Christian Pilgrims Schools, International

Educational Philosophy

Jesus Christ is the Loving Master of our families and we have purposed to place every area of our lives under His command. Christ's Lordship includes the training of the children He has entrusted to us. While God leads us by His Spirit personally and directly in living our lives, we believe He foundationally reveals His general will and ways first through the scriptures. If we fail to follow God's revealed intentions in training our children we will be sinning against the Sovereign Creator and Owner of the universe.

Scripture teaches that sons and daughters are blessings (Ps. 127:3-5), created by God and belonging to Him. We refer to the children in our family as "ours" because they are our heritage from our Master. But we recognize that as everything in the universe belongs ultimately to God, "our" children are actually God's, and have simply been entrusted to us as manager's of His property, for the purpose of training, both them and ourselves.

Scripture teaches that God sovereignly gave the responsibility for training children to parents, and particularly to fathers (Eph. 6:4). Thus we hold that as parents we must not delegate this responsibility to others without very clear leading directly by the Lord; the default scriptural mandate is for parents to "train up a child" (Prov. 22:6).

We also understand, from scripture, that it is far more important to train our children's spirits than to train their minds. We aspire to train godly sons and daughters who are mighty in spirit, prepared for a life-long walk of obedience to the Lord's promptings. We stress that our children develop godly character qualities by following the principles revealed in God's word (God’s ways). We have proven that academic excellence can flow from such a commitment as a natural by-product without having to become a consuming focus itself. We believe academic excellence is one of those worldly things Jesus would include as those "the Gentiles seek" (Matt. 6:32-33). We are convinced "the Father knows that [we] need all these things" and is more interested in our children's success than we are. He thus insists that we avoid making scholastic excellence an idol. Instead we are to "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to" us. In short, we hold academic goals to be unworthy of our pursuit in comparison with efforts to train children in godliness. Yet we are confident that God then enables us to achieve academic excellence as a natural fruit of disciplined, godly lives.

A corollary to this is our conviction that it is best to protect young children from inordinate stress in formal academics, especially when they are young and not yet developmentally ready for the focused rigors of academic pressure. They need, rather, a disciplined home environment that nurtures respect, self-control, confidence, and curiosity. We have concluded that generally our culture is stealing childhood from children. We purpose to expose and avoid this error. Rather than being intimidated by the world's expectations, allowing ourselves and our children to be measured and directed by educational agendas created by man, we seek to understand and fulfill God's purposes for child training.

God has given us the responsibility of preparing our children to serve Him and others effectively. This is the purpose of their childhood training, and their education must be planned to fulfill this end. This means that they must master skills and knowledge that will enable them to know and obey God, and understand and serve the people God has placed in their lives. Additionally each child has specific spiritual, mental, and physical aptitudes that God has provided for the purpose of fulfilling His callings for their lives. We are to help them explore and develop these aptitudes for the Glory of God. We refer to this process as discipleship.

God has called us to disciple our children. The "curriculum" in this process is not based on society's expectations and methodologies but God's. God is the focus of the entire training, and His word, the Bible, is the central, primary resource tool. The process is relationship. We, the parents, as fellow servants of Jesus with our children, continue in our own discipleship. As we are growing in all areas we include our children in that growth process. Thus our very lives are to be their primary curriculum as we relationally disciple, or apprentice, our children in serving God. We call our children to welcome our shaping their hearts (values and tastes) as they keep their attention focused on our example (imperfect as it is) of pleasing the Lord (Prov. 23:26).

A major fallacy in contemporary thinking has to do with the question of children's "socialization." God's perspective on socialization is revealed in scripture as quite opposite that of man's. Professional educators are often as concerned about helping children "fit in" socially as they are about equipping them academically. The very thing the world is calling "socialization," is what the Bible calls "conformity." We are not to be "conformed to the world" (Rom. 12:2) but instead soak our hearts and minds in God's word that we might be transformed into the vessels prepared to accomplish God's will. God's will for our children is that they be servants rather than competitors of others. Prior to acquiring a relatively stable maturity level, characterized by unselfishness, frequent emphasis on socializing with peers diminishes rather than enhances this vision for servanthood.

We are persuaded that children are to be protected from influences they are not mature enough to handle. The scripture teaches us that we will one day be held accountable by Almighty God Himself for every responsibility He has given us. Clearly this includes the responsibility for the influences that shape our children. While recognizing that many in our society are quite sensitive to the possibility of overprotecting children, we unashamedly shelter our children from known stumbling blocks and unnecessary temptation. God has made children especially impressionable during this training season of their lives. He has apparently given them a natural inclination to mimic those around them. Thus we understand He has given us the mandate to insure that the influences in their lives fulfill His purposes. Therefore it is imperative that we not be negligent in sheltering our children from influences we do not have reason to expect they will be benefitted by. We are to carefully tailor children's environment to reinforce the training God calls us to accomplish in their lives. We hold that only as children prove themselves faithful in small responsibilities should they be released to such greater things as being responsible for their own influences. Thus, we unashamedly isolate our children from questionable influences until we are confident they can handle them in a manner pleasing to God.

The scriptures teach that although God initially created human beings as good, we have all inherited a tendency to sin as a result of the rebellion of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Our children are to be taught to rely upon Jesus to redeem them from this curse. One of the prime responsibilities scripture places upon parents is the chastening of children. Despite modern theories to the contrary, God expects us to use physical means of restraining and correcting our children.

We are convinced that as we train our children to be Godly warriors for the kingdom of God, humble pilgrims in this world, and bold emissaries loyal to their heavenly citizenship, they will become mature, fulfilled adults whose lives will, like ours, be consumed by a passion for pleasing our Savior and Master, Jesus Christ.