How do I create Biblical-worldview thinking in my child?
The PEERS Test is the only professionally validated test of the worldview of individuals in the areas of Politics, Economics, Education, Religion and Social Issues. The PEERS Test reveals a decline in high school and college students over the past several decades who are equipped to hold and articulate a Biblical view in these critical areas that effect our nation’s future. This downward trend has caused Dan to become an ardent advocate for Christian education. However going forward, the test has helped many parents and educators receive a vision for a truly Christ-centered education. In addition, PEERS testing for the past three decades validates Principle Approach education as that which most successfully produces a Biblical worldview in students. FACE is very grateful for our partnership with Dan Smithwick. For more information about PEERS testing visit https://worldviewcheckup.org/.
Courtesy of The Foundation for American Christian Education.
Visit FACE.net to learn more about curriculum and methodology you can use to ensure your child is in the top line of this PEERS chart.
What can I do as a parent?
There are many options. Search them; study the curriculum and teaching methodology with the goal of finding an education environment that will instill strong Biblical thinking in your child while giving a format that fits well with your family. Collaborating with friends on this venture will be encouraging and helpful for both you and your friends.
If you are part of a local church that does not strive toward ensuring every child in your church has an opportunity to be educated (discipled) in Godly ways, encourage a change in priorities; if that fails, join a different church. A Biblical church, by definition, will not ignore the core calling of the church. Correct thinking does not come by chance, it requires intentional effort – intentional discipleship and that is the core calling of the local church.
Remember that whoever pays for the education ultimately controls the education. Your children’s education is worth being a top priority in your home. There is no second chance.
What can I do as a pastor or church leader?
Where are the shepherds who are to protect the sheep (even the least of these) when the vast majority of churched children are sent to have false ideas impressed upon them five days a week? Who will stand up against the resulting confusion from children being told to believe two very opposing sets of ideas? Who will encourage churchgoing parents to educate their children in a manner consistent with the Biblical worldview taught and preached from the pulpit? Who will lead the church as a whole to help make that possible?
Where are the pastors that truly stand up against a dualistic mindset that limits Biblical thinking to a couple hours a week within the four walls of the church building, and perhaps a little personal daily time for seasoning? Is not the Biblical worldview an all-encompassing comprehensive worldview that does indeed speak to all aspects of life? If not, it is not a worldview.
What can our church family do?
Working together creatively, as a single body with a single purpose, help find ways for every child in your local church family to have an opportunity for a Christian-based education. Christians aren’t to be islands that simply join together once or twice a week. We are called to do life together. Do not limit yourself or God.
For some churches, homeschooling might fit every family. Others will find the best option to be a co-op type school, where several families work together and make use of the church building. And then other churches will open or be part of opening a more traditional school that, while more expensive to operate, can reach well beyond the needs in a single church.
A mix of all of these options could deliver great results while also being more affordable for parents and more sustainable for traditional schools. Younger students would be educated at home or in co-op arrangements that are more intimate and then go on to a traditional school setting, which has more offerings, for their high school years. This mixed model creates a natural feeder program for the traditional school, reduces the higher-level cost to just four years for each student, makes Christian education available to far more families, and makes great use of existing church buildings that are generally empty during weekdays. It is a win-win-win-win!
The main point is to organically find what best fits your church. One size does not fit all.
Resist the fortress model of simply protecting your children from competing ideas and forces, but rather understand the ideas that confront and confuse our culture. Open your doors to families who are not part of your church so they have options besides the confusion created by the ideas pushed through the public school system. Help shift your local church from simply being another social venue to being a strong and trusted pillar of your community.
How can we improve our existing Christian school?
Are you truly developing strong biblical thinkers? Are your teachers equipped to accomplish that task?
Have you tested your graduates’ worldview using a worldview test, such as the PEERS test (on the left) from Nehemiah Institute, to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and learning methods you use?
Are you familiar with RenewaNation’s Biblical Worldview Training Bootcamp for Teachers?
How can we improve our existing Christian teaching college?
Are you training teachers to educate students to think from a solid Biblical perspective?
Many teachers from Christian teaching colleges seek public school jobs simply to pay for their education debt. Are you able to lessen the financial burden for graduates based upon the graduate teaching in a Christian school for a number of years? Teachers in Christian schools are very much missionaries, answering a calling.