Homeschooling Won’t Save Your Children
I wish I had a nickel for every time I was told this by a slightly offended parent when I wrote about home education. It’s usually in response to my talking about the importance of a Christian education, and how far the public school system is from God’s plan for families.
But I’ll say it again. The American public school system is no longer a wise place for Chrisitan parents to send their children. What was once a happy environment in which children learned core knowledge, where most of the adults loved God and honored Him in the classroom, is now a blatant secular institution intent on separating Christian children from the values of their parents. Oh, some schools are much worse than others, and perhaps you live in a special place where the worldliness is harder to spot. But I promise you, it’s there.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s address the idea that “homeschooling won’t save your children.”
I agree. It won’t. In fact, there is no guarantee that anything outside of Jesus will save your children. Not church. Not hymns. Not the Bible. The only thing that will save our children is their confession of sins and acceptance of the salvation of Jesus Christ.
So let’s clear this up: homeschooling will not save your children. That’s not why we do it.
Christian home education has often been lumped into the legalism category, and maybe for some, that’s what it is. But it’s really about assessing the world around us, determining what is good for our children, and what undermines their faith in God. It’s about choosing between a God-less school day for 12 long years and a home environment where God is at the center and all knowledge goes back to Him. The difference is utterly profound.
Think for a moment: do you take your children to church because you believe it will save them? Do you listen to Christian music because it will save them? Do you teach them right from wrong because it will save them?
Why do you do those things?
You likely do them because they are right and good. Not because God promised perfect children, but because “His ways are perfect” (Psalm 18:30).
God gives us many commands throughout scripture. Why do we obey them? Is it because we are guaranteed a certain outcome? Does He promise “if you do this, then this will happen”? Rarely. We follow God’s commands because we trust Him.
You don’t just refrain from killing because it keeps you out of jail, do you? Hopefully not! You refrain because God has commanded it. You aren’t faithful to your spouse just to keep from getting caught cheating. You (hopefully) remain faithful in both your heart and your actions because God commands it.
The great part about God’s commands is that there is a blessing that accompanies faithfulness. Some people call it the law of nature, but it is clear throughout scripture that God is faithful when we honor Him.
Education is Discipleship
You see, home education in the 21st century falls into the “training” in Proverbs 22:6. I don’t know any parent who disagrees with “train up a child in the way he should go.”
But let’s look more closely at “training up.” What does that involve?
Merriam Webster defines train like this:
1a: to teach so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient
1b: to form by instruction, discipline, or drill
2: to make prepared (as by exercise) for a test of skill
3: to direct the growth of (a plant) usually by bending, pruning, and tying
4: to aim at an object or objective
Training is a significant act! When we apply these definitions to parenting, and specifically to Proverbs 22:6, it’s a monumental undertaking. We are to make our children fit, qualified, and proficient; to form them by instruction, discipline, or drill; to prepare them; to direct their growth; and to aim them at an object or objective.
In the realm of education, what does this look like?
When they are at school, are they being formed? By who? In what?
When they are at school, are they being directed? By who? Toward what?
Whey they are at school, what is the objective of the staff?
“Plainly speaking, whoever disciples a child will have his heart. Matthew 6:40 says, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” The one who teaches a child (the “system” or curriculum, not necessarily the individual) forms that child’s worldview. Children will ultimately default to the worldview they have been exposed to the most during their youth.” (Marissa Boonstra, Bucking the System)
Wherever your children are being educated, they are being trained. And in the American public school system, that training is a secular, Marxist, anti-God training. There is no denying this anymore. Even the “good schools” cannot teach a literal creation, or Jesus as the Son of God, or the faith of Isaac Newton, or the Christianity of America’s founders, or the validity of the scriptures. In government schools, the curriculum is literally God-less. It teaches that all lifestyles are acceptable (even celebrated) and that children can make life-altering decisions without the consent of their parents.
Public school children are absolutely being trained.
“Deuteronomy 6:4-10 and Ephesians 6:1-4 clearly exhort parents to teach, disciple, and train their own children. Regardless of what’s happening in the Sunday school youth groups, pulpit, and Bible studies of your church, the responsibility for ministry to our kids has never been removed from the parents. It’s time to pick that ball up again and jump into the game.” (Ken Ham, Already Gone)
“Wherever your children are being educated, they are being trained. And in the American public school system, that training is a secular, Marxist, anti-God training. There is no denying this anymore.”
It is our God-given responsibility to train our own children. And because today’s public school system has shamelessly overstepped the bounds of basic education, “training them up” can no longer fall to the government schools. The God-less education they receive there has a direct impact on their belief in God.
Only God saves souls, but it is the express duty of parents to train. We train, we pray, and we give the results to Him. What our children ultimately choose is up to them, yes, but we must not pretend that any discipleship is neutral.
Education is not neutral. It is training. Public education is not neutral. It is training. The question is, “Training for what?”
I want to close with this encouragement: God’s word is timeless. Whatever He commands is not limited to certain cultures or certain peoples. His instruction to train up our children in the way they should go and to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord are as applicable in 21st century America as they were in ancient Israel. Instead of looking at the Bible through a modern lens, we need to examine our modern lives in light of scripture, whatever it takes.