children of light” (Eph
5:8, I Thess 5:5). In Isaiah 42:6, Israel’s mission is to be the “light to the
gentiles.”[10]
4.3 Mission and the Church
In the
New Testament “Church” occurs in 115 times. Jesus said, “On this rock I’ll
build my church, and the gates of the hades will not overcome it” (Matt.
16:18). The church is the household of God and the pillar and foundation of the
truth (I Tim. 3:15). It is the mystery hidden form all ages; the divinely
inspired organisation dedicated by God t breaking down ethnic walls so people
from all backgrounds might be one in Christ (Eph. 3:10). The Church occupies
central place and Christ continues to do from his position as the right hand of
God. In Luke and Acts, Luke records what “Jesus continues to do and to teach
until the day he was taken up to Heaven” (Acts 1:1-2).[11]
5.
Role of Church and Christian
Education
5.1
Church as Educator
A
church is an educational institution primarily because of this kind of fact,
because, in short, by its very presence, it produces so largely the
presuppositions of social thinking, and maintains a great body of standards
that are taken for granted. The church of the spirit must therefore provide
means and measures for continual spiritual renewal at the sources of spiritual
life. The church considered as educator is primarily a fellowship of older and
younger persons, and that if this fellowship be rich and aspiring it will be
educationally effective, whatever be the material and the method of
instruction. Church education at its best in an initiation into a living
fellowship. Good fellowship in the
church is itself a process of Christian education.[12]
5.2
Church and society
The
church differs from any other organization of the good will, and why a child
needs any social training beyond participation in ordinary philanthropies and
reforms, the answer is that, in spite of shortcomings, the churches, and they
only of all our social institutions, undertake to accept the radical
consequences of Jesus’ social idealism. The churches are called by their own
confirmed principles to carry this social radicalism into life. Specifically
Christian education adds to the other agencies of social progress. Church can
develop communion with God in and through growing social intelligence and
growing social purpose, as these, conversely, can be developed through
communion with God.[13]
5.3 Church and its involvement in the world[14]
5.3.1
Liberation
The way
in which the local churches move beyond their present indecision will have
profound implications for the future of the universal church. If the church
finds itself at the very heart of the contradictions plaguing societies
undergoing change, if it is involved in their fissures and fixations, it is
because the church has been in charge of their relationship with God. The
unthinkable becomes thinkable when the church, which had been preaching
resignation, begins to tell the poor that it is God who is summoning them to
stand on their own feet; that it is God who wants them to take in hand the work
of building the social organizations they need to improve their living
conditions.
The
role proposed to the church is that of organizing and mobilizing the resources
at its disposal in order to conscientize those who are ready to listen to what
it has to say. The mass movements of the
first type often begin with the establishment of basic ecclesial communities in
which members try to rediscover the good news proclaimed to the poor, they
share the exhilaration of the exodus from Egypt or the return of the Jews from
exile. Even in the midst of repression they feel themselves to be a captive
people in the process of liberating itself. Calmly and peacefully they go about
the process, having no weapon but the gospel message and its subversive,
mobilizing force. Today millions of
Christians are to be found in countries that were held under colonial and
postcolonial domination for centuries. It is the church that the cry of the
voiceless oppressed has the best chance of being heard.
5.3.2 Transformation
Collective
awareness in so-called advanced societies is heavily influenced by the
conviction that they are indeed in advance of underdeveloped societies.
Christ’s followers, therefore, are called, in one
way or another, not to conform to the values of society but to transform them
(Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 5:8-14). This calling flows from our confession that God
loves the world and that the earth belongs to Him. According to the
biblical view of human life, then, transformation is the change from a
condition of human existence contrary to God’s purpose to one in which people
are able to enjoy fullness of life in harmony with God (John 10:10; Col.
3:8-15; Eph. 4:13). This transformation can only take place through the
obedience of individuals and communities to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose
power changes the lives of men and women by releasing them from the guilt,
power, and consequences of sin, enabling them to respond with love toward God
and toward others (Rom. 5:5), and making them “new creatures in Christ” (2 Cor.
5:17). We have come to see that the goal of transformation is best
described by the biblical vision of the Kingdom of God. This new way of being human
in submission to the Lord of all has many facets. In particular, it means
striving to bring peace among individuals, races, and nations by overcoming
prejudices, fears, and preconceived ideas about others. It means sharing basic
recourses like food, water, the means of healing, and knowledge. It also means
working for a greater participation of people in the decisions which affect
their lives, making possible an equal receiving from others and giving of
themselves. Finally, it means growing up into Christ in all things as a body of
people dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit and upon each other.
5.3.3 Upliftment
From
Pope Leo XIII until Vatican II, the predominant value the Church sought to
promote in society was social stability and order. The Church would speak out
on behalf of the poor but, at the same time, exhort the poor to be patient and
not disturb the existing order. The poor were invited to follow the suffering
Christ – a call usually supported by an escapist and other-worldly
spirituality.
The
mission of Church to society is neither to uphold the status quo, nor to topple it by violent means. Its challenge is to
give a deliberately chosen and lived witness of contradiction to the unjust status quo, and of opposition to those
who seek to uphold it because they benefit from it.
The
afflictions of the poor, in Jesus’ time as much as today, were in large measure
caused by repression, discrimination and exploitation by the rich and powerful,
the upholders of the status quo. In his
ministry, Jesus focused quite deliberately on those who had been pushed aside:
in his compassionate outreach to these outcasts, Jesus concretely embodied
God’s reign as good news for the poor;
God’s reign would mean the end of
their misery and the introduction of a new order of social relationships based
on the principle of inclusion. No one is
excluded from the love of God “who causes his sun to rise on bad as well as
good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike” (Mt 5:45).
