At the same time, no one explicitly endorses the excision of reading from the curriculum as they would the penny from U.S. currency. We know deep down that reading is something we cannot do without. After all, how will the next generation read stop signs and Instagram posts? Yes, I am being somewhat facetious, but the point remains: society understands that it needs literate citizens to continue to function.

In this blog, I submit three reasons for society to embrace deep reading as both an immensely practical and inescapably moral skill to pass on to the next generation. By “deep reading” I mean more than reading for practical information or to enjoy the latest fan-fare novel. I mean the sort of reading that draws one into deeper opportunities for contemplation, discovery, and renewal. Recently, Dr. Patrick Egan made the compelling case for choosing to read old books over watching the news. This article will dovetail off of his work as it explores different facets of the human experience and how deep reading enhances each of them for the flourishing of society and its members.

Deep Reading is a pathway to creativity. 

In our technological age, the opportunities for entertainment are endless. With smartphones in pocket and streaming services on the rise, people who claim they are bored are without excuse. Whether we are waiting in line at the grocery store or have an evening to ourselves, never fear, the harvest of Silicon Valley is plentiful.

But what if humans were created for more than entertainment? What if we are actually designed, not to consume, but create? While theologians continue to debate the doctrine of imago dei, certainly one implication is that human beings have the capacity to make new things. God has endowed humans in his likeness with the rational, moral, and social capacities to order, build, program, grow, and build, creating new instances of beauty and order within his creation. 

In My Tech-Wise Life (BakerBooks, 2020), Amy Crouch, the daughter of author Andy Crouch, offers her thoughts growing up in a tech-wise family. As she reflects on boredom and entertainment, Crouch proposes that the cure for boredom is not distraction, but wonder (145). However, in order to experience wonder, we need to be undistracted. We need to experience boredom. It is only when our minds are given the freedom to not be inundated by external forces that it has the time to ponder for itself. This pondering leads to ideas, which in turn generate wonder and discovery.

Reading helps facilitate this process of wonder. Unlike screens, which captivate one’s attention from beginning to end, reading is an activity in which the reader remains in the driver’s seat. The reader can slow down at times to re-read a passage or give an idea more thought. She can pause to consider whether what she is reading is true. These moments of reflection allow the mind to wander and ponder, entering a flow of thinking and creativity. And lest we think that reading enhances creativity only in the humanities, this doctoral student in immunology at the University of Chicago would beg to differ. 

Deep Reading preserves a free and moral society. 

Behind the excitement about practical disciplines like business and engineering lies a dangerous assumption: contemporary society’s reading ability is “good enough.” We can move beyond the fundamentals of reading and writing because we have mastered them. After all, we live in a country where practically everyone goes to school and graduates “adequately” literate. But is adequacy the proper goal for a skill as foundational as reading?

Recently I have taken a deep dive into the writings of Wendell Berry and came upon an essay he wrote in 1970 entitled “In Defense of Literacy.” In this piece, Berry argues that the submission of literature to the practical is a perversion. He offers two reasons for this. First, the term “practical” is often synonymous with “immediate.” Once a thing falls out of short-term use, it loses its place in the world. This myopic thinking about time and place sacrifices long-term flourishing for short-term benefits.

Second, language preserves ourselves and our values. In a literate society, language is used both for good and for ill, but especially ill. Public discourse is premeditated and designed to achieve a proper objective. The surest way to confront language used for nefarious or deceptive ends is with language shaped by truth and goodness. Hence, Dorothy Sayers clarion call for the recovery of the liberal arts and the lost tools of learning. 

Towards the end of his essay, Berry clarifies that “a better language” grounded in morality will be discovered across the span of history, not “just the environment of prepared language in which most of us now pass most of our lives.” In other words, Berry recommends we read old books. For, as we read books outside the transience of the present, we develop “a more accurate judgment of ourselves, and the possibilities of correction and renewal.”

Deep Reading prepares future leaders. 

Parents and educators alike want their children and students to be leaders, not followers. This is a laudable aspiration. And while the term “preparing leaders” is a buzzword that is often overused and underrealized, the solution is not to abdicate from this goal, but to gain clarity on its true meaning. What do we mean by leadership? What are the traits of a godly leader? How can we prepare students to remain faithful to biblical principles of leadership, especially as headlines of fallen Christian leaders continue to break?

Interestingly, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a leader of leaders in the latter half of the 19th century, heralded literacy as the pathway to freedom for African-American slaves. He understood that the ability to read and write empowered him to speak truth to power. Douglass would spend his life championing the cause of abolition as well as education for African-Americans during the Reconstruction Era. (For more information on Douglass and the liberal arts I recommend this brief article over at Circe institute.)

What is it about deep reading that prepares future leaders?

First, deep reading helps a young leader develop a thought life of her own. Leadership is rooted in the conviction to fulfill a vision for what the world could be, but is not at present. In order for these sort of visionary ideas to emerge, the mind must be fed with big ideas in the first place. But not only must the mind be fed, it needs to take part in this feast. In other words, young leaders need to spend time in thought about God, the world He created, and their unique place in it. While there are certainly plenty of successful leaders out there who have not developed a rich diet of deep reading, I would contend that those who do tend to be wiser, humbler, and more inclined to, in the end, finish the race.

Second, deep reading grants a developing leader glimpses of experiences they do not possess themselves. The greatest liability of a young leader full of potential is his lack of experience. He may have the academic qualifications, and even a couple notches on his belt, but he lacks that which a seasoned leader has in spades: lessons learned over decades of experience. While deep reading cannot replace these lessons, the voracious reader can make up for years, or lost years, by putting his head down in good books that illustrate key leadership principles. Learning these principles, and putting them into application on a daily basis, can put developing leaders on a fast track of wise and prudent leadership.

Conclusion

The art of reading, though not completely abandoned by society, needs a renaissance in education for the next generation. Deep reading, in particular, has the potential to shape young men and women to be more creative, committed to traditional morality, and capable of wise leadership.

Carl F.H. Henry, an American evangelical thought leader in the 20th century, once wrote,

Evangelical education stands on the brink of a pagan era in which men of faith can once more register a singular witness for God, and for objective truth and the name of Jesus Christ, and for man and freedom under God. God does not draft reluctant warriors for this larger conflict; they enlist as volunteers if they really count. And this is the hour for such volunteers. Tomorrow may be too late.

The God Who Shows Himself (Word Books, 1966), p. 119

Henry wrote these words over fifty years ago. Some would argue that the pagan era he predicted has arrived. If so, may his call for men (and women) of faith come to pass as well. If you are wondering what you can do to volunteer for the great cause of bearing witness to the name of Christ, perhaps a first step is to take some time to read a good book and let it do its work on you.

Enjoy this article? Check out Jason’s earlier article on the same topic: The Importance of Deep Reading in Education.

