"Every Christian parent is obligated to give their children a Christian education." - Voddie Baucham
If nothing else, the fact that our public schools are banned from giving our children a Christian education should be the clearest sign that it is not a place where our children belong (For more information, research the ESEA adopted in 1965). Unfortunately, many Christian parents do not even think about whether or not God's Word might shed light on the issue. Let us now look at three passages, one concerning the sphere of Christian living, one concerning the origin of knowledge, and one concerning the purpose of Creation.
First, we'll look at Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This is known by many as the Shema (Shema is Hebrew for "Listen", the first word in this section).
Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, all pasages HCSB)
Typically when we hear this, we hear it in the sense that it is important to worship as a family, and that is absolutely the case. However, let's move from the perspective of the parent, to the child's perspective. The child is being told constantly about the Lord and His works. Wherever he is, correct beliefs follow him, from the bed to the gate to the road. While this doesn't mean that we have to paint laws on our doorposts, the real command is to make sure that our children are raised not with occasional Christianity, but absolutely drenched in it. If you can find any event done frequently by you or your family that does not showcase Christ in His glory, you should take greatly question whether or not you should take part in it.
Next, we'll look at Proverbs 1:7.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)
This passage is not insignificant; in fact, a number of scholars think this to be the key verse of the entire book of Proverbs! To understand this passage, we must understand the phrases used. We will look at each one in turn.
We will first take a quick look at the phrase “the Fear of the Lord”. When people first think of the word ‘fear’, typically negative images come to mind. We don’t typically think of ‘fearing’ puppies. But the word fear used here is יִרְאָה (“Yirah”), and is, with little exception, used exclusively in reference to God. At any rate, the meaning here is not so much to be “wet-your-pants” terrified as it is to give reverence. No English word really contains all the meaning packed into this Hebrew word, but the two words that come closest are fear and awe. Perhaps it would be helpful to think of this as the Awe of the Lord as well as the Fear of the Lord. So this Fear (or Awe) of the Lord is an intense understanding of just how glorious and powerful God really is. How this fits into this passage will be observed after tending to the next phrase.
We look next at the phrase “the beginning of knowledge”. What does it mean for something to be the beginning of something? This isn’t a phrase that we use today, but a good synonym is foundation (or perhaps the core). In other words, for A to be the beginning of B means that A is the foundation upon which B exists.
Putting these two together, we see that the the reverential, fearful awe of God is the foundation upon which knowledge itself is grounded. Anyone who has built a house (or played Jenga, for that matter) knows how important it is to keep something important on a firm foundation.
Finally, we turn to the New Testament letter of Paul to the Colossians. In one of the greatest passages of the entire Bible, Paul lays down the greatness of Jesus Christ, and he explains that Jesus is the Agent of Creation in Colossians 1:16:
For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)
As beautiful as that description is, I want to turn your attention to the very end of it, “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Think about that. Everything that exists exists for Jesus Christ. The universe’s very structure and order (science, math) exists for Jesus Christ. The earth’s land, its animals, its plants, and its people (history, law, literature) exist for Jesus Christ. If the purpose of everything is Jesus as Θεός (“Theos”, God), then everything is inherently theological.
How public schools fail
If we put all three of these verses together, we see that secular education is simply inadequate. While we could probe into more areas, I will instead make the following observations:
In public schools today, Jesus is not allowed the prime place. Even if someone tried, you know the ACLU would be there in a flash to “restore order and non-sectarianism”. Could you even imagine a government public school that has, right in its logo, “The Fear of the Lord is beginning of knowledge”? Of course not! In school, Darwinism is king, and I’m not just talking about in the science class.
If the views of evolution and cosmology found in the science class is true (as is assumed), then math is not the discovery of the incredible order integrated perfectly in God’s creation. Rather, it is simply a series of dry facts. The universe came about haphazardly, and math is simply a byproduct of randomness. History is not the providence of God, carefully guided to His ends, but rather entirely man-centered. It is considered in schools far better to read manuals to prepare students for jobs than to read Romans to prepare students for a life of Kingdom ministry.
At this point, I have to take an aside to make a clear distinction. I am attacking the public school as a system. I am not attacking Christian teachers in these places. As I’ve explained in the previous post, it is not the place for Christian kids (or kids from Christian homes) to take on public schools. However, for the established Christian who is an educator in the public school system, I encourage you to use your position to be a positive influence in the lives of children. Unfortunately, for most students, one teacher will not accomplish much. But for some students, whose lives are in great turmoil at home and at school, one Christian teacher may be the stable rock that will help that child find the Rock of Ages.
The problem is that sometimes people make the argument that some teachers are Christians, and therefore the public school system as a whole is justified. This simply is not the case. Can a Christian teacher pray for her students in class? Absolutely. But absolutely silently. The Christian teacher will not model prayer for her students, and so even when Christianity finds its way into the system, it is only limited. Christian social studies teachers do not have carte blanche freedom over the curriculum. If he speaks the truth about Christian sexual morality, it will not go unnoticed. He will be silent, or he will be silenced. I pray it be the latter.
Where homeschools can succeed
Where the public school fails miserably, the home school (and the high quality, private Christian schools) can succeed.
Firm Christian theology taught freely
Christian parents need not fear their jobs by teaching their children Christian principles (at least for now). No government public school would put on their logo “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. Below is our homeschool’s logo:
As you can see, the children taught here are taught God’s Word, and they are taught God’s Laws, completely unashamedly. A thorough Christian education can be found in a Christian homeschool in a way that simply cannot be found in a public school. For example, every teacher can pray to God reverently before, during, and/or after every class, something that simply cannot happen in the government schools. As we have seen in the above Scriptures, we have an obligation to give our children an education that shows that everything is for Christ, and a homeschool is capable of providing that to them. I do not need to speak much about homeschooling, simply because the problems with government schooling is fundamentally a problem with government intrusion and regulation, something that homeschooling, as a whole, does not have to deal with.
This is the most important reason. Whatever else I write over the next couple months, the simple fact is that my children need to be taught about the world from a Christian perspective, and that will simply not happen. Whether it is evolution, sex education, or history, the world’s views are very different from Christ’s view. How dare I let the world’s views be the main education my children receive.
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