What is Your “Faith Education”?
Ezra 7:10; 2 Peter 3:18
I did some math. If we were to compare compulsory (what is required) education to our “faith education,” I believe we would be shocked.
On average (it varies a little from state to state) it takes approximately 13,000 hours of classroom instructional time to complete a K-12 education. In other words, each grade takes a little more than 1000 hours of classroom instruction.
Now, let’s say that you come to worship and Bible class every time it is available in the week. That’s one hour of Bible class on Sunday morning, one hour of worship, and an hour of Bible class on Wednesday night. That’s three hours of “classroom instruction” for your faith per week. Assuming a normal year of 52 weeks, how long would it take to complete one grade of instruction for your faith?
52 weeks x 3 hours per week = 156 hours per year 156 hours per year x ______ of years = 1000 hours
It would take more than six years to complete one grade of “faith education.”
At that rate it would take 83 years to complete the equivalent of a high school diploma in your faith.
That’s without any skipping!
If you only come two hours a week, it would take 125 years. And if you only come two hours a week it would take over 9.5 years to complete the equivalent of one grade.
On the other hand, if you attend three hours a week and add two hours of personal Bible study during the week (that’s just 20 minutes a day with Sundays off) it would take 50 years to complete your “faith high school diploma.”
For the person who only comes during the sermon hour on Sunday, and does no additional study at home, it will take over 19 years to graduate from “faith kindergarten!”
We simply cannot grow in our faith if we only study the Bible during the times the church comes together during the week.
Clay Leonard
