Government Schools: What does the Bible say?

"Public School vs. Home School"
Bring that topic up in your Sunday School class and watch the sparks fly. As a society, we know how important our children are; they are our future. As Christians we also know how important they are: they aren't ours, they are on "loan" to us by God, and He has given us some specific instructions for them.

That is the reason for the "sparks." No matter whether you are a firm believer that "home schooling" is the only way to go, or that your "children must be 'salt and light' in the public school" the topic is close to your emotions. Like a mother bear over her cubs, if someone tries to get between you and your children, your hackles go up.

But we can't just ignore the topic because it is difficult; that would be like the early church not tackling "meat sacrificed to idols" or "circumcision of Gentiles". We just have to be careful when we address it, and ensure that we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit when we are confronted with a fact contrary to our own beliefs. [See my article on Worldviews for more details on why this is so important]

Before we dive into this topic, we should look at what the Scripture says about our children, and their education.

Contrary to what many people (Christians) may tell you, the Bible is not silent when it comes to the education of our children. In fact, it is quote loud and vocal about it. Consider the following:

In Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Moses stated:

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ^2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ^3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you— ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

^4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ^5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

^6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ^7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Psalm 78:5-8 outlines a perfect example of what happens when we reject God, His teaching, and His ways. When we reject God, we "forget the works of God" and become "stubborn and rebellious":

5) For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
6) That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7) That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
8) And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellions generation,
A generation that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God. - Psalm 78:5-8

After Moses completes the re-telling of the Law to the nation of Israel, he gives them this final command and admonition in Deut 32:46-47:

"46)Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe -- all the words of this law. 47) For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life." - Deut 32:46-47

Joel 1:2-3 provides the perspective of the importance of being "multi-generational" in our communication of God's Truth to our children and grand-children:

2) Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3) Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.

And we are all familiar with this passage from Paul to the Ephesians, found in Ephesians 6:4:

"And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." - Eph 6:4

In addition, Jesus Christ provides perfect insight when He explains in Luke 6:40:

"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher"

There can be no doubt: The Bible doesn't just "request" or "suggest" that we train and teach our children in the ways of the Lord, it commands it. And even if you have a hard time seeing or wanting to "believe" that it is really that clear, you can't deny that to a Christian, providing their children a decidedly "Christian" education would be a "good" thing to do, and according to James 4:17: "to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

The question for Christians today should not be: "Is Home Schooling or private Christian schooling the only way to provide a 'Christian education'?" but instead should be, "Will I honestly be able to state to my Lord and Savior when I stand before Him that I believed my children received a 'Christian education' in a government school where teaching 'Christ' wasn't just forbidden, but was mocked?".
That is the question we must all ask ourselves.

If we can't answer that with an affirmative and confident "Yes!" then what are we thinking gambling with our children's lives?

The psalmist provides exceptional insight into this in Psalms 1:

1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Putting our children in government schools is causing them to "walk in the counsel of the ungodly," to "stand in the path of sinners", to "sit in the seat of the scornful."

There is no excuse. The Scriptures are clear. We are commanded to provide our children with a Christian education. Not doing so puts our children at risk, and invites God's judgment upon our own lives.