The post On Deep Reading appeared first on .

In today’s blog, I will make a different argument in support of classical education. Rather than arguing for its practical benefits, I will make the case for something even more important: it is an education in truth. Why send your children to a classical school? Because they will be taught to seek and contemplate what is objectively true. They will gain knowledge of the real world, whether it is practical or not, because one of the surest antidotes to the cacophony of confusion today is to realign ourselves with something as old as the universe itself: the Truth.

A Culture of Dissent

Our dissenting culture is surprised, at best, and angered, at worst, by this talk of objective truth. Skeptics retort, “Given everything we know about all the different religions and cultures in the world, how can you be so arrogant to believe that any one religion or morality is true and not merely useful, culturally constructed fiction?”.¹ As Christian educators, it is our responsibility to respond to this question, not with timid capitulation, but with confident assurance.

If the project of modernism was overly optimistic about human reason’s ability to access truth, postmodernism has fallen off the other side of the horse. Objective truth, we are told, if it exists at all, is out of reach and, frankly not worth the hassle. Enough blood has been shed and wars fought over misplaced forms of righteousness crusading for “the truth.”

Amidst this milieu, students growing up in western countries today need to be reassured that truth exists and the pursuit is worth it. Christ himself declared to be the the way, truth, and the life. Our students need an injection of confidence that our Creator God wove into the very fabric of the universe a sense of order and proper function. The pursuit of wisdom, which is ultimately a journey toward truth, can be understood as an education in how the universe works.

[Read more about the craft of teaching and orienting students toward truth by downloading my free eBook.]

Convenience Over Truth

Unfortunately, research is showing that even amongst Christians, we often choose convenience over truth if given the option. In a recent blog post, author Trevin Wax explores this idea as he interacts with current sociological research on Christian parenting. The research, conducted by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk, suggests that many parents raise their children to be religious, not because it is true, but because it is useful. Their primary objective in religious instruction, whether they would admit it or not, is to help their children thrive socially and morally. The upshot is that parents and children inadvertently conceptualize of religion as yet an additional way to practice self-expression rather than a devout exercise in aligning oneself with what is true.

Trevin Wax offers a helpful insight for the problem of this way of thinking:

Not surprisingly, once religion is no longer connected to transcendent truths about the world and is judged primarily by its helpfulness, other priorities easily eclipse religious devotion. Sports, homework, preserving family peace and unity—these activities often take precedent when they come into conflict with religious adherence, even for religious parents in stricter traditions (28). Religion is a useful tool in the life you design for yourself. It can be discarded or relegated to a lower priority once it no longer fulfills or actually detracts from that purpose.

This is a disturbingly accurate observation of common life, especially in suburbia. When we exchange the truth of religion for its usefulness, it becomes yet another item on the menu for us to select or decline based on our present appetite. In order for our students to view their Christian faith and their education, in general, as something other than a menu item, they need to be taught the importance of truth. Their religion, their politics, their interactions with others, their hobbies–all of it stands in relation with truth.

The farther removed from truth we become, the more susceptible we become to falsehoods. As historian Felip Fernandez-Armesto puts it,

Once truth has been devoured, people swallow falsehoods whole. Without confidence in the concept of truth, listeners are disarmed against lies.

Our students need mentoring and training in order to resist the temptation to view the pursuit of knowledge as a mere exercise in utility. They must learn to the love truth and treasure it for all it is worth.

A Statue in the Name of Pluralism

While our contemporary culture may be unique in its dissent for objective truth, it is not the first culture to contest biblical truth. In a recent blog, I observed that in the Book of Daniel, Daniel and his friends received what we might call a Babylonian classical education. They were fed a rich diet of Babylonian literature, the very best mythological potluck the ancient world could offer at the time. The purpose was to enculturate and indoctrinate the young Jewish nobles into the Babylonian way of thinking and living.² 

After resisting the lure to break with their Jewish dietary customs, a few chapters later, the young Jewish men were put to the test again. The king erected a statue in the city for all inhabitants to worship. Interestingly, the biblical text does not give the name or description of the statue. While in the ancient world, it very well could have been a depiction of the king or of a god, the text does not specify. In fact, it does not have to. The point the author seeks to make for his Jewish audience is that the Babylonian statue stands in opposition to everything monotheistic Jews stood for: the sovereignty of Yahweh, the exclusivity of God’s people, and the truth of Torah. It was a statue in honor of the supremacy of the transnational and transreligious Babylonian empire over and against the kingdoms, cultures, and religions it had conquered.

For the purposes of this blog article, we can say that the statue becomes a test in truth. The edict did not require Daniel and his friends to abandon their faith wholesale or to recant a core doctrine. Rather, the edict was an exercise in pluralism. They were permitted to keep “their truth” so long as they yielded to the truth of Babylon. 2,500 years before the religious pluralism we experience today, we can see that God’s people were already being tested to stand up for the truth.

Three Types of Theories About Truth

With all this talk of truth and its importance, it is paramount to take time to consider what we mean by the term. While I will ultimately endorse what is known as the classical correspondence theory of truth, considering alternative theories will strengthen our own understanding.

Philosophers typically differentiate between three types of theories about truth.³ The first type of theory is metaphysical. These theories hold that truth is a property of a proposition. Propositions are rendered true or false depending on their relationship with facts about the world. Truth, in this sense, is the relationship between a proposition and the way the world works, that is, whether it corresponds with reality. On this account, the proposition “the tree is a maple” is true if and only if the tree is, in fact, a maple. 

There are also epistemic theories about truth. Like metaphysical theories, these theories conceive of truth as a property of a proposition, but the focus differs. Instead of focusing on a proposition’s relationship with reality, epistemic theories focus on a proposition’s warranted assertability. That is, a proposition is true on the basis of one’s reasons, or justification, for believing it to be true. On this account, the proposition “it will rain tomorrow” is true if only true if one has it on good evidence that it will rain tomorrow.

Finally, there are deflationary theories about truth. These theories deny that truth is a property of propositions at all. Instead, these theories hold that assertions about truth are either redundant or mere affirmations of a proposition’s usefulness. Thus, truth is determined by what we want to achieve with the proposition. On this account, the proposition “gravity is an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other” is true insofar as it is useful in say, predicting the behavior of the motion of objects with mass.

Correspondence Theory vs. Relativism

While the length of this blog article prevents me from a full philosophical evaluation of the three theories, I will put forward what I believe to be the theory that is most compatible with a Christian worldview: the correspondence theory of truth. This theory is of the metaphysical type, that is, it offers a definition of truth as a property of a proposition. It holds that a proposition bears the property of truth insofar as it corresponds to reality. To put it differently, a proposition is true if, what it asserts to be the case, is the case.

