An Education Acceptable to God
Transcript of the September 13, 2013 Heart of the Matter Program
by Pastor Ralph Ovadal of Pilgrims Covenant Church, Monroe, Wisconsin
Transcript of the September 13, 2013 Heart of the Matter Program
by Pastor Ralph Ovadal of Pilgrims Covenant Church, Monroe, Wisconsin
SEE: http://www.pccmonroe.org/education/acceptable.htm; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Hello, everyone; welcome to The Heart of the Matter. Today I am returning to a subject which I have addressed many times in sermons, broadcasts, and other ways over the past several decades. I have spoken very plainly on this matter because it is one of those issues which demands plain speaking.
It is absolutely contrary to the will of God for Christians to place their children
in the public, or state, school system. |
I am going to begin today by making a statement; and then I am going to go on to provide the evidence for that statement which is this: It is absolutely contrary to the will of God for Christians to place their children in the public, or state, school system. By children, I mean those underage children yet in the care of the parents. Now I realize there are custody situations in which a Christian parent may not have a choice in this matter. I also realize there are hardship cases, for instance, where there is only one parent; and I will address that second situation later as we go along.
Also, since this broadcast is listened to in many different countries, and I have no knowledge of the laws and situations in some of those countries, I am here speaking to Christians in the USA and then also to those in other nations where there is the same freedom, which we have here in the United States, to educate their children by homeschooling or in Christian schools which, here in America, are able to be entirely independent of government interference and influenceand finances; and that’s the way it should be.
Now, I do not believe it is the will of the Lord for the civil power to educate children at all, let alone educate children after the utterly ungodly fashion of the public school system today. I do want to say that I understand there are situations where parents in a totalitarian state, with no constitutional protections to even appeal to, are forced at the point of the gun to enroll their children in a government educational system. That was the way it was in the old Soviet Union, for instance. I am not going to speak to such a situation where the choice is have your children just stolen away by the state or have them attend the state’s grade school and high school. We’re not getting into that. I will say that I have read many stories of Christian parents who, under those circumstances, still bravely refused to allow their children to be inducted into the youth organizations of the particular Communist state or totalitarian state in question or to take part in various school activities. They openly identified as Christians, forced into that system; and they refused to co-operate beyond the basic academic requirements.
As I said, I do not believe that it is scriptural for the civil power to educate children—at all—but I am not going to speak to that specific issue—that is, the sphere of authority with regard to the civil power and the education of children. But the context of my remarks today is the sad, I must say, sordid spectacle of Christians freely, willingly placing their children in the moral cesspool and educational wasteland called public education—the public education system, the government school system. It bears mentioning that that system in America today promotes immorality and is a more openly immoral atmosphere than even the Communist schools ever were or are today. What a shame it is that Christian parents in this country are FREELY, WILLINGLY giving their children over to the ungodly, corrupt-in-every-way state school system.
The control of the education of the children is fundamental and essential to the firm establishment of tyranny. I challenge any listener to provide me one example where home or truly independent Christian school education has been allowed under a totalitarian government. On May 1, 1937, Adolf Hitler said, “This new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing.” He also declared, “Let me control the textbooks, and I will control the state.”
Plank 10 of The Communist Manifesto is “Free education for all children in PUBLIC schools.” There is also this statement in The Communist Manifesto:“Abolition of the family! . . . Do you charge us with wanting to stop the exploitation of children by their parents? To this crime we plead guilty. But, you will say, we destroy the most hallowed of relations, when we replace home education by social.” The manifesto goes on to show that is just the intention, to replace home education by state education and to destroy the most hallowed of relations—that is, the parental relationship with the children. That is the intention of the statist educators today who are now trying to mandate state school education beginning pre-kindergarten.
By the way, I have a report here on this past November’s Midwest Marxist Conference hosted by the Chicago chapter of the International Socialist Organization and held at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Large numbers of public school (that is, government school) teachers attended that conference. The schedule for the event included sessions such as “The Meaning of Marxism”; “Socialists & Trade Unions” (that includes, of course, the school teacher unions);“Lenin’s Theory of the Revolutionary Party”; and “Marxism & Women’s Liberation.”
