Emmaus Road Blog

Sep 2, 2008

Everyone wants their children to grown up to successfully navigate life in today's world, whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist, an Agnostic or an Atheist. Today was my oldest child's first day in Kindergarten. And I am no different. She was excited and full of smiles while her mom and I were both anxious and scared. In all reality her preschool was only 15 minutes less time in the classroom per day than Kindergarten will be, but still, it feels like a big step. What does it really look like for our children to successfully navigate the big bad world out there? This is the question that every institute of higher learning must grapple with as it plans its lessons, field trips, lunches, and laboratories. I believe the Christian answer to that question is the most compelling and helpful. As I waited in the car I watched as the families from my neighborhood walked their children into the school. They were all different shapes and sizes. There were different languages, different skin color, different everything pretty much. In this diverse environment, which is actually mild compared to the city, the Christian vision of the Triune God is so helpful. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each distinct from each other yet all perfectly unified with each other in love and humility. A perfect example of unity in diversity. The Bible teaches that we are made in his image and so we too are hard wired to live in unity with our neighbors wherever they may be from. The competing worldview of secular humanism tells us that we are not made in the image of the Triune God. It tells us instead that we are products of random chance and that we must become fit to survive. Survival of the fittest pushes our children to compete with each other rather than work together for unity in diversity. In the end I fear that it is inadequate to sustain us as a human community in the 21st century.

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