PAIDEIA

By Rev. Raymond Coffey

September 2006

With the onset of the fall our schedules change as children return to the routines of school and we resume a full schedule of events, classes and activities here at Fairlawn. One of the central things that we are involved with, both at the church and in schooling is the education of children and young people. At the heart of this task is the spiritual formation of our youth. The Biblical and Reformed vision of training children is critical to this endeavor. Just what is this vision and how do we implement it in our ministry? Are we fulfilling the mandate entrusted to us by shaping the thinking and decisions of our youth?  And are we doing so in responsible and capable manner?

In order to address these questions it is important that we recall some of the foundational perspectives that guide us in this work. One of the significant components of our vision as a church is that of spiritual formation. The goal of spiritual formation is maturity in Christ. This is nothing less than the formation of the image of Christ in us. The letters of the apostle Paul are filled with references to this desire. Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:28. At the center of this purpose is the concept of paideia. It is vital that we know what this term and concept means and how it is accomplished in our lives and the lives of our young people.

The term paideia is from the Greek language and refers to the process of education. It was used in various contexts in classical Greek language and is employed in the New Testament to describe the varying tasks of training others. Paul uses it in Ephesians 6:4 to refer to the responsibility of fathers/parents in raising children: “bring your children up in the paideia and admonition of the Lord.” The word itself carries with it the larger idea of training by cultural formation. It is not just training in formal setting such as a classroom, but training by shaping the character, desires, choices, and perspective of the young person. In ancient Greece it involved preparing the child to live in the culture of Greek civilization. It was the shaping of the child into the ideal person and was the realization of full maturity. It was an enculturation of the child as they were equipped to move into adulthood as responsible members of Greek society. Attitudes, values, and desires were molded in order to reflect what was proper and necessary to life in that culture. In the different contexts of life this process of enculturation took place, whether on the athletic field, in the home, the marketplace, conversations with others, at table or in business.  Education involved all of life. Now of course the more structured setting of a classroom was used, but it did not stop there. All of the settings of life were a means of learning.

So it is in the church. Our task is that of training in the wisdom of the kingdom of God. It involves cultural formation as we impart a vision of what it means to live life as citizens of the kingdom of God under the rule or Lordship of Jesus Christ. And this process of formation is accomplished in many different settings, by many people over a period of time. Moses reminds Israel of this in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 when he calls Israel to the worship of the one, true God. There he speaks of “impressing” the law of God on the hearts of their children “when they sit at home and as they walk along the road, when lie down and when they get up.”   This is how character is formed and nurtured. And this is how a culture is developed. Our task is that of life-formation.

At the center of this is Jesus Christ himself. All knowledge and instruction is centered in him, flows from him and is unto his glory. Whether it is mathematics, basketball, cooking and the culinary arts, landscaping or courtship, Christ and his kingdom is at the focal point for beginning and ending our work of shaping the spiritual culture of our youth.

This is a process of continual training and instruction. The goal is that of bringing young people to know Jesus Christ through trusting in him as Lord and Savior in order that the image of Jesus Christ might be formed in them. This requires that we trust in God’s sovereign grace in fulfilling his covenantal promises to us, even when things seem bleak in our children’s lives. It means being faithful to the means he has appointed for accomplishing that work. And it calls us to prayer as we look to God for his enabling power to bring this goal to fruition in the lives of those he has given to us.

Such a vision under girds all that we do in our ministry of training families, young people and believers in Jesus Christ. It propels us forward into this season of the year and gives us renewed hope for the future. His kingdom is known as we engage our lives in the ministry of training in the paideia of the Lord.