Now listen to this excerpt from an editorial I ran across in my files. It is taken from a magazinepopular with the government educators, the Humanist magazine, January/February, 1983:
I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith . . . These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool, day care center, or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism . . . It will undoubtedly be a long, arduous, painful struggle, replete with much sorrow and many tears, but humanism will emerge triumphant. It must if the family of humankind is to survive.
That is from the Humanist magazine again; it is a magazine which has been very, very popular with government school teachers as a group.
What are you Christian parents thinking, turning your children over to the statists and willingly playing your part in advancing not only wickedness but also tyranny at the ultimate price of not only morality, of course, but also our blood-bought civil and religious liberties—not to mention the harm you are placing your children in by placing them into the hands of the government educators?
Now I know I sound harsh to some of you, but we must speak plainly. I speak as to a spiritual people concerning a vital matter in an extreme situation and in a time when Christian education is very well established. We have to speak plainly. This is an emergency situation.
I have long been deeply convicted—in fact, for many, many years, deeply convicted—that the public or state or government, if you will, school system is no place for children and certainly no place for the children of Christian parents. I strongly believe that the Scriptures—and this is the most important thing really, and we’ll get to the Scriptures in just a bit here—make clear that it is absolutely contrary to the will of God for Christians to willingly place their children in the state school system. I believe this issue of the education of children is a crucial, fundamental issue and ought to be treated as such by the ministers of the Lord.
We know—we know for a fact—that the homosexuals, the humanists, the fascists, the socialists, the communists, the atheists—oh, we could go on: the pro-aborts, pornographers, modernists, apostates of all kinds, and we’ll stop there and sum it up—the devil himself want the children of Christian parents in the state school system. There is no denying that, and I challenge any Christian parent to refute the reality that the devil wants his or her children in the state school system rather than in a good, faithful, and godly Christian school or homeschooled. The parent who thinks he can refute that truth needs to come to grips with the reality that he “savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
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By the way, I mentioned that apostates are government education supporters. Last fall, emerging church leader Tony Jones came out with an article titled “Death to Homeschooling.” Let me repeat that: “Death to Homeschooling,” and he really meant it. In other words, he wants to see the death of homeschooling. So those of you with your children in the government school system are in some unsavory, ungodly company.
It is beyond me why any Christian would want hischildren in the state school system. One of the biggest hypocrites around is the Christian parent who expresses great concern and outrage concerning the way the public school system is propagandizing and morally corrupting the children in that system where he hasfreely, willingly placed his own child or children. With each new, more extreme outrage, those parents grumble; in some cases, rage; in a few cases, protest.And, of course, the state school cabal just weathers the storm and presses ever forward in their corrupt, immoral agenda.
What a tragic, destructive, God-dishonoring situation; and I think for those brethren who have been shown the truth from the Scriptures, it is a sinful situation that Christian young people are being turned over to government educators five days a week every week—for what, nine months each year?
Now, in the time we have here, I want to present my case as to why I hold that it is absolutely contrary to the will of God for Christians to place their children in the public or state school system. The evidence is such—both as to the word of God and also the nature, content, and environment of public education and that whole system—that I could spend a number of hours on this topic. I would think most listeners have a fairly good knowledge concerning what a wretched, filthy cesspool the government schools are; and certainly, there is much information available concerning the propagandizing nature of that system, of those schools. So, I mostly want to set before you some Scriptures today, and I say in advance that I pity those Christians who will respond to what the word of God clearly establishes concerning the education of their children by falling back on empty, subjective arguments and inane excuses such as, “Well, we Christians are in the world but not of it,” or, “My children are missionaries in the government school system.” With regard to that latter excuse, I have noticed that Christians who use it rarely take part, if ever, in public evangelism, including where school-age children can be easily reached. I say the gospel can be shared with them, such as on the public sidewalk in front of schools or at high school or middle school sporting events. And of course, the excuse is illegitimate on its face. The missionary excuse begs the question, Are all the children of Christian parents sent into the public school system saved? Since when do we send out unsaved, unregenerate missionaries and even children without their parents? I was also under the impression that missionaries are sent out to be teachers, not students.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Psalm 127:3
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But let’s let the Bible speak to this topic before us, the education of the children of Christian parents. That is, let’s consider with godly reverence the will of God revealed in His word. Psalm 127:3 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD”: that is, given to the parents by the Lord to be raised up for His glory. “. . . and the fruit of the womb is his reward”: now reward here does not mean a recompense for any good work; but this speaks of a very great blessing according to the free grace of God. Reward is used in the same sense here as in Genesis 15:1: “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Children are given to Christian parents as a heritage, for the glory of the Lord; and they are not a burden but a very great blessing of God’s grace. It ought to go without saying that having children—living souls—entrusted into one’s care as a parent is not only an exceedingly great blessing but also one which carries with it a very great and holy duty. As the minister of Christ will be called upon to give an account of his stewardship of the flock of Christ put into his care, that portion of that flock, most surely parents will also be called to give account of their stewardship of the children given them—an account of the nurture, care, and protection of the souls and bodies, minds and morals of those children.
