Skip to main content

Every Square Inch

By January 23, 2015December 14th, 2020Faith & Learning

Because it was such a good post, we've decided to re-post a blog from a member of the class of 2014. Enjoy!

The body of Christian believers has been likened to an army, marching against the forces of sin in the world, conquering in God’s name. Following that metaphor, Calvin Christian is an armory, a training camp. New recruits, children being raised in the Christian faith, go through Calvin to be equipped with the necessary tools and to be trained to face the formidable force of sin in the world. Some criticize Christian education as being a bomb shelter, a place to hide from the onslaught and wait until it subsides. However, that is far from the truth.

Christian education is a boot camp, where students are exposed to many elements of life in this world in a controlled setting, so that they will be fully prepared for how to face the struggles of life in the real world on their own. Christian schools are not hiding places, but staging areas for a battle with worldly influences of sin. The education I have received has not omitted facts and data for the sake of protection. In fact, most of the material presented is the same material that is taught at other schools. The key difference is that along with all of the material comes a better understanding of God and his creation. It is evident through literature classes that even the most secular authors of renowned literature were faced with Biblical truths. However, where they lament the great evil of the world, we can take comfort in God’s grace. I have found such literature classes to be a great example of how general revelation makes Biblical truths accessible to believers and unbelievers alike. Math and science are not just fabulously intricate systems of numbers and organisms discovered by men like Newton, Leibniz, Pythagoras, and Pasteur. These subjects are testaments to the beauty of creation and God’s perfection in designing it. In biology, I can be just as amazed at natural selection as Darwin, but rather than be befuddled by how such processes came about, I can praise God for his beautiful handiwork. Studying history of the world and the United States in conjunction with history of the church can show, though sometimes only with a bit of labor, that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” 

As my time at Calvin is nearing a close, I feel I am ready to excel at the college level, not just as a student, but as a soldier in God’s army. If I had to sum up what I learned at Calvin in one phrase, I would use the words of Abraham Kuyper and say that I learned that “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” That is a meaningful lesson and a powerful statement to keep in mind as I pursue my goals in college and beyond.

Jacob Stout is a member of the class of 2014 and is currently in his Freshman year at Calvin College. 

cj@reverent.tv'

Author CJ Halloran

More posts by CJ Halloran