In contrast to the correspondence theory, a common way to think about truth today is that it is relative. That is, a proposition’s truth value is not assigned by its correspondence with reality, but by whether it is believed for the right reasons. In contemporary culture, “the right reasons” most typically promote the free expression of the individual self. This way of thinking about truth is what allows people to make claims like “my truth,” “your truth,” and “what is true for you may not be true for me.”

Needless to say, a Christian worldview leaves no room for a relative view about truth. Either God created the world or He didn’t. Either Christ is Lord or He isn’t. And less significantly, either I am correct that it is Friday evening or I am not. The litmus test for determining the truth value of a proposition is not how sincerely I believe it, but whether my belief corresponds with the reality God created.

A Compass Pointing Truthward

This past week I led an extended discussion with high school students on the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. We contemplated the question for almost two hours, debating various points and embarking on too many tangents we foolishly believed would aid the discussion in some miraculous way.

At one point in the discussion, students began to debate whether the eventual answer would only be a matter of perspective. If secularists believe one thing, and Christians another, can we really say that one perspective is right and the other is wrong? While older generations may grimace at this question, I must report that these are the questions Gen Z young men and women are really dealing with. They are bombarded with messages from popular culture that seek to deconstruct the idea that there is objective truth. They are encouraged to embrace the idea of differing and equally valid perspectives.

While respecting varying perspectives is important for charitable dialogue, we must remember that truth does exist. There is a right answer and presumably many wrong ones. We need to encourage students that truth is out there and that it is knowable. My humble conclusion: students need guidance in thinking about truth and I hope this blog article can serve a first step for educators to begin this important work.

Endnotes

1. Garrett J. DeWeese and J.P. Moreland. Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult: A Beginner’s Guide to Life’s Big Questions. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2005. 9.
2. Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard. “Daniel” in An Introduction to the Old Testament. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006.
3. DeWeese and Moreland. Pp. 58-62.

The post Educating for Truth appeared first on .

With the widespread availability of public education over the last hundred years, the conventional option for some time now has been public schooling. Here the cost for admission is free and the overall education they receive is, generally speaking, adequate. However, more recently, some parents have developed concerns about this option as secular and progressive principles have increased prominently within state legislation. For example, the Illinois State Board of Education recently passed rules requiring teachers to align their lessons with “culturally responsive” standards, some of these standards pertaining to gender identity and sexual ethics. Nevertheless, the low-cost and ease of enrollment, as well as strategic opportunities for Christian witness, keep it a popular option.

A second option, which has gained momentum over the last 60 years or so, is Christian schooling. Here students receive, again, a generally speaking, adequate education, but with a Christian worldview injected into the curriculum and Christian teachers in the classroom. In recent times, a classical form of this education is growing, with its focus on the cultivation of virtue through a liberal arts curriculum. While the cost of tuition is a deterrent for some families who would prefer the option of private Christian schooling, many believe the benefits are well worth the price.

A third option on the rise, especially among Christians today, is homeschooling. In this setting, parents take it upon themselves to educate their children in a way that best aligns with their values as a family (some looking to Charlotte Mason for guidance). This option has been further augmented recently with the rise of co-ops, groups of families coming together once or twice a week to expand their family’s educational community and capacity, while preserving the foundational benefits of homeschooling. Homeschoolers have the advantage of choosing their own curriculum, many choosing the classical, Christian approach described above.

There are a number of factors present in the important decision parents must make about where to send their children for school. Economic, political, pedagogical, and theological concerns are at play as parents think through how they can best steward the gift of children they received from the Lord.

In this article, I will reflect on the relationship between education and the church, demonstrating specifically that the calling of a Christian is bound up with the calling of the church, and how Christian education can support the one for the other.

The Church as the Starting Point

It is tempting in our age of expressive individualism to begin with the individual child. But as we think about educating Christianly, we need to resist this temptation and think corporately instead. To do so, it is helpful to begin with a proper theology of Christian corporate identity.

A Christian, fundamentally, is a member of the people of God. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, she has turned away from a life of autonomous rebellion against God and toward a life of trustful obedience underneath his rule. In doing so, the Christian has died to herself in order to receive a new life in Christ. This process occurs through faith in the sufficiency of the death of Christ and the power of his resurrection.

When someone becomes a Christian, it marks the end of one identity and the beginning of another. The convert is now a member of a new community, the people of God. This community, first made manifest as the people of Israel, took new form with the followers of Jesus. This band of disciples evolved into the church, a transnational community committed to the teachings of Christ and the supremacy of his kingdom over the kingdom of darkness.

God’s intention is for the church, led by the Holy Spirit, to serve as his agent of renewal. It is not primarily a group of social moralists on the one hand or spiritual isolationists on the other. When the very first humans rebelled, all of creation was thrown off track into a dark shadow. Indeed, Paul reminds us that all creation groans with longing for creation to be reconciled with its Creator. The calling of the church, therefore, is to act as this reconciling agent, serving as microcosms of Christ’s kingdom in its various locales across the globe. 

The Calling of the Church

In an article entitled “A Return to Basic Christian Education,”published back in 1978, Nicholas Wolterstorff, a reformed philosopher who first got his start at Calvin College, discusses three dimensions of the calling of the people of God (Educating for Life, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002).

First of all, thinks Wolterstorff, Christians are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. Simply put, they are to put verbal expression to the inward reality that has become part of them. This good news of redemption through Christ is to be proclaimed for all people everywhere.

Second, Christians are to act in loving service to all people, regardless of social status, ethnicity, or background. They are to work for shalom, the ancient Hebrew, multidimensional concept referring to peaceful, harmonious, and joy-filled community. In order for shalom to be established, the church must specifically work toward the lifting up of society’s downtrodden, for in God’s kingdom there is no want or need.

Finally, Christians are to bear fruit, leading their lives with wisdom and in ways that give testament to the new life found in Jesus Christ. Here Wolterstorff envisions Christians living in such a manner that their lives serve as signposts of the coming kingdom. As they work for shalom, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and serving as contributing members of Christ’s covenantal community, the world witnesses the firstfruits of the coming harvest.

These three dimensions, according to Wolterstorff, sum up the biblical vision of the church. He writes,

The church is the band of Christ’s followers. She is an alien presence within every nation and is called and committed to be God’s agent for the coming of God’s kingdom and for the institution of shalom. The church is, and is called to be, the revolutionary vanguard in society serving the cause of ushering in a new order…it is in this new community that Christians find their fundamental identity (52).

If Wolterstorff is right about the threefold calling of the church, then Christian parents ought to intentionally reflect on how the children they are raising are being prepared to fulfill such a calling. Here is where education comes in. Education serves as the transformative link between the calling of the individual and the calling of the church as it prepares young men and women to serve as God’s agents of renewal.

We must now consider how education can begin to prepare young people to live into the calling of the people of God.