“Train up a child in the way
he should go . . .” Proverbs 22:6 |
Now, parents have the holy privilege and duty to “Train up a child in the way he should go,” Proverbs 22:6. This includes thoroughly, consistently, and continually teaching the Scriptures and catechizing the child in the glorious truths of the Christian religion by the word of God. This is by far the first and most important training of all. But parents also have the holy privilege and duty to educate the child with the knowledge of things pertaining even to this life, things which are proper and necessary to this life and which are to be undertaken in such a way as to please the Lord and glorify the Lord and, when done in a godly way by the regenerated child of God, also be to some extent a witness of the transforming power and reality of the new birth.
As we see godly Christian parents educating their children with regard to spiritual things and then also things having to do only with this life, when we see such parents undertaking that for the glory of God, I say, this is also to some extent a witness of the transforming power and reality of the new birth in the parents’ lives.
Most surely, the education of our children would also fall under this commandment which has an application to all of us in all that we do and certainly when it comes to something so absolutely vital as the overall education and nurture of our children: Colossians 3:23, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” And then there is 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Further, parents have a grave and holy responsibility to protect their underage children from sinful, immoral, corrupting, and God-dishonoring influences of all kinds. Briefly put, parents are responsible to train up their children spiritually, morally, intellectually, and practically, all for the glory of God; the good of the child; the good of Christ’s body, the church; and even by extension, to do this in pursuit of the salvation of souls. This is all included in the training up a child in the way he should go. I am not saying that children are saved by Christian educationper se; but when we permeate our children’s education with the Scriptures, this tends to the good of their souls. And of course, as we send such children out into the world then, if they themselves have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, they are also used as soul winners. “And he that winneth souls is wise,” the Scriptures say.
2 Peter 1:3: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Now you parents, both fathers and mothers, have a duty to train your child in all things which pertain to life—life here and life hereafter—and, of course, godliness—that is, the way of holiness and a Christian character pleasing to the Lord. God has given “us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” And there is an application then as to how we educate our children, isn’t there? We have what we need. If we are spiritual men and women, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within, the Teacher. We have, of course, the Scriptures and can discern spiritual things. We have a duty now to educate our children. God has given us all we need to properly educate our children. Of course, I am speaking of properly educating them certainly spiritually, religiously—so very important—but then also academically and practically.
“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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9 |
I might mention right here that it is wonderful to contemplate the various curriculums that are available now that didn’t used to be available and the various helps and other things that are available for homeschoolers. There are even situations where you can have teachers on DVD and so on and so forth, but we go on.
The Lord expects the education of our children to be permeated with the truth of His word and the praise of His glory—for instance, Deuteronomy 6:6-9: “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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Any parent who thinks it is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord for him to turn his child over to an ungodly education system all day long, day after day, so long as the child gets some Bible teaching nights and on the Lord’s Day is deceiving himself. The whole education of the child is to be predicated upon and permeated through and through with the wisdom, witness, and glory of God.
Mothers, you have your responsibility in this; but fathers, as head of the family, you are going to be held the most responsible in this matter. Ephesians 6:4 commands, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath”: that is, discipline them consistently, with equity; discipline them scripturally, with strength and love, rather than acting like a petulant child yourself, disciplining with demeaning scorn, pettiness, and inconsistency, thus provoking your children to confusion, frustration, resentment, and bitterness. And going on in our text: “but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”: that is, bring them up rightly and righteously nourished—spiritually and morally, of course. Bring them up that way in the nurture of the Lord, according to the word of God. And, of course, bring them up in the admonition of the Lord by way of disciplining them and admonishing them rightly and righteously with love according to the word of God and teaching them a right reverence for proper parental authority, which, of course, they are not going to learn in the government school system, are they? But parents must also nurture their children intellectually and academically, and in both cases, properly, even if that Scripture I just quoted does not deal directly with that.
