Educating children is a top priority for Christian families. The Scripture teaches that instruction provides a primary pathway for growing faith and understanding:
Sadly, many churches have an improper attitude toward childhood spiritual education. Some neglect it while others have resorted to entertainment. The command of God is to train children faithfully, continually, and rightly. Number one: do not neglect education.
Education is inherently spiritual. We lie to ourselves when we believe that education will not result in spiritual perspective. A chief problem in our state schools is the veiling of spiritual content under the guise of “non-biased” instruction. One of the reasons our education system is doing poorly is because it pretends to be a-religious. Such an education does not exist. If your kids are in state schools you will have to spend extra time training them how to hear and learn what the teacher says. Number two, educate spiritually and wisely.
At this point, you probably think you know where this argument is going, and that I am going to make a demand that will not fit with your lifestyle or abilities. But hold on, though my family homeschools, it is not mandatory for every family. In fact, plenty of families do their children a disservice by homeschooling even though the parents lack the discipline or time to accomplish the task. Neither is the answer necessarily Christian private schooling. Many Christian schools suffer from the demands of overambitious parents dreaming of a future Harvard grad. Education, number three, is discipline. Without discipline, both in behavior and in practice, no child learns. Undisciplined parents will produce undisciplined children. Proud schools will produce arrogant kids. Undisciplined children cannot learn well. Arrogant kids cannot think well.
Finally, education demands vision. Negative arguments for leaving state schools include: “Those other kids are a bad influence. The standards are too low. My kid is bored all the time. I don’t like those teachers.” Negative arguments do not provide enough reason to pull your kids from state schools. Removing your children only forces you into a decision you have already failed to make. What is your vision for your child’s education? Do you expect your child to love learning, be able to handle any problem given he/she has enough information, be able to think and consider the evidence he/she discovers? Do you see your child increasing in faith and growing more disciplined in the way he conducts his life? Education filled with vision guides a child in their maturity and discipline. Parents err when they react to the unhappiness they experience with their child’s current education. Without vision for spiritual and mental maturity, however, your child will not do better with the change you propose.
Christian parents must educate their children. It is the command of God that education be spiritual in nature and filled with wisdom. Disciplined students learn well, so parents must discipline their children. Educational vision for the kind of education your child needs guides the emphasis you place upon the task. Be thoughtful and even-minded about your child’s education. Do not neglect it nor think the solution is inherently tied to the technique.
-Pastor Kevin Jordan
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