Equipped to Proclaim 

Students don’t become proclaimers by accident. A proclaimer is a herald, someone who prophetically communicates great truth amidst challenging circumstances. In order to proclaim, a person must be confident, knowledgeable, and winsome. Ideally, she is trained in a school of rhetoric, experiencing full immersion into the craft of persuasive communication.

This is one reason, among many, why Christian schools should consider a classical curriculum. In the classical tradition, students were trained in the liberal art of rhetoric. This art fuses together the very best of concept and skill in order to produce strong rhetoricians, or agents of persuasion. 

In Fool’s Talk (IVP, 2015), author Os Guinness argues that Christians have all but lost the art of Christian persuasion. In order to address the issues of the hour, Christians need to focus on not merely winning arguments, but winning people (18). In the introduction to his book, Guinness lobs out a grenade of a question:

How can we speak for our Lord in a manner that does justice to the wonder of who God is, to the profundity of the good news he has entrusted to us, to the wily stubbornness of the human heart and mind, as well as to the wide-ranging challenges of today’s world and the mind-boggling prospects of tomorrow’s? (19)

The answer is through education. If Christians are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, including the doorway to the kingdom through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, they must be taught how to do so with “wisdom and eloquence,” as Augustine put it. Unfortunately, in our modern educational landscape, the liberal art of rhetoric has been all but eliminated from the curriculum. Students aren’t trained in the means of persuasion, despite how crucial this skill is for everyday life.

Christian educators serve the people of God when they prepare their students to proclaim the gospel. Without proclamation, the good news is drowned out by bad news, or worse, plastic surrogates of the real thing.

Eager to Serve

It is not enough to proclaim the good news, however, to fulfill the calling of the church. As the apostle James reminds us, words must be accompanied by deeds. Christians must be prepared to get their hands dirty in the concrete matters of the world. They must descend the spiraling staircase of the ivory tower and meet their neighbor where he is. Our example is none other than Jesus himself: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV).

The reality is that our world is full of people subject to great need and chronic suffering. Social issues of our day include human trafficking, child starvation, broken homes, abortion, racism, substance abuse, and more. Each of this issues affects real people in real places on an everyday basis. Sadly, American culture today has become polarized over divisive concepts that have resulted in a paralysis of service. On the one hand, Christians who focus too much on social issues may be accused of being “social justice warriors” or imbibers of critical race theory. On the other hand, churches who focus exclusively on evangelism may be guilty of turning a blind eye to the earthly dimension of Christ’s ministry.

The truth is that sometimes we make things too complicated. In this case, scripture clearly calls the people of God to lift up the oppressed, to serve them with compassion and self-sacrifice. Raising Christians who care for the oppressed requires hearts of service. And hearts are formed by habits. Christian educators need to view a substantial part of their work as cultivating habits in their students of humility, service, and compassion. They need to make time in the school day to intentionally serve others, which can include their fellow classmates and members in the community.

Through the development of the habit of service in the classroom, educators equip the people of God, training a generation of Christians eager to serve others in the name of Christ.

Cultivated to Bear Fruit

“Veritas Pro Vita.” Truth for Life. This is the motto of the school where I work. The church is called to proclaim the gospel, serve those in need, and finally, to lead lives worthy of the hope that they have in Christ. How said is it when tragedy strikes the church, such as when a renown leader of the faith falls into disgrace. It not only discourages those inside the church, it further pushes away those outside. The third dimension of the calling of the church, as Wolterstorff sees it, is often overlooked. It is to lead lives in such a way that an unbelieving world cannot help but be intrigued and attracted. The church is to be a community of shalom, a harmonious existence of peaceful completeness.

A well-lived life doesn’t come by accident. It is the result of the tireless pursuit of wisdom. It entails dedicated cultivation of virtue and practice of the fruit of the Spirit. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” Paul urges the Philippians, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12 ESV).

So often in education today we separate the mind from the heart. We focus on inflating heads, meanwhile hearts and hands are left wanting. Authentic Christian education refuses to choose one at the expense of the others. It is a lie from the pit of hell to suggest that one can be educated without spiritual and moral formation. As Lewis warns us, and Plato before him, education’s ultimate aim is the training of the person to behold all that is good, true, and beautiful, and gain mastery over one’s carnal appetites.

Educators serve the people of God when they view young people holistically as persons of head, heart, and hands. They expose them to a wide variety of subjects and ideas, widening the world in which they live, and cultivating within them a desire for wisdom. They prepare their students for not merely an approach to learning, but a style for life.

Conclusion

To educate Christians, we must reimagine what education is and who it is for. For Christians, education is a project by and for the Christian community. It exists to support and promote the calling of the people of God through educating its individual members. This includes a way of a thinking as well as a way of living. As Christian parents navigate the difficult decision whether to public school, Christian school, or home-school, they need to keep this vision for the calling of the church in mind. This calling has implications for how they raise their children, the youngest members of the people of God.

In his divine wisdom, God has ordained the church to serve as his agents of reconciliation in a world under shadow. May Christian educators take seriously their role in equipping the next generation to better proclaim the gospel, serve the downtrodden, and bear testimonial fruit to the kingdom Christ inaugurated and will one day return to consummate.

The post Christian Education and the Calling of the Church appeared first on .

We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle

What do you find yourself repeatedly doing? In this digital world, it is easy to immerse ourselves in the repetition of scrolling through social media or clicking out words on a device in the hope of inspiring minds and garnering followers. Yet, the digital world falls short of satisfying our deepest longings for meaning and purpose. The best moments in life are not found on a screen, but in deep, meaningful relationships and the creation of beautiful and useful things.

So, find ways to repeatedly, purposefully foster the habits of relating and creating. 

Though there is much to say on the subject of fostering healthy relationships, this article will focus on the habit of handwork. However, handwork need not be solitary. The art of creating alongside others brings a sense of community and comfort. Help your children foster sweet memories, giggling beneath blanketed forts or coloring comfortably together at the kitchen table. Develop bonds with your friends and family by asking them to join you in your creative endeavors.

As you work, ask yourself, “Who should join me?” Then, invite them. Teach them. Be together as you create and work with your hands. 

Handwork as a Habit Leading to Wonder

Aristotle said that, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” Because young children are like “tender reeds, ready to grow and easy to train,” the habit of working diligently with one’s hands ought to be taught to children as young as four years old.

Young children readily engage in tactile tasks such as building, painting, drawing and cutting paper. Turn their willing hands to tasks that require repetition and precision to create strong habits of attention and perseverance. This habit of attention will in turn create a sense of wonder as children discover the world around them. 

Wisdom begins in wonder.

Socrates

Wonder is foundational to capturing a child’s attention. So begin with something that fills them with awe and awakens their desire to “make it too!” For example, a father using hammer and nail is likely to be interrupted by a child eager to practice what dad is doing. Soon father and child are happily hammering alongside one another.