“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:4 |
Christian father, can you say with a straight face, let alone a clear conscience before God, that turning your children over to the state school system, to its educators and education, to its influence and environment is then consistent with bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? I fail to see how the fear of the Lord and the conviction of the Christian conscience would allow you to say that.
The issue before us is the education of children, specifically the children of Christian parents being educated in the state school system. Those parents are accountable to God for the persons into whose care they give their children to be educated. Are there some decent, sincere, perhaps in some cases, increasingly rare cases, Christian teachers in the state school system? No doubt there are some, but they are greatly in the minority. But what if they were inthe majority? Is the parent justified in putting his children under the authority, influence, and teaching of other teachers who are, put bluntly, ungodly fools? Now am I harsh to call such teachers ungodly fools? No, I am speaking true to the word of God. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,” Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1. There are plenty of outright atheiststeaching in the government school system; and there are many more who are practical atheists, even if they profess to believe in God. And what sort of god do evolutionists, sodomites, feminists, fornicators, universalists believe in anyway? They believe in a god of their own making, certainly not the one true God.
Christian fathers, Christian mothers, it is unfaithful and sinful, it is a sin against your Lord and your children to put those children under the care, authority, teaching, and influence of ungodly fools. Proverbs 26:6: “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.” Simply put, if you are going to send an important message by the hand of a fool, you may as well send it by a man with no feet; the probable end is damage to the good you were hoping to accomplish—in fact, great damage, which is implied by the phrase “drinkethdamage.” What does this say then about the parents who employ fools to communicate knowledge to their children? There will be, to one extent or another, with some children more than others, damage incurred. Proverbs 16:22 says, “Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”
The word of God commands in Proverbs 14:7: “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” And will you, Christian parent, justify putting your children in the state school system under the authority, the influence, and the instruction of the ungodly, in some cases, grossly immoral fools—in truth, even fools suchas those described in Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” and Psalm 92:5-6 in which the Psalmist declares by the Spirit of the Lord, “O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man [that is then, a stupid man; that’s the meaning of brutish here] knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this”? What is this then, that Christians put their children under the instruction of men and women described as, plainly put, stupid fools?
Proverbs 14:9: “Fools make a mock at sin.” Does that not describe those public school teachers who hold in contempt the law of God concerning such sins as homosexuality and fornication, just to name two? How many times must a Christian parent knowingly put his child into the care and training of such a teacher before it is sin? I would maintain once.
Now someone is going to protest: Well, I know a moral, decent, honorable government school teacher. Well, no doubt you might; but such men, such women are very much in a shrinking, small minority. Those of you who don’t believe that ought to spend some time researching the National Education Association. The NEA is a socialist, pro-feminist, pro-sodomite, pro-abortion, anti-homeschooling, anti-parental rights organization; and we could go on with the various stands and resolutions and goals of theNEA.
Let me just insert here an excerpt from a news report on the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on several cases dealing with so-called gay marriage, rulings handed down this past summer, specifically in June of 2013:
(CNSNews.com) The nation’s two top public school teachers unions expressed their support for the dual U.S. Supreme Court decisions on Wednesday advancing recognition of homosexual “marriage.”“What we have witnessed today is a major milestone in American history -- a monumental decision and a huge step forward for civil rights,” said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest school teachers’ union with about 3 million members.“As an educator, I cannot help but be moved by the thought of all of the children and students we serve whose families will now be made whole,” Van Roekel said. “I am reminded of the struggle, and I think of how far we, as a society, have come to let love overcome hate and bigotry.”Van Roekl [sic] further said, “The fight for social justice goes on, and because of what we do and who we serve, we will always be on the frontline of this battlefield.”
Should I read that again in the context of sodomite so-called marriage and the advancing of the sodomite agenda? I will read it again from the president of the NEA: “The fight for social justice goes on, and because of what we do and who we serve, we will always be on the frontline of this battlefield.”
