A Movement Toward Doctrinal Obscurity
Psalm 78:1–8 has long been a potent passage of Scripture for making and maintaining friends for Christian Day Schools. In forthright terms the Psalmist declares as the spokesman of God the tragic outcome of an education that denies God His rightful place: “a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts (are) . . . not loyal to God.” God, His Word, and the testimony of the things He has done cannot be forgotten without cost in human life even the lives of our children!
In Evangelical circles of virtually every theological persuasion there can be heard today an increasingly common call to forsake doctrinal clarity and distinctiveness in the interests of unity, testimony, and numerical growth. This trend towards theological obscurity is especially evident in the field of Christian education, where more and more men, money, and material are being dedicated to less and less theologically and philosophically speaking. This was clearly brought home to me when I surveyed a number of Christian School Constitutions recently as part of my course-work at Gordan-Conwell Theological Seminary. Generally speaking, the rule is this: the more recent the Constitution, the more obscure its content theologically and philosophically. How tragic, for Scripture and Church history combine to form a united witness that the alertness of the people of God is measurable in terms of: 1.) doctrinal clarity; 2.) devotional commitment; and 3.) dutiful observance of the Commandments of God as a people redeemed by grace. And these three are r~lated, for fuzzy do_ctrine leads to faltering devotion, and fuzzy doctrme and faltering devotion lead to a flagrant disregard for our duties to God and our neighbor. (Compare the alertness of the people of God in Malachi’s day with that of First Church in Jerusalem following Pentecost (Acts 2:41-47) and be prepared for a shocking difference!) It is no accident that the Churches of the Reformation stressed the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and The Ten Commandments, for without each sound Christian teaching there can be no solid Christian discipleship. (II Timothy 3:16–17 & Matthew 28:18–20).
1. Need For Doctrinal Clarity
On the basis of what is commonly confessed and believed among the fellowship, the nature, associations, and development of the educational community most surely depends.
Let us first consider the nature of the Society. Christian doctrine is like a massive door: framed by the Bible; hinged on Christ; and latched by the Holy Spirit, with the Cross of Jesus the threshold over which all must pass who would have communion with God. What is said and implied in the doctrinal statement will encourage some to enter and others to remain outside. The temptation will no doubt present itself again and again to allow some to enter at the expense of an undebatable point of affirmation—be it the trustworthiness of the Bible, creation by God as opposed to evolution by process, redemption by the Cross as opposed to good works, or whatever. There must be some undebatables among Society members, and they must be numerous enough to make it a society of Christian Faith as opposed to a collection of the religiously opinionated.
Enough needs to be said in the doctrinal statement to ensure that the resulting Society and School forms a creative, yet homogeneous unit. Enough needs to be said doctrinally to ensure that a fully Biblical and therefore Reformed life-and–world view is what is subscribed to by those in authority and sought for all who are gathered for instruction. If we believe that Calvinism is “Christianity come into its own,” to quote B.B. Warfield, how could we want less for our children than what God has graciously made known to us? One of the most obvious lacks of even those generally older Constitutions that are more particularly Reformed in their orientation is reference to our Future in Christ. Does not the ultimate goal of the Christian life reach beyond the here-and–now to the here–after? To be mindful of the Future is to be mindful today of the urgency of our educational tasks. To be mindful of the Christ who is coming is a constant reminder that it is Christ Himself—and not mere education—who is needed to make old things and all things new. The Second Coming of our Lord is a blessed truth that God can use to treat and cure the dread disease of Scholasticism!
2. Need For Devout Commitment
Second, what is believed together helps the Society to make solid progress in the community, and solid associations on regional, national, and international levels. There are Christian parents locally who need to obey God and educate their children in the Truth. There are principals and teachers to be trained, books and other forms of literature to be written, curriculum to be designed, and issues to be collectively addressed. All of this requires an atmosphere of trust that is predicted upon Truth. Where Truth is sacrificed in the interests of numerical strength, part of the message is lost and an identity crisis of major proportions must soon follow. There is a valuable lesson to be learned from the Oecumenical Movement here: Those who put numbers before God and His Word end up losing all!
3. Need For Obedience to God’s Commandments
Third, change is inherent in life. Nothing living is truly static. God and His Truth are marching on. We either keep in step with the Spirit, or we march to the beat of a different drummer and fall behind. Throughout the history of the Church there has been a significant progress in the development of the doctrine and the opportunity for Christian growth. Writes L. Berkhof in “THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES”:
The Church in its endeavours to apprehend the truth is simply seeking to think the thoughts of God after Him. It does this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of truth and as such guarantees that it will ever increasingly see the truth as an internally connected organism. The History of Dogma . . . is the history of an organic growth and of the inner workings of the Church, and therefore presupposes a rather continuous development . . . (page 22.)
If progress is to be made, it is to be made from within the framework of belief—a belief whose roots reach back through the centuries. If even in some small way we can see further than those who have gone on before us, then it is only because God has been pleased to place us upon their shoulders! A deliberate refusal to remember the lessons God has taught the faithful in the past can only lead to an impoverishment that may well reach to childrens’ children!
We do not need to pay more and get less in Christian education. Unity, testimony, numerical and spiritual growth are not the result of human engineering based upon the practical denial of God and the deliberate obscuring of His Word, 
but rather, they are the work of the Spirit who creates within the hearts of men faith in God and trust in His Word. How will our children remember us? Will they remember us as parents who proved the promises of God by waiting upon God in prayer, encouraged by the faithfulness of God in times past? Or, will they remember us for our willingness to obscure the Truth in order to do what we think best? If we truly put first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then we will not barter these priceless treasures away piecemeal or entire for the sake of organizational strength or improved facilities!
Esau is a classic example of one who gave away too much for too little and in the end lost all! Will we or our children be next in line to go and do likewise?
O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from of old things we have heard and known, things our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done, . . . so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commandments. Psalm 78:1–4, 6–7.