The child’s wonder leads to wisdom as the skill of hammering in a nail requires a steady hand and focused attention. 

From Wonder to Wisdom by Hand

Whether you are teaching woodworking or finger-knitting, log-splitting or sewing, the same path from wonder to wisdom is travelled. All these skills require repetition in order to achieve excellence.

Mistakes will happen. Problems will need to be resolved. Children who face these challenges develop grit and become stronger emotionally. Just listen for the happy little voice shouting, “I did it!” and you will be thankful you started the journey of handwork together. 

A child who is busy with their hands is also busy with higher level thinking such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Analysis comes in the form of “what if” questions such as, “What if I use a different thickness of string in knitting, will my project look different?” Synthesis is when a child can defend their choices and discuss why they used a smaller nail for this project vs the larger one. In evaluation a child can construct and deconstruct their design and even change their opinion regarding the materials used, based on their experience.

Simple tasks, with little challenge may bring a quick smile, but immersing your child in a long-term project that requires deep thought will reap the rewards of confidence and character. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11 encourages us

“to aspire to live quietly, and to mind [our] own affairs, and to work with [our] hands.” 

So, turn off the technology and find some work for your hands to do. Lead yourself and your child into something creative and you may discover your side-by-side work evokes a calm, satisfying, joy-filled atmosphere that leads to habits of excellence.

About the Author

As a Classical Christian Educator, Joleen has had the joy of leading her young students to joyfully discover handwork that has a purpose.

As the director of Camping Stick Kids, Joleen enjoys writing, developing and marketing materials that will enable CSK to share the Gospel one camper at a time.

Download her free eBook Handwork with a Purpose!

The post Handwork: Fostering Excellence Through the Habit of Creating appeared first on .

But will they? How will families adapt in such a crisis? And how will they ensure their children’s learning continues while at home, far removed from the influence of their teachers?

The Stoics, a philosophical school originating in ancient Greece, gained a place in the annals of history for their fierce resilience in moments like these. Stemming from their determinist outlook on life and commitment to holding personal affection at arms-length, they refused to let the storms of this world throw them off-kilter. Rather than viewing obstacles to their plans as indestructible barriers, they instead saw them as signposts pointing toward a new way forward. As the great Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, wrote:

“The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way” (Meditations, Book 5.20).

As inspiring as this response may be, most readers of this blog are not Stoics. But many of them are Christians. And like Stoicism, Christianity contains the conceptual apparatus to receive life’s curve balls, even crises, with peace and mental fortitude. What is more, Christians can continue to live their daily lives amidst challenging circumstances with faith (a virtue the Stoics do not share), as they trust in God’s faithfulness and sovereign will over all situations.

With this quiet but stable confidence in God Almighty, Christians need to remain focused on the present calling on each of our lives, which for parents at this time, includes the oversight of the education of their children. Whether a parent of public, private, or home school education, this article will offer both vision and encouragement for what this period of education can look like at home.

The Call of Parenting

While it may be difficult, parents should embrace the reality that supporting the continuation of their children’s learning while at home during this period is a great calling and opportunity. This calling is found in scripture, for example, when the apostle Paul instructs fathers in the Ephesian church to bring up their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4 ESV). Discipline, or training, requires dedicated effort and intentionality on the part of both parent and child. It does not come by accident. And effective instruction, the meeting of minds around wisdom and knowledge, requires the instructor “to know that which he would teach,” as educator John Milton Gregory put it in The Seven Laws of Teaching (26). Most importantly, the discipline and instruction Paul refers to is to be “of the Lord,” that is, God-centered and in line with scripture.

In Parenting: The 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family, Paul David Tripp provides some clarity for what God-centered parenting looks like in contrast to human-centered parenting. In particular, he identifies two contrasting parenting mindsets: ownership parenting and ambassadorial parenting.

Ownership parenting begins with the premise: “These children belong to me, so I can parent them in the way I see fit” (13). As Tripp observes, this tends to be the perspective most modern parents fall into. It is motivated by what parents want for their children and from their children. It is fundamentally rooted in a subtle form of selfishness. As a result, this approach tends to distort how parents think about self-identity, work, success, and reputation. Too easily, they begin to locate their self-identity and inner-sense of well-being in their children. They view their work as harnessing the power to turn their children into something, be it their own image or the image of someone else.  

Over time, their view of parenting success morphs into whatever the world deems as success. Popular options include academic achievement, athletic accomplishment, musical ability, or social likeability. Ultimately, this mindset leads parents to fuse their reputations to the “final product” of their parenting: their children become trophies. Needless to say, ownership parenting is not God-centered, biblical parenting and it will ultimately lead to frustration, disappointment, and inevitably, a relational fracturing between parent and child.

Tripp contrasts this human-centered approach of ownership parenting with the God-centered approach of ambassadorial parenting. In international relations, the purpose of an ambassador is to represent the message, methods, and character of the one who sent him (14). In the case of parenting, God has given parents the mission of disciplining and instructing his children. Tripp summarizes it well:

“Parenting is ambassadorial work from beginning to end. It is not to be shaped and directed by personal interest, personal need, or cultural perspectives. Every parent everywhere is called to recognize that they have been put on earth at a particular time and in a particular location to do one thing in the lives of their children. What is that one thing? God’s will. Here’s what it means at a street level: parenting is not first about what we want for our children or from our children, but about what God in grace has planned to do through us in our children” (15).

Parents who adopt the ambassadorial mindset of parenting can rest in the fact that they are not autonomous but instead report to a higher authority. They are therefore not obligated to create, develop, and execute a self-proposed plan for their children, but instead need simply to follow the marching orders of God as presented in scripture. I use the word “simply,” but don’t mistake simplicity with ease. Biblical parenting is far from easy. It requires rigorous training, instruction, and the pursuit of godliness.

But when parents can reach a place in which the leadership of their homes ultimately is dependent on and rooted in the grace of God, incredibly blessing is the result. It allows parents to support their children in all sorts of worthwhile pursuits and cultivation of skills, including music, sport, art, and crafts such as carpentry, from a posture of confidence in God rather than a spirit of anxiousness.

Now that I have laid out the calling for God-centered parenting, let me know turn to the topic of education, which is particularly relevant at this time when so many parents are unexpectedly finding themselves responsible for continuing their children’s education at home.

Rather than offering parents guidance on how to educate (see other articles on our website), I want to instead offer some motivation for why education continues to be so important in the modern world. It therefore is not a responsibility parents should take lightly, but instead should seize as an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of their children.