“Today the Supreme Court has taken a monumental step forward in our national journey toward a more perfect union by making marriage equality the law in every state of our great nation. On behalf of our members—and the students they serve—we applaud the court’s historic decision, which will end discrimination against same sex couples, place them on equal footing with other families and safeguard all of our children.”
NEA press release in response
to the U.S. Supreme Court “legalizing” sodomite “marriage”June 26, 2015 |
Now going on:
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten called the decisions “a giant leap forward in the march for equality and justice for all.”“The Supreme Court ruled definitively that DOMA violated the Equal Protection Clause in our Constitution and that loving married same-sex couples deserve the same rights and benefits as all other married couples,” Weingarten said in a statement. “The court’s decision on Prop 8, which leaves intact a district judge’s ruling invalidating that measure, ensures that, at least for now, gay and lesbian couples have the freedom to marry in California.”
How can you Christian parents with children in the government school system justify putting your children into the care, nurture, and training of such people? The harder you labor to justify such unfaithfulness and the longer you leave your children in that government school system, the more you justify in the eyes of many the wickedness of such people who are teaching them, as represented by those who were quoted in this article. Proverbs 17:15: “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.” I understand this has first to do with judges and magistrates; but there most certainly is here a principle, a law of action to which we ought to take heed, certainly with regard to the issue at hand. Christians ought to take care not to justify the wicked in the minds of the wicked or in the minds of others. Those Christians who give their own beloved children over to the state educators and that system five days a week aredeclaring loudly and clearly to the state educators and to the whole world their judgment that those educators and that system are worthy of such a sacred trust and holy duty. That is the end impression of the whole thing. That is the message at the end of it all. How can any Christian in good conscience deny the truth of that reality?
What did the prophet Jehu say when he rebuked King Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab? 2 Chronicles 19:2: “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.” That’s the practical reality of putting your children in the government school system. You are helping the ungodly and, in that, loving them that hate the Lord and helping them advance their wickedness. There is a truth then to take to heart with regard to this issue we are considering. If you give your children into the arms of ungodly educators, are you not helping them in their desire to propagandize and corrupt your children—and in truth, all the children of this nation by extension—with their wicked lies, with their corrupt morality, and with their vain philosophy?
So much for the state educators. What about the education a child receives in the state education system? Briefly put, that education is spiritually, morally, and intellectually destructive. Take first the academic education which is taught in the government schools. The history taught is just plain perverted to begin with. It is not even accurate; and very importantly, it ignores, utterly ignores, the wonderful, sovereign workings and providences of God, not to mention ignoring totally or perverting the history of God’s people; and as I said, it perverts other history as well. There is an agenda that is being served, of course. The sciences taught certainly do not glorify the eternal, almighty, omnipotent, all-wise Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all creation—quite the contrary. The state school science curriculum is rooted and grounded in the God-mocking, blasphemous lie of evolution, which means the young people are being taught the wicked science of fools. It is outrageous that children of Christian parents would be taught the science curriculum in the government school system because it not only ignores God but it also promotes that which is a blasphemous lie. The economics and civics and so forth are humanistic and communistic in nature, rather than being rooted in and grounded on what the Scriptures teach. Health classes, of course, teach an ethical and moral system suited to brute beasts, the naked ape philosophy; and we could go onwith that, but we do not want to talk about it. We do not have time, and it is so bad we cannot even talk about it in mixed company. We could go on with other things being taught in the state schools, but none of this is done in secret. It is out in the open. I am sure all you listeners are well—shall we say educated?—on it.
Summed up, the whole state educational curriculum, grade school through high school, is an academically corrupt, wicked denial and blasphemous mockery of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a dark, evil system which is morally and spiritually corrupted and corrupting and increasingly bankrupt from even just a purely academic standpoint.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
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Christian parents who put their children into the state school system are declaring before the whole world that that very educational system is not evil but good, not dark but light.After all, would Christians put their children into an educational system that was evil and dark and corrupt? No, no. Of course not! The world can point to that and say, “Look how many Christians even put their children into this educational system. It can’t be evil; it must be good. It can’t be dark; it must be light.” Isaiah 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Is that not what you are doing, Christian parent, when you put your children into the government school system? By your actions, you are calling evil good and good evil; darkness you are calling light, and you are calling bitter sweet. And what of 1 Samuel 2:30: “. . . for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”?
