True education is missionary training. Every son and
daughter of God is called to be a missionary; we are
called to the service of God and our fellow men; and to fit us
for this service should be the object of our education.
Training for Service
This object should ever be kept in view by Christian
parents and teachers. We know not in what line our children
may serve. They may spend their lives within the circle of
the home; they may engage in life's common vocations, or
go as teachers of the gospel to heathen lands; but all are alike
called to be missionaries for God, ministers of mercy to the
world.
The children and youth, with their fresh talent, energy,
and courage, their quick susceptibilities, are loved of God,
and He desires to bring them into harmony with divine
agencies. They are to obtain an education that will help them
to stand by the side of Christ in unselfish service.
Of all His children to the close of time, no less than of the
first disciples, Christ said, "As Thou hast sent Me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John
17:18), to be representatives of God, to reveal His Spirit, to
manifest His character, to do His work.
Our children stand, as it were, at the parting of the ways.
On every hand the world's enticements to self-seeking and
self-indulgence call them away from the path cast up for the
ransomed of the Lord. Whether their lives shall be a blessing
or a curse depends upon the choice they make. Overflowing
with energy, eager to test their untried capabilities, they
must find some outlet for their superabounding life. Active
they will be for good or for evil.
God's word does not repress activity, but guides it aright.
God does not bid the youth to be less aspiring. The elements
of character that make a man truly successful and honored
among men--the irrepressible desire for some greater good,
the indomitable will, the strenuous application, the untiring
perseverance--are not to be discouraged. By the grace of
God they are to be directed to the attainment of objects as
much higher than mere selfish and worldly interests as the
heavens are higher than the earth.
With us as parents and as Christians it rests to give our
children right direction. They are to be carefully, wisely,
tenderly guided into paths of Christlike ministry. We are
under sacred covenant with God to rear our children for
His service. To surround them with such influences as shall
lead them to choose a life of service, and to give them the
training needed, is our first duty.
"God so loved, . . . that He gave," "gave His only-begotten
Son," that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.
"Christ . . . hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us."
If we love we shall give. "Not to be ministered unto, but to
minister" is the great lesson which we are to learn and to
teach. John 3:16; Ephesians 5:2; Matthew 20:28.
Let the youth be impressed with the thought that they are
not their own. They belong to Christ. They are the purchase
of His blood, the claim of His love. They live because He
keeps them by His power. Their time, their strength, their
capabilities are His, to be developed, to be trained, to be used
for Him.
Next to the angelic beings, the human family, formed in
the image of God, are the noblest of His created works. God
desires them to become all that He has made it possible for
them to be, and to do their very best with the powers He has
given them.
Life is mysterious and sacred. It is the manifestation of
God Himself, the source of all life. Precious are its
opportunities, and earnestly should they be improved. Once lost,
they are gone forever.
Before us God places eternity, with its solemn realities,
and gives us a grasp on immortal, imperishable themes. He
presents valuable, ennobling truth, that we may advance in
a safe and sure path, in pursuit of an object worthy of the
earnest engagement of all our capabilities.
God looks into the tiny seed that He Himself has formed,
and sees wrapped within it the beautiful flower, the shrub, or
the lofty, wide-spreading tree. So does He see the possibilities
in every human being. We are here for a purpose. God has
given us His plan for our life, and He desires us to reach the
highest standard of development.
He desires that we shall constantly be growing in holiness,
in happiness, in usefulness. All have capabilities which they
must be taught to regard as sacred endowments, to appreciate
as the Lord's gifts, and rightly to employ. He desires the
youth to cultivate every power of their being, and to bring
every faculty into active exercise. He desires them to enjoy
all that is useful and precious in this life, to be good and to do
good, laying up a heavenly treasure for the future life.
It should be their ambition to excel in all things that are
unselfish, high, and noble. Let them look to Christ as the
pattern after which they are to be fashioned. The holy ambition
that He revealed in His life they are to cherish--an ambition
to make the world better for their having lived in it. This
is the work to which they are called.
A Broad Foundation
The highest of all sciences is the science of soul saving.
The greatest work to which human beings can aspire is the
work of winning men from sin to holiness. For the
accomplishment of this work, a broad foundation must be laid. A
comprehensive education is needed--an education that will
demand from parents and teachers such thought and effort as
mere instruction in the sciences does not require. Something
more is called for than the culture of the intellect. Education
is not complete unless the body, the mind, and the heart are
equally educated. The character must receive proper discipline
for its fullest and highest development. All the faculties
of mind and body are to be developed and rightly trained. It
is a duty to cultivate and to exercise every power that will
render us more efficient workers for God.
