Great Ideas that Shape Education (Part 4)

All of us have underlying ideas that shape the way we think about all of life, and these presuppositional thoughts point us back to what we believe about God, man, and creation. Well, for a long time I've been wanting to think through how one such idea--the doctrine of sin--informs a biblical worldview of education, because I know how powerful a right understanding of sin is for living as a Christian. Kenneth Maresco told me once that getting the doctrine of sin right is like getting the bottom button on your shirt in the right hole. If you get that one right, you get all the others right. So, here it is:

All humans are sinners (Romans 3:9-20, Isaiah 53:6). What is sin? Wayne Grudem defines it this way: "Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature" (Systematic Theology, 490). What does this mean? It means that every part of who we are is tainted by sin, that we are unable to do anything to merit the favor of God or change the sinful direction of our lives. Scripture clearly affirms these statements: Isaiah 64:4, John 6:44, Genesis 6:5). We all do bad things, so it's not difficult to say that we sin in action. We probably even can acknowledge that we fail in our attitudes and thoughts. But when we consider ourselves sinners in nature, what do we feel? I don't feel like a sinner when I'm sleeping or when I'm helping someone. But that is what Scripture teaches about us: "we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:3). As Grudem says, "Our very nature, the internal character that is the essence of who we are as persons, can also be sinful" (ST, 490). Why are we sinners? I've heard Jeff Purswell say it this way: "We are sinners by choice because we are sinners by nature."

Good news, huh? Well, I believe strongly that understanding this bad news is what makes the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so Good! I also believe that this doctrine can and should make a difference in education at a very practical level. I want to share one implication in my next post.