Christian schools no substitute for parental guidance

The public schools of America and, yes, Georgia, too, have come under meticulous scrutiny and unmitigated criticism in recent years. Some of it is justified, because nothing of the monumental proportions of public education can be all honey and no bees.

In some classrooms creationism is taught as a theory and evolution is taught as a fact. I deplore that and think it is wrong and unfair. Some schools propose that “Debbie Has Two Mommies” and seem to advocate homosexuality as a normal, not a deviate, lifestyle. In fact, our society has been dismantling the family unit and trying to define marriage out of existence for a generation.

Many of our public educators have embraced the “values clarification” philosophy and rejected the concept of absolute truth and Biblical morality. To me this is unconscionable.

Perhaps in view of this perceived drift toward spiritual and moral oblivion, T. C. Pinckney, a former vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has proposed a resolution that would encourage Southern Baptists to remove their children from public schools.

Pinckney, of Alexander, Va. and editor of the independent Baptist Banner, would like to see Southern Baptists support “thoroughly Christian education.” The proposed statement also “encourages all churches associated with the Southern Baptist Convention to work aggressively to counsel parents regarding their obligation to provide their children with a Christian education.”

Our three children (though not children any more) are the product of both private Christian education and public school education. I have also been the pastor of a church with a Christian school, but I have some problems with Mr. Pinckney’s proposal.

First of all, to take all Southern Baptist students out of the public education arena would be like pulling all of our missionaries out of Europe because we are of the opinion that the people of that continent are unchristian and worldly-minded. It would essentially be another step toward Christians retreating into the safe harbor of a subculture and becoming isolationist in an increasingly secular society.

I’ve often thought it would be wonderful to go to some remote wilderness cabin with my family to enjoy the beauties of nature and get away from the hustle and bustle, the din and strife, of the big city. That was not the Apostle Paul’s modus operandi. He went to the cities of the first century. That is where the people were that needed to hear the gospel and be saved.

While retreating into some monastic lifestyle seems to offer some degree of tranquility and comfort, that is not God’s plan for His people. We are to be salt and light on this earth and penetrate this world with the truth of God, not retreat into some idyllic sanctuary.

Secondly, we have many wonderful, committed Christian public school administrators and teachers who have accepted the public school system as their mission field. They may not always be able to overtly express their faith, but by their lives they are effective representatives of Christ.

Thirdly, the home should always be the basic institution of learning. God clearly admonishes parents: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6: 6-7).

Public school, even Sunday School, is not meant to be a substitute for the educational process that is to take place in the home on a continual basis. At best the education one receives outside the home can only supplement the lessons learned in the university of life, the Christian home.

I am so glad that my parents laid a foundation of education for me that all of the situational ethics of Joseph Fletcher, the neo-orthodox theology and the demythologizing of scripture of the German theologians and the “God is dead” philosophy of Thomas Altizer could not shake.