Educating for the 21st Century

In Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm of Classical Learning, authors Robert LittleJohn and Charles T. Evans remind their readers how much is at stake in equipping students to face the unique challenges they will encounter in the 21^st century (see Patrick’s Review). In particular, Littlejohn and Evans identify three major developments in the world today that engender the need for both an enriching and strategic education. They aren’t referring to developments that have merely emerged in the last few weeks, but rather, in the last several decades. These developments are important for parents to be aware of as they begin to temporarily step into the role as home educators.

The first development is an economic one. While there will always be a need for men and women to work particular trades, the majority of the workforce today can be characterized as “knowledge workers,” a term coined by management expert Peter Drucker. This sort of work calls for highly creative and adaptable individuals who are able to pick up new skills quickly and teach themselves new concepts without much guidance (11). These individuals need to be able to think on their feet and outside the box, and not be intimidated by a field of knowledge they have not yet studied. Moreover, with the unprecedented rise in technological advancement, the economy calls for not a small minority of these men and women to be fluent in the languages of math and science, computer programming and engineering (12). In other words, the need for sharp minds and piercing intellects is arguably greater than ever.

The second development in the world today which requires a unique education to face it pertains to morality. The explosion of economic progress in the West has brought with it a host of corporate scandals fueled by unrestrained greed and shameless deception (12). At the same time, traditional assumptions regarding marriage, sexual ethics and gender identity have been called into question. Over the last century, the western world has undergone various iterations of secularization, leaving its constituents to figure out for themselves which moral compass, if any, they will choose to follow. If the sociologists are right, then Gen Z, the generation of students born between 1997 and 2012, truly is the first post-Christian generation.

The third development LittleJohn and Evans identify as significant for educators to consider today is the broad philosophical movement from modernism to postmodernism. In modernism, particularly with the dawn of the Enlightenment, truth was assumed to be objective and knowable. While there was certainly debate over the most reliable source of truth (science, history, economics, psychology, or religion), it was hardly called into question whether objective truth was out there and accessible. In the present moment, however, what some cultural analysts have called postmodernism, it is no longer generally assumed that objective truth exists, much less whether it is knowable. The intellectual hubris of modernism has been replaced with an unexpected humility, though it is a humility rooted in an apathetic, insidious relativism: “You believe your truth and I’ll believe mine.”

In light of these three developments, parents need to be strategic regarding the education they choose, and in some cases provide, for their children. In particular, Christian parents who desire to equip their children to be culture makers, and not simply cultural critics, need to take seriously what tools are needed to face the unique challenges this third millennium poses. As ambassadors of God, heavenly envoys called to represent and embody his mission, parents have a real opportunity to shape the lives of their children in a God-centered direction. This opportunity begins, first and foremost, in the home.

Life Together at Home

So far in this blog, I laid out a vision for parenting from a biblical perspective and planted some seeds for thinking about the sort of education parents should seek for their children in the 21st century. Of course, for us at Educational Renaissance, this education is going to be Christian, classical education. Now I would like to close by offering a practical place for parents to start: the cultivation of Christian community in the home.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian-turned-spy during the Nazi regime, actually wrote a short treatise on the significance and contours of Christian community, called Life Together. Reflecting on his own experience in Finkenwalde, the seminary Bonhoeffer led amidst opposition to Hitler, Bonhoeffer reminds us that Christian community should never be taken for granted or perceived as human-earned. Bonhoeffer explains:

“It is easily forgotten that the community of Christians is a gift of grace from the kingdom of God, a gift that can be taken from any of us any day…. Therefore, let those who until now have had the privilege of living a Christian life together with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of their hearts. Let them thank God on their knees and realize: it is grace, nothing but grace, that we are still permitted to live in the community of Christians today.” (30)

Bonhoeffer penned these words after Finkenwalde had been finally shut down by Nazi occupation. He had experienced authentic, life-giving Christian community and now understood what it is like to live on the other side of it. Parents likewise should not take this opportunity to shape Christian community in their home for granted. While it will be difficult, no doubt, especially during this period of home isolation, it remains a channel of blessing, a vehicle through which parents and children alike can experience the goodness of God. In fact, one example of Christian community Bonhoeffer has in mind as he writes this is family life. He explains that God gives various measures of the gift of visible community and that one example is “…the privilege of living a Christian life in the community of their families” (30). 

So what does Christianity community look like for Bonhoeffer?

It is a community centered around Jesus Christ in which the Word of God rules. It is characterized by service and agape love rather than self-centered ambition. The sort of service he has in mind is simple and humble, rather than occurring in a searching, calculated fashion (38). It entails mutual submission to one another rather than the pursuit of subjugation over others. 

Ultimately, of course, it is a community of grace that is received, not earned, through Jesus Christ. As Bonhoeffer puts it,

“Christian community is not an ideal we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our community is in Jesus Christ alone, the more calmly we will learn to think about our community and pray and hope for it.” (38)

Of course, we must not conclude that, because community, like other elements of grace, is an unmerited gift from God, there is no injunction or personal responsibility on our part to cultivate it. The apostle Paul, who adamantly teaches that salvation is a free gift from God simultaneously enjoins the Philippian church “…to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12 ESV). It is the responsibility of each parent to lead their home into this community of grace and instruct their children how to live life together. We should not expect this to be easy. There will be conflict, acts of unkindness, and moments of selfishness that surface from time to time, every day even. But amidst these challenges, there will also be moments of forgiveness, love, joy, peace, patience, and all the fruits of the Spirit.

My prayer for families during this extended period of home isolation is that they would grow closer together as they learn to love, serve, and teach one. For parents who now find themselves in the surprising role as home educator, remember, you are first and foremost an ambassador, called by God and equipped to complete his mission. So do your best, train your children in good habits, teach them living books through the practice of narration, and leave the results to God.

The post Cultivating a Community: Wisdom for Parents Educating at Home Amidst the Present Crisis appeared first on .

In particular, we referenced the British educator Charlotte Mason, as she discussed “the gradual fortifying of the will which many a schoolboy undergoes” in her chapter called “The Way of the Will” from vol. 6 Towards a Philosophy of Education.

In this post we’ll continue to engage Mason’s chapter, but, as we’ll see, the results of research on self-control and willpower from neuroscience and psychology give us more reason than ever to focus on developing self-control in our schools. The science also confirms a couple tactics for strengthening willpower advocated by traditional educators like Mason.

The Benefits of Self-control

As Christians we may be inclined to think of self-control as only a spiritual grace, and it certainly is that. It’s listed as the final virtue in the fruit of the Spirit, after all. But like many Christian virtues, there’s a common grace manifestation of it that is extremely beneficial even from a secular perspective. This is what we should expect, since we know that God set up the order of reality in such a way that acting or living in accordance with certain virtues would, in general, bring blessing. The book of Proverbs is littered with examples to this effect.