What amazes one again and again is the inclusiveness of Jesus’ mission. It embraces
both poor and rich, both the oppressed and oppressor, both the sinners and the
devout. His mission is one of dissolving
alienation and breaking down walls of hostility, of crossing boundaries between
individuals and groups.
6.
Theological Implications on
Church
6.1 Church as People of God
The
church is ‘God’s own people’ (1 Pet. 2:9). One belongs to the ‘household of
faith’. Gal. 6:10, as one belongs to a family or a nation. He inherits his
membership, and yet he exerts his citizenship. This membership is God’s gift,
and yet we must accept it. God brings His people into existence through His
mercy, and in turn they declare His wonderful deeds. [15]
The people of God can come together and join their hands in the transformation
of the world. Christian education through curriculum can be implemented by the
Church in order to shape the society.
6.2 Church as community of called people
In
Ekklessia, Ek = out of, klesia = call. Therefore the “called out” ones. It is used in the new testament in many
different ways, sometimes referring to a single community, sometimes to the
whole church and sometimes to the churches (in plural) (2 Cor.1:1; 1 Cor.
10:32; 1 Thes. 2:14). It is both assembly of persons and a corporate body of
those who have been “called out.” The scriptures do focus on a calling out of
darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) and a calling into the
fellowship of His Son (1 Cor 1:9) and turning to God from idols (1 Thes 1:9).[16]
The Church as a community of called people, through Christian education, can
lighten the world by abolishing the evil practices, removing the oppressing
structures of the society and redempting them from the bondages of social evil.
6.3 Church as fellowship
‘Koinonia’
means fellowship, communion, community, sharing and participation. We are told
that after the first converts at Pentecost were baptized, they ‘devoted
themselves to the apostles” teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and the prayers’ (Acts 2:42). Paul speaks of ‘participation in the spirit (Phi.2:1)
and of participation in the body and blood of Christ. (1 Cor. 10:16. [17]
The Church can serve as a fellowship for those who are discriminated, hated,
and rejected by the society. The Church can open up the doors and share from
their resources towards the marginalized community of the society. The Church
can participate in the good cause of liberating the oppressed and suppressed in
the society and welcome them to be the part of the fellowship which can nurture
them through love and care.
7.
Conclusion
The
Church in the world is a not just a mere fellowship but the community of
believers who are united in faith and joined in action for the social change.
Christian education can shape the society and influence the society to be
Christlike community. Church through Christian education can reach out to the
world in a wider spectrum and affect the society by educating it.
Bibliography
Albert Coe,
George. A Social Theory of Religious
Education. New York: Charles Scribners Sons), 1917.
Byane. H.W.,
(ed.,), A Christian Approach to
Education. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971.
Cosmao,
Vincent. Changing the World. New
York: Orbis Books, 1984.
Crump Miller, Randolph. The Educational Mission of the Church. New York,World council of
Christian Education and Sunday School Association, 1962.
Crump Miller, Randolph
Christian Nurture and The Church. New
York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1961.
Donald, Hagner A. World Biblical Commentary. Texas: World
Book Publisher, 1993.
Mckibben, Frank M. Christian
Education Through the church. New York, Abingdon-Coklesbury Press, 1947.
Ranck. Allan, Education for Mission. New York:
Friendship Press, 1961.
Wright, Eric E. A Practical Theology of Missions; Dispelling
the mystery; recovering the passion. Malta: Gutenberg press, 2010.
Ramesh,
Ghanta, and B.N. Dash. Foundations of Education. Hyderabad: Neelkamal
Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2004.
Vries,
Egbert De. Man in Rapid Social Change. London: SCM Press Ltd, 1961.
Online
Source
“Social
Change Defined,” n.d.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/social-change-and-movements/social-change-defined.
https://www.merriam-webster.com,
Accessed on 4/7/17, at 3:30pm.
https://www.researchgate.net,
Accessed on 4/7/17, at 3:30pm.
[3] Frank M. Mckibben, Christian Education Through the church,(New
York, Abingdon-Coklesbury Press, 1947), 23
[4] Ghanta Ramesh and
B.N. Dash, Foundations of Education (Hyderabad: Neelkamal Publications
Pvt. Ltd., 2004), 154.
[5] “Social Change Defined,” n.d., https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/social-change-and-movements/social-change-defined.
[6] Randolph Crump Miller, The
Educational Mission of the Church, (New York,World council of Christian
Education and Sunday School Association, 1962), 6
[7] J. Allan Ranck, Education for
Mission (New York: Friendship Press, 1961), 18-19.
[8] H.W. Byane, (ed.,), A Christian
Approach to Education (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971),106-107.
[9] H.W. Byane, (ed.,), A
Christian Approach to Education (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House,
1971), 111.
[10] Hagner A. Donald, World
Biblical Commentary (Texas: World Book Publisher, 1993). 100.
[11] Eric E. Wright, A Practical
Theology of Missions; Dispelling the mystery; recovering the passion
(Malta: Gutenberg press, 2010), 216.
[12] George Albert Coe, A Social
Theory of Religious Education (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1917),
85-89.
[13] George Albert Coe, A Social
Theory of Religious Education (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1917),
92-95.
[14] Vincent Cosmao, Changing the World (New York: Orbis Books,
1984), 40-55.
[15] Randolph Crump Miller, The
Educational Mission of the Church, (New York, World council of Christian
Education and Sunday School Association, 1962), 8
[16] Randolph Crump Miller, The
Educational Mission of the Church,...14
[17] Randolph Crump Miller, The
Educational Mission of the Church,...9
.jpg)
