Qualities of Sound Christian Education

Qualities of Teachers (from Titus 2:2):

“Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.” Your school’s Administration, Teachers, Coaches, and Staff are to maintain certain qualities. As mentioned earlier, Teachers are to be true biblical Christians. In addition to that, this portion of the passage has specific qualities that I am sure God wants teachers to have. We will look at each one individually:

They are to be temperate.
TEMPERATE: Marked by moderation : as a: keeping or held within limits : not extreme or excessive : mild b: moderate in indulgence of appetite or desire c: moderate in the use of alcoholic beverages d: marked by an absence or avoidance of extravagance, violence, or extreme partisanship. (Merriam-Webster) That definition gives me an idea of a person that is “middle of the road”, “even keel”, or “has it all together”. A person should not be excessively flamboyant, “a loose cannon”, or “unpredictable or erratic”, because Jesus wasn’t. If you are a school administrator, you should ask yourself “how does each of our staff members measure up to that definition?” Remember, we want people to see Jesus in us, more than they see us. Be honorable and dignified, sensible, and spiritually healthy.

Worthy of respect.
RESPECT: A person held in high or special regard : esteem : the quality or state of being Esteemed. (Merriam-Webster) 2 Peter 3:14 tells us to “give diligence that you may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in the sight of people.” Philippians 2:14 says “Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of life” Teachers, have as your state of mind that you want your students to respect you and to want them to be like you in their heart. This is an incredible responsibility because your words and actions need to be worthy of their respect. How do you do that? Paul says by holding fast to the Word of Life!

Self-controlled.
Restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires. (Merriam- Webster)
Remember Christians are to let our mind control our emotions, not visa-versa. 1 Peter 1:13 tells us to “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind.” Here is how we do this:

1. Be careful what you think. (biblical thoughts) (Phil. 4:8)
2. Be self-controlled, don’t give way to wrong desires, and control your imagination.
3. Study the Bible daily, and then live what you learn from the Bible.
4. Watch where you put your hope. (if it disappoints you, it’s the wrong hope)
5. Be determined to do what is right. (Col 3:23-24: whatever you do, do heartily as if to the Lord and not to men.)
6. Develop a hatred for sin.
7. Live here like a stranger. (Our home is in Heaven)
8. Love one another deeply, from your heart and mind. (Love intentionally)

Sound in faith
We already covered that “sound” means free from problems or defect, and therefore “sound in faith” means Teachers (and all Christians) are to be free from problems with their Christianity. They must be solid in their faith. They must have good biblical knowledge, be able to counsel students on biblical matters, (or know when they should refer the student to someone that can better help the student, and know who that is) and they must know what it means to act like Christ. Above all, a Teacher should be sound enough in their faith that they teach as Jesus would have. By that, I mean with the attributes of Jesus such as humility, calmness, patience, unselfishness, confidence, and with a servant mindset.

The Christ like attributes that teachers should have are very important. I have found, from my own observations of the teachers at the Christian school I am involved with, that the most effective teachers are those that are humble, unselfish, patient, and gladly serve their students. Those that can sit down amongst the students and humbly teach on their level. Teachers that are like that, not only teach a subject, but they ensure each student has learned the subject before moving on. (And we all know different students learn differently) Those teachers also command the respect of the students, yet do so by still being close to them, or communicating with them at their level. Conversely, I have observed the less effective teachers are the most prideful teachers. Those that “lord it over” their students. For example, those teachers seem to be annoyed that their students aren’t learning as fast as they should, or have little patience with them. Those teachers seem to have troubling issues about them such as the need to discipline more than usual, apathy among their students, criticism from students and parents, have lower class participation, and their students have lower grades. Now, I don’t mean to equate spiritual maturity with the effectiveness of a teacher, but there can be a correlation there worthy of pursuit. We also must be careful to equate the students’ fondness of a teacher with the effectiveness of that teacher, but again, there could be a link there to consider. I do know some very effective and great teachers that are new Christians. I also know some great and effective teachers that are proud of their abilities and let you know them. But I know that strong, confident, humble, servant-like Teachers seem to be the most effective, and I also know that the Bible says pride is a sin…and Satan uses pride to harm Christian schooling.

A sound Christian school will have teachers that are endeavoring to be sound in faith, and teach as Jesus would have taught.

Sound in Love

This one is huge! Pay attention to this quality of teachers, it is important, and takes a lot of effort. Do your teachers love to teach? Do they love the subject they teach? Here is a tough one: do they love their students? Here is an even tougher one: do their students love them? I am reminded of the line from a song from several years ago that says: “they will know we are Christians by our love”; can that be said about your schools teachers? Can it be said about you? Here is a saying that I really like, because I have found it to be so, so true: “Your students won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Take that to heart. It takes effort to show love in the classroom, and it takes EXTRA effort to show the same love to every student without partiality. Paul started out the “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13 by saying that without love, a person could be like sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. (Just a bunch of noise). And then in the next sentence, Paul said even though he may have lot of gifts such as understanding, knowledge, and faith, without love, he was nothing. Then, he said next that even with all his good deeds and sacrifices he made, they were worthless without love. So from that, I could stand on fairly firm ground saying that a teacher without love is nothing but a worthless bunch of noise.