In the famous Marshmallow study from the 1970s, a Stanford University psychologist invited 4-year-olds into a room cleared of distractions one at a time (see Daniel Goleman’s Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, 78-79). They were told that that they could have one marshmallow now, or if they waited for the experimenter to return from an ‘errand’, they could have a second marshmallow as well. As we might predict, some of these 4-year-olds decided to skip the offer and immediately popped the single marshmallow into their mouths. About 2/3, however, tried to wait out the grueling 15 minutes sitting alone in an empty room with no books or toys to distract themselves. Another third caved part way through the time, but a final third made it through and received the reward. As we might expect, “the ones who resisted the lure of the sweet had higher scores on measures of executive control, particularly the reallocation of attention” (Goleman, Focus, 79).

What’s surprising and fascinating was that these same children were tracked afterward for measures of success in life (their health, wealth, avoidance of criminal behavior, etc.), and their self-control was found to be a key predictor of positive life outcomes. This study has been confirmed numerous times by other studies including one in New Zealand. As Goleman summarizes:

“The big shock: statistical analysis found that a child’s level of self-control is every bit as powerful a predictor of her adult financial success and health (and criminal record, for that matter) as are social class, wealth of family of origin, or IQ. Willpower emerged as a completely independent force in life success—in fact, for financial success, self-control in childhood proved a stronger predictor than either IQ or social class of the family of origin.” (81)

It’s important to concede that self-control isn’t everything; social class, wealth and IQ play a role in a person’s worldly success… but not the overwhelmingly determinative role that ideologues and fatalists tend to imply. Intelligence, wealth and upbringing are important, but self-control and willpower enable most children to overcome various challenges through focusing on achievable goals and working on improving their situation and abilities. This is why a growth-mindset is so important and can fuel efforts of self-control. After all, if you don’t think you can improve and grow, you aren’t likely to engage in the hard effort to deny yourself immediate pleasure or recreation for the sake of a goal.

Self-control or willpower must be exercised for many different types of goals, whether they be lofty spiritual goals like holiness and purity, or more mundane worldly goals like doing well in school, fulfilling your obligations at work, or maintaining your health. As Goleman explains,

“High self-control predicts not just better grades, but also a good emotional adjustment, better interpersonal skills, a sense of security, and adaptability.” (81)

Among psychologists self-control is one of several traits that fall under the heading of conscientiousness, which is itself a major predictor of success:

“Conscientiousness seems as powerful a boost in the long run as fancy schools, SAT tutors, and pricey educational summer camps. Don’t underestimate the value of practicing the guitar or keeping that promise to feed the guinea pig and clean its cage.” (81)

That last statement illustrates an immediate take-away for parents and educators. Sometimes we can be so focused on our students’ external development through their many activities that we fail to hold them personally accountable for faithfulness and conscientious fulfillment of their obligations. We fail to enforce rules and discipline them. The knowledge and skills they “learn” in school and extracurriculars may not in fact be nearly so important as the virtues and character traits they cultivate along the way. Instead of focusing on making sure they ‘succeed’ at these external goals, we might need to let them fail, so that they can learn the deeper lesson of the need for virtue.

Otherwise, we might be robbing them of the most valuable attainments, even from a worldly perspective. Dr. Daniel Levitin, the James McGill Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at McGill University, summarizes the value of conscientiousness, including self-control, this way:

“Conscientiousness comprises industriousness, self-control, stick-to-itiveness, and a desire for order. And it, in turn, is the best predictor of many important human outcomes, including mortality, longevity, educational attainment, and a host of criteria related to career success. Conscientiousness is associated with better recovery outcomes following surgery and transplants. Conscientiousness in early childhood is associated with positive outcomes decades later.” (Levitin, The Organized Mind xxv)

So the benefits of self-control are many, but how do we actually cultivate self-control in our students, or ourselves for that matter?

Tactics for Developing Self-control

We’ve already mentioned that simply focusing on the virtues that a certain activity could foster, rather than the knowledge or skills alone is one of the first steps to cultivating self-control. In a way, the mere habit of attending to virtues as a key outcome for our children is half the battle. The classical tradition made virtue the main goal of education and let the chips fall where they may on less important matters. Modern education is often so concerned with perfect delivery of information and incrementally graded skill development that we can tend to miss the forest for the trees. (See, for instance, “When Bloom’s Gets Ugly: Cutting the Heart out of Education”)

Often the individual coaching it would take to come alongside a student and support him or her in taking steps for developing self-control seems like the long way around. How much easier and simpler for teachers and administrators to have an impersonal and “objective” system of grades and punishments to mete out to the masses! While the administration of fair consequences is important, when it is used to avoid the need for relationships and personal coaching for improvement, it can become ineffective and even counter-productive. The shortest way to our goal (if our goal is a student’s development of self-control!) is to work personally and individually with them on practicing the tactics and acquiring the habits that enable the virtue of self-control.

So then, what are the tactics for developing self-control? Based on modern research, Charlotte Mason, ancient Greek wisdom and the Bible, I’ve come up with two main tactics: 1) draw up a battle plan, and 2) create a diversion.

Willpower Tactic #1 – Draw up a Battle Plan

In a sense the most obvious tactic for developing self-control in a particular area is to make a plan. As long as your brain is fuzzy about what is actually off-limits or what new positive habit you’re trying to establish, it’s going to be nigh impossible to exercise self-control or willpower. Psychologists call this act of clarifying what to exercise self-control about making “bright lines.” If a person is trying to lose weight, and their resolution is something vague like “eat healthier” or “eat less dessert,” they are unlikely to be successful in the moment when impulse is pushing for just one more brownie.

This is because of how self-control works in our brains. Imagine the children trying to resist the marshmallows in front of them. The executive control centers of their brain have to reallocate attention from the tempting marshmallow in front of them to the clear goal of a second one later, and from that to other matters, so that they don’t continuously focus on the possibility of popping that tempting marshmallow into their mouths. As Goleman explains,

“Executive attention holds the key to self-management. This power to direct our focus onto one thing and to ignore others lets us bring to mind our waistline when we spot those quarts of Cheesecake Brownie ice cream in the freezer. This small choice point harbors the core of willpower, the essence of self-regulation.” (77)

Drawing up a battle plan for self-control is the first and most crucial tactic for regulating ourselves, since it gives our brain clear marching orders. Bright lines enable us to know when we’ve crossed the line into indulgence.

In the synopsis of her philosophy Charlotte Mason discussed what she called “the way of the will,” and described this process as distinguishing between desire and decision or “I want” and “I will”:

“Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between ‘I want’ and ‘I will.’ (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will.”

Effective willpower involves using those executive control centers to turn our attention from our immediate desire to our predetermined battle plan.