True education includes the whole being. It teaches the
right use of one's self. It enables us to make the best use of
brain, bone, and muscle, of body, mind, and heart. The faculties
of the mind, as the higher powers, are to rule the kingdom
of the body. The natural appetites and passions are to be
brought under the control of the conscience and the spiritual
affections. Christ stands at the head of humanity, and it is
His purpose to lead us, in His service, into high and holy
paths of purity. By the wondrous working of His grace, we
are to be made complete in Him.
Jesus secured His education in the home. His mother was
His first human teacher. From her lips, and from the scrolls
of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things. He lived in
a peasant's home and faithfully and cheerfully acted His part
in bearing the household burdens. He who had been the
commander of heaven was a willing servant, a loving, obedient
son. He learned a trade and with His own hands worked
in the carpenter's shop with Joseph. In the garb of a common
laborer He walked the streets of the little town, going to and
returning from His humble work.
With the people of that age the value of things was
estimated by outward show. As religion had declined in power,
it had increased in pomp. The educators of the time sought
to command respect by display and ostentation. To all this
the life of Jesus presented a marked contrast. His life
demonstrated the worthlessness of those things that men regarded as
life's great essentials. The schools of His time, with their
magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great,
He did not seek. His education was gained from Heaven-
appointed sources, from useful work, from the study of the
Scriptures, from nature, and from the experiences of life--God's
lesson books, full of instruction to all who bring to them
the willing hand, the seeing eye, and the understanding
heart.
"The Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with
wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him." Luke 2:40.
Thus prepared, He went forth to His mission, in every
moment of His contact with men exerting upon them an
influence to bless, a power to transform, such as the world had
never witnessed.
The home is the child's first school, and it is here that the
foundation should be laid for a life of service. Its principles
are to be taught not merely in theory. They are to shape the
whole life training.
Very early the lesson of helpfulness should be taught the
child. As soon as strength and reasoning power are sufficiently
developed, he should be given duties to perform in the home.
He should be encouraged in trying to help father and mother,
encouraged to deny and to control himself, to put other's
happiness and convenience before his own, to watch for opportunities
to cheer and assist brothers and sisters and playmates, and
to show kindness to the aged, the sick, and the unfortunate.
The more fully the spirit of true ministry pervades the
home, the more fully it will be developed in the lives of the
children. They will learn to find joy in service and sacrifice
for the good of others.
The Work of the School
The home training should be supplemented by the work
of the school. The development of the whole being, physical,
mental, and spiritual, and the teaching of service and sacrifice,
should be kept constantly in view.
Above any other agency, service for Christ's sake in the
little things of everyday experience has power to mold the
character and to direct the life into lines of unselfish ministry.
To awaken this spirit, to encourage and rightly to direct it, is
the parents' and the teacher's work. No more important work
could be committed to them. The spirit of ministry is the
spirit of heaven, and with every effort to develop and encourage
it angels will co-operate.
Such an education must be based upon the word of God.
Here only are its principles given in their fullness. The Bible
should be made the foundation of study and of teaching. The
essential knowledge is a knowledge of God and of Him
whom He has sent.
Every child and every youth should have a knowledge of
himself. He should understand the physical habitation that
God has given him, and the laws by which it is kept in health.
All should be thoroughly grounded in the common branches
of education. And they should have industrial training that
will make them men and women of practical ability, fitted
for the duties of everyday life. To this should be added training
and practical experience in various lines of missionary
effort.
Learning by Imparting
Let the youth advance as fast and as far as they can in the
acquisition of knowledge. Let their field of study be as broad
as their powers can compass. And, as they learn, let them
impart their knowledge. It is thus that their minds will
acquire discipline and power. It is the use they make of
knowledge that determines the value of their education. To
spend a long time in study, with no effort to impart what is
gained, often proves a hindrance rather than a help to real
development. In both the home and the school it should be
the student's effort to learn how to study and how to impart
the knowledge gained. Whatever his calling, he is to be both
a learner and a teacher as long as life shall last. Thus he may
advance continually, making God his trust, clinging to Him
who is infinite in wisdom, who can reveal the secrets hidden
for ages, who can solve the most difficult problems for minds
that believe in Him.
God's word places great stress upon the influence of
association, even upon men and women. How much greater is
its power on the developing mind and character of children
and youth. The company they keep, the principles they
adopt, the habits they form, will decide the question of their
usefulness here and of their future, eternal interest.
