Ask the Pastor 113

What would a biblical SEL, look like?

Remember from last week’s article that SEL is based upon 5 “interrelated areas of competence” which are: Self-Awareness; Self-Management; Responsible Decision Making; Relationship Skills; Social Awareness (see https://casel.org). Fundamentally, these are dependent upon how one thinks about self. This is where there will be a difference of perspective between a biblical Christian and a secular humanist and this difference will create a difference in how the self is defined in the 5 areas of competence. In the Bible man and therefore all mankind was created in the image of God as male and female. Because of sin, mankind fell and became inherently sinful and in need of redemption. Secular humanist believes that mankind evolved from lower forms of life and became inherently good through a process of trial and error and not in need of redemption. The biblical Christian believes in an absolute creator who is absolute truth and His truth is found in the Bible which is His Word. Secular humanist believe that the human self is its own truth which is ever evolving according its times, customs and environment. With the secular humanist there are no absolutes, what is true and right today, may not be tomorrow. A biblical SEL would look at self as a sinner by nature and in need of redemption. Once that redemption has been appropriated by faith, the self is justified, sanctified and at peace with God, which then makes it possible to be at peace with others in community. The decision making and learning processes is then none with the understanding that the self needs to be put to death and the Holy Spirit needs to take charge in accordance with the absolute truth of the Bible. Both the Bible and prayer would then be a necessary part of education to develop the whole person into a mature person in Christ.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.