A New (Old) Case for the Language Arts

October 15, 2019

by Adam Andrews

Here’s a rule that cannot possibly be overstated: language proficiency is the single most important component of an education, period. If your students do not learn to use the right words, they will become prisoners of the wrong ones. This applies to any subject, to any activity, and to any relationship. Give your students the tools of language, and their education is complete. Fail in this, and it can never really begin.

Why is language so important? It’s because words signify ideas, and ideas have consequences. Using the wrong words amounts to saying what you don’t really mean, which leads to confusion, misunderstanding, and ignorance – the opposites of education.

As important as this lesson is for our students, it is even more critical for us, their teachers. It turns out that many of us struggle daily with discouragement, dissatisfaction, and defeat in our work as parents and teachers, and all because we think in the wrong language. Since we don’t use the right words, we have become prisoners of the wrong ones.

The Apostle Paul understood the power of language in Romans 4, as he tried to explain justification by faith:

“Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt.” (Rom. 4:4)

The Roman Christians of Paul’s day spoke the language of wages and debt. They used the boss/worker dynamic as their model for all relationships, even their relationship with God. They assumed that good behavior, morality, and obedience to the Law were the work they signed on for as Christians, and that God would eventually be obliged to pay them back in the form of justification.

Paul knew that this old language could never express the good news of the Gospel, and so he taught them a new one:

“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Ro. 4:5)

Paul replaces work with believe, as if to argue that what you do is irrelevant; what matters is whom you trust. He replaces wages with gifts, suggesting that the favor of God cannot be earned; it can only ever be received. Finally, he replaces debts with credits. He argues that in the economy described by this new language, God is the the One who works. Instead of paying His workers, He applies His own work to their account.

Our work as homeschoolers can be pretty discouraging if we see it through the old language of wages and debt. After all, how many of us are doing our work perfectly – or even very well? If homeschooling does nothing else, it certainly brings to light all of our failures as teachers and parents, in and out of the classroom. Especially if we have something personal invested in the outcome of our work (and who doesn’t?), the possibility of failure is too horrible to contemplate. What if our performance is mediocre? What will such shoddy work earn us in terms of reputation with God, relationship with our people, and identity in our own hearts?

Understanding the language of the Gospel can revolutionize your parenting and your teaching, just as it revolutionized the Western world. What if your reputation and identity were completely secure, regardless of the quality of your teaching? What if God were not waiting to see how you raised those kids before saying “well done, good and faithful servant” – what if He is saying that to you today and every day, because of the work He has already credited to your account? What if your deep longing to be good enough has already been fulfilled in Jesus, who by His death has justified – literally, made good enough – the ungodly?

Faith, gifts, credits: these are not simply different words for work, wages and debt. Far from it. They are from a brand new language, signifying a brand new set of ideas. As Paul put it later in Romans, “The gift is not like the trespass.” (Ro. 5:15) Learning Paul’s new language involves forsaking the ideas signified by our old one. It involves believing in Him who justifies the ungodly, and believing that His work on your behalf is complete. For those of us called by His name, there is nothing left to earn by working.

Whether or not you teach a modern language in your homeschool this year, pray to learn this ancient one yourself. Ask God to help you speak it fluently, and you may find within your heart resources for your children that you never dreamed of before. Maybe someday they will grow to learn it, too.