It is a terrible fact, and one that should make the hearts of
parents tremble, that in so many schools and colleges to which
the youth are sent for mental culture and discipline, influences
prevail which misshape the character, divert the mind
from life's true aims, and debase the morals. Through contact
with the irreligious, the pleasure loving, and the corrupt,
many, many youth lose the simplicity and purity, the faith in
God, and the spirit of self-sacrifice that Christian fathers and
mothers have cherished and guarded by careful instruction
and earnest prayer.
Many who enter school with the purpose of fitting themselves
for some line of unselfish ministry become absorbed in
secular studies. An ambition is aroused to win distinction in
scholarship and to gain position and honor in the world. The
purpose for which they entered school is lost sight of, and the
life is given up to selfish and worldly pursuits. And often
habits are formed that ruin the life both for this world and
for the world to come.
As a rule, men and women who have broad ideas, unselfish
purposes, noble aspirations, are those in whom these characteristics
were developed by their associations in early years.
In all His dealings with Israel, God urged upon them the
importance of guarding the associations of their children.
All the arrangements of civil, religious, and social life were
made with a view to preserving the children from harmful
companionship and making them, from their earliest years,
familiar with the precepts and principles of the law of God.
The object lesson given at the birth of the nation was of a
nature deeply to impress all hearts. Before the last terrible
judgment came upon the Egyptians in the death of the first-born,
God commanded His people to gather their children
into their own homes. The doorpost of every house was
marked with blood, and within the protection assured by this
token all were to abide. So today parents who love and fear
God are to keep their children under "the bond of the covenant"
--within the protection of those sacred influences made
possible through Christ's redeeming blood.
Of His disciples Christ said, "I have given them Thy word;
and . . . they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world." John 17:14.
"Be not conformed to this world," God bids us; "but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans
12:2.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness? . . . and
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye
are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people. Wherefore
"Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . .
And touch not the unclean; . . .
And I will receive you,
And will be a Father unto you,
And ye shall be My sons and daughters,
Saith the Lord Almighty."
2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
"Gather the children." "Make them know the statutes of
God, and His laws." Joel 2:16; Exodus 18:16.
"Put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless
them." Numbers 6:27.
"And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art
called by the name of Jehovah." Deuteronomy 28:10, A.R.V.
"The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people
As a dew from the Lord,
As the showers upon the grass,
That tarrieth not for man,
Nor waiteth for the sons of men."
Micah 5:7.
We are numbered with Israel. All the instruction given
to the Israelites of old concerning the education and training
of their children, all the promises of blessing through obedience,
are for us.
God's word to us is, "I will bless thee, . . . and thou shalt
be a blessing." Genesis 12:2.
Of the first disciples and of all who should believe on Him
through their word Christ said, "The glory which Thou
gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that
Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved
Me." John 17:22, 23.
Wonderful, wonderful words, almost beyond the grasp of
faith! The Creator of all worlds loves those who give
themselves to His service, even as He loves His son. Even here
and now His gracious favor is bestowed upon us to this
marvelous extent. He has given us the Light and Majesty of
heaven, and with Him He has bestowed all the heavenly
treasure. Much as He has promised us for the life to come,
He bestows princely gifts in this life. As subjects of His grace,
He desires us to enjoy everything that will ennoble, expand,
and elevate our characters. He is waiting to inspire the youth
with power from above, that they may stand under the blood-stained
banner of Christ, to work as He worked, to lead souls
into safe paths, to plant the feet of many upon the Rock of
Ages.
All who are seeking to work in harmony with God's plan
of education will have His sustaining grace, His continual
presence, His keeping power. To everyone He says:
"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither
be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee." "I will
not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Joshua 1:9, 5.
"As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven,
And returneth not thither,
But watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth:
It shall not return unto Me void,
But it shall accomplish that which I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
For ye shall go out with joy,
And be led forth with peace:
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before
you into singing,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree:
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
Isaiah 55:10-13.
Throughout the world, society is in disorder, and a thorough
transformation is needed. The education given to the
youth is to mold the whole social fabric.
"They shall build the old wastes,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the waste cities,
The desolations of many generations."
Men shall call them "the ministers of our God. . . .
Everlasting joy shall be unto them.
For I, Jehovah, love justice."
"I will direct their work in truth,
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them."
"Their race shall be illustrious among the nations,
And their offspring among the people;
All that see them shall acknowledge
That they are a race which Jehovah hath blessed. . . .
For as the earth putteth forth her shoots,
And as a garden causeth its plants to spring forth,
So shall the Lord Jehovah cause salvation to spring forth,
And praise before all the nations."
Isaiah 61:4, 6-8, Noyes; 61:8; 61:9, 11, Noyes.