By Kyle Oedy, Class of 2014
After graduating from Mars Hill, Kyle attended Cedarville University and has since devoted his life to mentoring and discipling the next generation. He has served as a teacher, department chair, spiritual life director, and now as Director of Student Ministry at North Cincinnati Community Church. He also has returned to coach at MHA. Kyle will reflects on how his Mars Hill education shaped his faith, vocation, and calling..
Why classical?
We are all storytellers. The life of a storyteller…
McCullough, History Matters, p.3-5
“History shows us how to behave. History teaches, reinforces what we L believe in, what we stand for, and what we ought to be willing to stand up for. History is—or should be—the bedrock of patriotism, not the chest-pounding kind of patriotism but the real thing, love of country.
At their core, the lessons of history are largely lessons in appreciation. Everything we have,… everything exists because somebody went before us and did the hard work…I'm convinced that history encourages, as nothing else does, a sense of proportion about life, gives us a sense of the relative scale of our own brief time on earth and how valuable that is.
What history teaches, it teaches mainly by example. It inspires courage and tolerance. It encourages a sense of humor. It is an aid to navigation in perilous times…[it] shows that times of change are the times when we are most likely to learn…[it gives] a sense of what we've been through in times past and who we are.
Now, history isn’t just good for you in a civic way… "Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free," Jefferson said, "expects what never was and never will be."…[T]he gap between the educated and the uneducated is going to be of greater consequence and the more serious threat to our way of life.
But, I think, what it really comes down to is that history is an extension of life. It both enlarges and intensifies the experience of being alive. It's like poetry and art. Or music. And it's ours, to enjoy. If we deny our children that enjoyment, that adventure in the larger time among the greater part of the human experience, were cheating them out of a full life.”
Classical education allows for a deep and rich faith. In an age of less Biblical literacy in society, homes, and churches, a classical education provides the resources to know and study God’s Word deeply. From intentional Bible study to memorization to understanding Church doctrine and history to apologetics and worldview training to a study of foundational languages, classical, Christian education prepares each student to know what they believe and why.
Classical education is also proven to work. It is ironic that today’s culture claims to support students and give them the abilities to “be who they want to be”, and yet, we find students prepared less and less for the real world. As a society, we have largely stopped challenging students in favor of protecting and flattering them. This has led to a culture of victim-hood where students don’t know how to take on the world, and have high levels of anxiety and low levels of perseverance. On the other hand, classical education is built on what has worked for millennia. It teaches a holistic view of the world and our place in it. It gives students the confidence to succeed based on the tools they have received and the examples of the great men and women who have gone before them. Students are raised to read to thoroughly, write purposefully, and speak with clarity, poise, and authority. Classical students are taught how to reason logically and persuade gracefully. Add this to the gospel and you see students who are ready and confident to engage the world for Christ.
Finally, a classical education allows for truly well-rounded students who appreciate the timeless not just the timely. They know how to engage the many factions and faces of the world and take advantage of the diverse opportunities that God presents us with. They perceive that God created man be a multifaceted culture-developer, fulfilling the original dominion mandate.
Why Christ-centered?
Every education is about more than simply academics. Having taught and visited other schools as both a teacher and a coach, one develops a knack for spotting what schools believe in and value beyond what they advertise. It’s the people that show you the personality of a school, disciplined or disorderly, courageous or anxious, faithful or faithless. Every school has its values, and every school indoctrinates its students into a worldview. The question we have to answer, not just as parents but as a society, is, “what are indoctrinating our kids into?” What worldview do we want them to carry with them, to form their backbone and inform their decisions?
I believe strongly in Christ-centered education, because Christ should be at the heart of everything that we do as Christians. Following him should be what our hearts long for. While God has been faithful to many Christians who have sent their children to public school, I believe that, for most in today’s age, this sets our children up to fail. The latest data from research institutions like Barna, Baker, and Impact 360 shows that about 70% of students who identified as Christians or were raised as Christians leave the church after high school, and only 4% of Gen Z students understand and operate from a traditional Biblical worldview, while also being more openly interested in faith than the Millennial generation. As a teacher, a coach, a youth minister, but especially as a disciple of our Lord Jesus, these statistics break my heart, yet also present an opportunity. A Christ-centered education gives our students a deeper understanding of the Christian worldview and should help equip them for the challenges of life. Parents and churches play a crucial role in this too. Those who remain rooted in the faith are often those who attended a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church weekly, and whose parents demonstrate their own need for the gospel, modeling a life devoted to Christ. Ultimately, though, the Holy Spirit has to move in the hearts of the students. But the more that we can do to help build the foundation, the better. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that we are engaged in a constant battle spiritually, and although some may cry “peace, peace” as Patrick Henry said, “War has already begun.” Our kids are in a battle and we are as well. Christian education provides them vital pieces of upgraded armor.
Yes, academics play a strong role in an academic institution, but the beauty of a classical, Christian education is how it allows its students to gain experience and skills in many disciplines, from fine arts to sports to logistics to debate to etiquette. The end goal for parents, school, and churches should be producing Christ-followers who are able to use all of the gifts that God has blessed them with to live a life of evangelism, service, and worship. Ideally, we are preparing our students to walk with the Lord in whatever vocation, community, and family God calls them to. We want to disciple our kids so that they can then be disciple-makers. We should want to do what we can to prompt our students to be life-long learners in the many vocations that God may call them to. MHA graduates can indeed transition from liberal art school to college, career, and calling, but as with anything must keep God first. They must learn the importance of not just memorization and repetition, but of actually pursuing God whole-heartedly. This is where parents and the church must press in to help students learn that Biblical living is a life-long, community pursuit.
I attended Mars Hill from 3rd-12th grade after a few years of being homeschooled. As such, I had the opportunity to experience many of the benefits that Mars Hill has to offer, from Laurel Wreath to Madrigals, debating Creationism to reenacting battles from Roman history, and everything in between. I played basketball and soccer, served on Highland counsel, and ran a few a Bible studies. What a blessing to learn Latin while discussing life, recite Shakespeare while drawing a portrait, engaging in choir and playing soccer while quoting the ancients during both.
I can safely say that I would not be the man that I am today without the various journeys that God has led me on. Mars Hill played a large part in that, constructing a stable foundation that I have since been able to build upon at Cedarville University, in teaching and youth ministry, and in coaching. It has been a blessing to have the opportunity to return to alma mater this year to work with our student athletes, and to work with those who attend my youth group.
Many may ask, why are you back? Why are you serving as a coach at Mars Hill? To that, I could give many answers, although much of what I have said already serves as foundation of these answers. First, I believe in sports as a crucial extra-curricular and one of the main ways that we can prepare students for life. No other facet of normal student life produces such a combination of heart, body, mind, and soul. Sports offer unique ways to experience teamwork, learn grit and perseverance, understand the beauty and lessons of winning and losing in life, and learn how to navigate the complications of life. Because of this, I truly believe that coaches have the opportunity to impact students’ lives in ways that almost no one else can. Second, returning to Mars Hill to coach gives me the opportunity to pour into more students’ lives and into the lives of my youth group students more deeply. Finally, it is a way for me to give back to a school and a community that has given so much to me.