"So what?" to the Image of God in Man (part 2)

I know I just finished a post about how God gave parents responsibility over their children, but I wanted to share another idea about how the image of God in man makes a difference in education. One implication I've already shared for the image of God in man is that education should develop the ways we reflect God (i.e. our potential) while avoiding humanistic optimism about our students, so that we can use those God-reflecting gifts in ways God intends. In this post, I want to share a second implication for the image of God in man (another "So what?"). I'm not sure how many implications I will have (at least one more), but I will just label this one implication #2. Here it is:

Implication #2: Because God made us in his image so that we reflect and represent him, I think education can (and possibly should) emphasize the Gospel -- the work of redemption in Jesus Christ. This will be controversial, but let me explain. Here's another quote from Created in God's Image: “In the process of redemption God by his Spirit renews the image in fallen human beings—that is, enables them once again to use their God-reflecting gifts in such a way as to image God properly—at least in principle. After the resurrection of the body, on the new earth, redeemed humanity will once again be able to image God perfectly” (Hoekema, 72-73). While a person is unregenerated, that person uses the capacities and gifts of God in sinful and disobedient ways. For education, that might mean that learning goes along slowly, painfully, and even toward sinful ends when the person is unregenerated; but once God redeems a person, education flies. In other words, the Gospel not only reaches our moral faculties and failures but even our rational faculties and failures. The Gospel gives us hope when our minds fail.

I think the Gospel is why we can have a vision for the Christian mind as the best mind. When we sin or realize our shortcomings, we can turn to Christ and receive the blessings of forgiveness and the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). We can also receive the fear of the Lord, which is the foundational principle for all knowledge and wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). So, Christian educators can emphasize the work of redemption in the midst of education so that our students reflect God as they should. In fact, I don't think there is another way to educate our students in order to reach our goal of education - developing the image of God in man in preparation for the call of God in life.

Now, I understand how this idea can seem impossible for teachers in public education. But because it seems impossible does not mean it is not right. I think Christian teachers in public schools can obey God by praying for the salvation of their students and using the blessings of common grace (I wonder what those blessings might be) to point students back to their Creator, even if done discreetly.

I wonder how a Christian teacher in a public school might respond to these ideas. How can I think about education like this, if I can't talk about God in my classroom? Good question. I can imagine some of the difficulties for a Christian teacher, if they took seriously a biblical worldview of education in a public school. However, as I think about education, I want to remember the public school teacher, because I have a hunch that most of these ideas are relevant for all classrooms. Let's remember that God is sovereign over all of creation, even public education, and that Jesus Christ is reclaiming ALL of creation for himself (Colossians 1:16-20).