For example, the video game or netflicks addict has to commit to a definite time period, like 30 min. or a single show a night, and then set an alarm that gives a clear signal that it is time to stop. If your executive control center is arguing in the moment with your impulsive desires, it has to work double-time, not just at refocusing your attention on your goals but also on coming up with a plan. Overstretched in this way, it is less likely to conquer your more impulsive flesh with all its rationalizations.

Drawing up a battle plan has also been called making a pre-commitment. This could be as basic as deciding when to check email during the day, so as not to be lured through your smart-phone into the time-wasting click-bait of the internet and away from the task at hand.

The classic example of a battle plan or pre-commitment is Odysseus. Having been warned beforehand of the Sirens’ song by the sorceress Circe, Odysseus was able to prepare. Odysseus makes a pre-commitment by stopping his sailors’ ears with wax, so they don’t hear the Sirens. And in order to allow himself the opportunity of hearing them without succumbing to their deadly lure, he had them tie him to the mast, thereby making it physically impossible for him to alter his prior decision. Odysseus’ battle plan worked.

Parents and teachers can help children in this tactic by recognizing an area in which they are need of willpower support. The next step is having a supportive and understanding conversation with the student about their weakness in this area. If approached tactfully, most students will recognize the need for growth and not resent your intrusion, especially if you emphasize that you are on their side and want to help and support them. At this point the conversation should turn to developing a battle plan with them; it shouldn’t be something you simply impose.

There are two reasons for this. First, the goal is to train them in these self-control tactics, so they can deliberately apply them on their own throughout life. Therefore, the more involvement they have in the process, the more they learn by experience what it is like to develop strategies for self-regulation. Second, as human beings, we’re more motivated to enforce pre-commitments that we participated in coming up with. We have to own our self-control measures for them to be most effective.

The follow-up for this sort of process is to check in with the student periodically on how the battle plan is going. For instance, if a teacher is working with a student on not impulsively talking out in class, or on getting his homework done on time, the teacher might take a moment to ask the student how the plan is working for him before or after class. A parent might designate time limits for TV or establish guidelines for homework time or practicing that instrument. Charlotte Mason calls this process habit training, and the goal should be to develop the will of the child, not over-manage her or keep her dependent on your every whim.

Willpower Tactic # 2 – Create a Diversion

Unfortunately, given the changes and chances of life we will all encounter moments when we are caught off our guard by what might be called a surprise attack. The most famous biblical example is when Potiphar’s wife catches Joseph inside when all the other servants are away. Of course, Joseph had already experienced her advances and was able to do the only thing he could in that scenario: flee!

In our lives, though, there will be circumstances when even fleeing temptation is not an option, either because of other obligations or because the sudden temptation is more internal than external. In this case, one of the best tactics is to create a diversion. Since temptation to indulgence comes through our attention, if we can successfully divert our attention to other things, the power of the temptation is removed.

Goleman discusses how parents typically use this tactic on toddlers who are still developing emotional self-regulation and have just gotten inordinately upset. We try to distract them:

“Attention regulates emotion. This little ploy of selective attention is able to quiet the agitated amygdala. So long as a toddler stays tuned to some interesting object of focus, the distress calms; the moment that thing loses its fascination, the distress, if still held on to by networks in the amygdala, comes roaring back.” (Goleman, Focus 76)

As Goleman describes neuroscience has revealed how the brain networks for “selective attention” are crucial for the development of self-control. There’s a reason why in the marshmallow test the Stanford research team removed all the toys and games from the room. Many more 4-year-olds would have likely been able to resist the lure of the marshmallow if they had a roomful of potential diversions on hand. Of course, we still have to make the decision to divert our attention from the temptation, and in order to do that, we have to recognize it as a temptation, as crossing the bright lines we’ve put in place for ourselves. That’s why I’ve addressed the battle plan first, because we need it as a foundation for making the split-second decision to create a diversion when confronted by a surprise attack.

Charlotte Mason described this next tactic that we should train students in as the idea… “that the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting.” If we have a mind stocked with “entertaining or interesting” knowledge and pursuits, this is an easy and effective strategy. She develops the idea further in her chapter on “The Way of the Will”:

“When the overstrained will asks for repose, it may not relax to yielding point but may and must seek recreation, diversion,––Latin thought has afforded us beautiful and appropriate names for that which we require. A change of physical or mental occupation is very good, but if no other change is convenient, let us think of something else, no matter how trifling. A new tie, or our next new hat, a story book we are reading, a friend we hope to see, anything does so long as we do not suggest to ourselves the thoughts we ought to think on the subject in question. The will does not want the support of arguments but the recreation of rest, change, diversion. In a surprisingly short time it is able to return to the charge and to choose this day the path of duty, however dull or tiresome, difficult or dangerous.”

In Greek mythology Odysseus wasn’t the only hero to encounter the Sirens. During their quest for the Golden Fleece, Jason and the Argonauts, including a host of the best Greek heroes, happen upon the Sirens by chance without having the benefit of preparation. Luckily for them, Orpheus is one of the heroes on board, and after some quick thinking he immediately begins playing and singing his own song louder and louder. In this way he is able to divert the heroes’ attention from the Sirens’ song enough to avoid crashing into the shoals and falling into the Sirens’ trap.

This illustrates how to respond with the power of diversion, when your pre-commitments fail, and you are surprised by the temptation in spite of your best efforts to avoid it entirely. For this to work, though, our minds have to have an Orpheus on board. We and our students have to have richly stocked imaginations full of lively interests. If instead our students are decidedly bored with anything because of living on a diet of low-effort entertainment and indulgence, they won’t have the resources to divert themselves as a means of self-control.

This fact draws attention to the importance of a rich curriculum and the importance of helping our students cultivate enough varied interests and hobbies. In this case, the best defense is a good offense. We need to support ours and our children’s creativity and healthy passions. As they say, idleness is the devil’s playground. Having something enjoyable and productive to do is a powerful preventative against developing unhealthy and addictive habits.

Educating for Self-control

Teaching our students these tactics explicitly and actively coaching them in the process will take us a long way toward educating them for self-control. As Daniel Goleman expressed memorably,

“Anything we can do to increase children’s capacity for cognitive control will help them throughout life.” (Focus 81)

However, the benefits are not just worldly success or positive life outcomes. From a Christian perspective self-control is a necessary ingredient in sanctification, or that holiness “without [which] no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14 ESV). It is important to remember that our own modeling of this virtue is as important as teaching it to our children. We can’t lose sight of Paul’s famous statements to this effect:

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor 9:27 ESV)

Preaching and teaching these things is important, but practicing them, even more so. So let’s educate ourselves for self-control first and foremost. And then as we grow in these things, sowing to the Spirit more and more, we will in time reap a harvest of self-control in ourselves, our families, and our schools. And we might even have more of an influence on our indulgent culture.

The post Educating for Self-control, Part 2: The Link Between Attention and Willpower appeared first on .