Change Movement Sermons Series

CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS THEN AND NOW

From the beginning of our movement to restore New Testament Christianity here in America, we have had schools operated by brethren to augment the work preachers and elders were doing.  The logic for Christian schools was simple.  Schools were needed where young Christians could receive an education as their faith was being strengthened and fortified. They  would thus be prepared for useful service in the kingdom.   Schools were needed whose teachers were Christians and whose aim was to enhance Christian character.  Parents needed  schools where God's word was taught without denominational indoctrination and young Christians could be associated with their spiritual peers in the most formative years of their lives.  Schools also filled  a special need by providing training for young men who wished to preach the gospel.  Alexander Campbell had his Buffalo Academy and later his Bethany College. Tolbert Fanning founded Franklin College.   Before long a dozen or more schools sprung up across the nation to serve the church. 

Satan saw the threat that Christian Schools presented to his program so he went to work to destroy them.  Many failed from lack of support.  But others he was able infiltrate and eventually commandeer for his own purposes.  Following the Civil War, a schism occurred within the church. There was a liberal element who had grown weary of the old fashioned religion of Christ and yearned for something more appealing to modern man.  They were determined to introduce changes into the faith, the worship and work of the church.  The schools produced the young preachers who demanded instruments of music, missionary societies to do the work of the church, women to serve as preachers, fellowship with the denominational churches about them.  When that break was finished virtually all the schools stood with the digressives, identified as Disciples of Christ and Christian Churches.

David Lipscomb and James A. Harding founded Nashville Bible School, now David Lipscomb University. Then in quick succession came, Freed-Hardeman, Abilene Christian and Harding College.  Others soon followed.  As the church recovered from her devastating losses, the colleges grew and flourished.  At the zenith of our prosperity, here in America there were some 22 schools of higher learning operated by Christians.  Missionaries planted similar schools in several foreign lands.  The good they did and the role they played in the growth of the kingdom, especially in our expansion to foreign lands cannot be disputed.  Unfortunately as was the case in the waning years of the 19th century, so it has been in the closing decades of the 20th century.  Schools that once were bastions of faithfulness to New Testament Christianity gradually fell under the influence of men who no longer shared that commitment.  Now we are in the midst of a brotherhood crisis.  A large and powerful movement has swept over the church, inflicting serious harm on her.  An influential group of brethren are clamoring for unscriptural changes to the faith, worship and practice of the church.  The fountain head of this movement can be found in the Bible Departments of several of our schools, the most prominent being Abilene Christian University and Pepperdine University.

It is helpful to consider the relationship of the schools to the church, then and now.

• Then, they existed to serve the church.  Today, many academics behave as though the church exists to serve the schools.

• Then, they felt common cause with the church and stood up to defend her when she was under assault by her enemies.  Now some of them are harboring and supporting those who are making war on the church.

• Then, they were more interested in pleasing their fellow-Christians than those outside of the body.  Now, the great interest seems to be to please their peers in the world of academia and in the denominational  world.

• Then, they chose as their administrators great men of God who were leaders in the church.  Such men often were preachers,  respected for their soundness, balance and educational qualifications.  Today, many of our schools have  leaders who are quality educators but are not preachers.  They bear some connection to the church, but not many would be recognized as preachers.

• In days past, faculty were selected on the basis of their being strong and faithful members of the church.  Today, many are only nominal members and in some cases, not at all.

• Then, they felt a keen obligation to parents and congregations to send their sons and daughters back to them, not only well educated, but strong, faithful Christians.  Today, the greater emphasis is on being well educated in secular matters.

• Then, they did not tolerate, on their faculty, teachers who were working and teaching in a way that was antagonistic to the welfare of the church.  Today many of our schools harbor men whose main interest is undermining the foundations of churches of Christ.

Then, we needed our schools and they helped us tremendously.  Today, we must say that some of our schools are hindering rather than helping the Cause we love.  Yes, we have a few schools that still serve their original intent and purpose.  For them we give thanks.  But for those who think they have outgrown the church of Christ and their founders' intent to serve the church, we can no longer rejoice in their existence.  We pray that the administrators and trustees of these schools will come to their senses and make an about face. But we confess we are not optimistic that such will happen.  If they cannot and will not do so, we would be better off without them. 

I remember when the leaders of Wake Forrest, a Baptist University in North Carolina, founded and funded by members of that denomination, declared that they no longer considered themselves answerable to that religious body. To placate those whose money and property they were taking, this assured them they would retain "their historic ties" to the Baptist church.  For all practical purposes, the same spirit is now at work in some of our schools.  If such is their determination, the quicker the separation comes, the better.  Brethren should not be deceived into sending the children or their support to a school that no longer shares the common faith of Christ Jesus.