Our plan for the last 5 years was to homeschool our daughter, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to abandon that plan. Abandoning the plan has been painful to say the least. We had met many homeschooling families and overall were deeply impressed with the academic progress, social well-being, and spiritual foundation these children had in comparison to the average child from a Christian home who was in public school.
In place of homeschooling we have chosen to send our daughter to a Christian school. Our decision came after much prayer and researching the schooling options available to us. Now after her first week at school we must say thanks to God, for He seems to have led us to a good school and our daughter loves it and seems to have done well so far. While entrusting her to others for hours a day has been difficult and not without a great deal of second-guessing, we do feel that we are in God's will.
Much to our surprise, some Christians have not affirmed our decision. In particular, we have had several Christian people (yes, Christians!) respond to our choice with skepticism and even subtle hostility. From several of these folks I get the impression that they feel judged somehow, thinking that our choice on where to send our daughter to school is somehow a commentary on what they chose for their child or children. For those people, I want to say that our choice has nothing to do with you, but with us and a commitment to seek God's will on this matter. Others quietly ripple with this odd hostility to anything but public school, as though we are subversive to the government. And this is a government that they constantly criticize! To those I want to say that my first loyalty is to God and His Word. Needless to say, it has been a weird week.
So why have we chosen a Christian school instead of sending our child to public school? Here is my thinking so far.
1. God's will. The goal of life is to bring glory to Him, and one way of doing that is to bring all areas of life under God's direction. That includes the schooling for our children. It seems ridiculous to me to simply default to public school when other options are available. Too many families never seriously consider sending their children to a Christian school or homeschooling them. They simply default to public school. After wrestling with the choice in prayer over a significant period of time, my wife and I felt that it was God's will that we send our daughter to a Christian school.
2.Influence. The Bible makes it clear that training in light of God's Word as a child is crucial to their faithfulness to God as an adult: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he shall not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Contrast a public school and a Christian school in your mind. In a public school, some teachers are Christians but are not allowed to speak openly of their faith nor are they allowed to express an overtly biblical viewpoint in their teaching, nor are they allowed to pray with their students, directly promote a right relationship between God and their students, etc. Beyond these restraints on the Christian teachers, there are the non-Christian teachers who are hostile to the Christian faith, bristling with secularism and liberal ideas, and more, and have a clear agenda of shaping your child with their worldview. In contrast, in a Christian school, all the teachers must profess the Christian faith, must incorporate biblical thinking into all the subjects taught, and typically teach in a Christian school (usually for far less money than they would make as public school teachers) out of sense of mission for God. Their deep concern is the formation of children for the glory of God. This father wants his child to be influenced by such people, especially in her formative years.
I am unaware of any Scripture which teaches that influence from non-Christians is a good thing or that being among them will help a child "toughen up." In fact, it teaches the opposite. As Wayne Grudem says in his 1984 essay, Biblical Reasons for Sending Children to A Christian School,
I know of no verse of Scripture that tells me that secular training will “strengthen” Christian children. It may callous them so they view sin as more “normal.” It may harden them so they care more about the things of the world and less about God. It may desensitize them so they are more comfortable living in the midst of repeated sin against their Lord. But it will not strengthen them as Christian men and women: “Train up a child in the way he should go” (Prov. 22:6).
3. Boundaries. Involvement in public school can become all-encompassing to the detriment of the family and church involvement, two things the Scriptures hold in high esteem. Sports, band, and other extra-curricular activities through public schools are simply out of control in terms of time commitment and the importance they are given. Sports practice and games have moved into Sunday mornings and can fill every week night, keeping children away from their families and from steady church involvement. In too many schools, students must choose between sports and church - they simply cannot have both - and parents too frequently value their children being good athletes over being disciples of Jesus. Certainly, parents whose children attend public school can set healthy boundaries for their children, but I would rather not have my child in a school that I have an adversarial relationship with. In a solid Christian schools, family and church life are still held in high esteem, and appropriate boundaries are put in place to keep school activities from undermining a healthy family and church life.
These are my thoughts so far. I could go on with more, but that is enough for today. What do you think? Click on "comments" below and share your thoughts.




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