All the hemming and hawing, all the subjective reasoning and pitiful excuses in the world cannot justify Christian parents supporting the wickedness of the public school system and subjecting their own children to it by placing those children in that system.
Remember, our topic is the education and training up and nurturing of underage children by Christian parents. We are not talking here about grown-up young people, by necessity and with preparation, then going out into the world to earn a living, perhaps in some cases first going on to technical school or college. Now that is another issue, although with regard to higher education, Christian schools should always be preferred when possible—true Christian schools which are quite rare these days and getting rarer. For instance, though, if a Christian adult feels led to be a doctor, I don’t believe there are any Christian medical schools.
Now, I have spoken very briefly of the educators and more briefly still of the education of the government school system. I want to turn now, for just a short while, to the moral atmosphere which the young people are plunged into when they are enrolled in the state school system. Of course, I have already alluded to this and more than alluded to it, I suppose. That perverse, sensual, obviously extremely worldly, ungodly atmosphere is reason enough to reach the conclusion that it is absolutely grossly contrary to the will of God for Christians to plunge their children into it five days a week, seven or eight hours a day. The filthy, explicit talk among the young people; the immodest, in some cases, grossly immodest dress; the pornography (including pornography being made now by students themselves and shown to others, we will not get into that; you know what I am talking about); and the practice and even celebration of fornication of every stripe—these are all commonplace now in the government school system.
This is all well known. We somewhat know it first-hand by having conducted ministry in front of a great number of public high schools, and it all starts long before high school even. On the many occasions in the past when we have given out our tract What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality—for instance on the so-called Day of Silence (and it has been quite awhile since we have done that, and things have gotten much worse)—we have been beset upon by good numbers of students throwing fruit and, in the winter, snowballs; wielding sticks—yes, swinging good-sized, sturdy sticks even; we’ve had that happen—cursing; swearing; shoving; pushing; threatening; speaking and doing lewd things—both boys and girls. We have also been the targets of angry, mocking teachers and administrators.
We have also spent thousands of hours witnessing to high school students and, in some cases, junior high students in front of Planned Parenthood. In fact, we spent nineteen years in front of just the Planned Parenthood in our town alone until finally, by the grace of God, they left town.Again, many times, we heard the most graphic, explicit, filthy talk come out of the mouths of young girls and young boys.
You Christian parents with your children in the state school system are not ignorant of the situation. You know the depths of sexual immorality to which a portion of the young of this nation have tragically plunged. You know about the dress; you know about the talk that assaults the ears of your children; you know about the pornography and even the activity of various sorts which takes place daily in the local state school system. You know about this.
The places and events where we regularly do open-air gospel ministry to this very day, of course, include events such as the state high school boys wrestling, basketball, and football tournaments. The fans at such events are predominantly students, with the greatest number being high school students. We certainly meet many who are decent and sincere young people. But again, the dress is very immodest, even with many of them; and there is always that percentage of young women whose dress—and sometimes countenance—is tragically that of an open harlot; and I mean in the extreme sense of the word. Of course, we also meet young men who are of the same sort of mind and heart.
You parents have a holy duty to protect the developing minds, the morals, the young hearts of your children from such sensual, sordid influence as what is typical in the government school system. 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”Evil communications—that means regular interaction and even companionship—corrupt good manners—that is, moral character. You can make all the excuses you want, Christian parent,for putting your impressionable child into the moral cesspool of the local government school; but it is reckless; and it is disobedient to this warning: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”
What are you making your child out to be anyway that you would put him or her into such a sensual, sexualized, perverse atmosphere day after day? Do you believe your children have no sin nature? Do you believe they are beyond being affected by such filth day after day, the filth you are desensitizing them to in some degree, more or less, by putting them into that system? Areyou content to gamble with your child, hoping that, in the end, things will just work out? Does the word of God take second place then—to what? Your comfort? Your goals? Your desires? Perhaps even your pocketbook? I do not know. Search your own conscience. Do you not realize that it is a sin to immerse your child day after day in corruption and temptation?
For instance, in the context of the dawning era of the New Testament Church, Paul says this concerning the duty of Christians with regard to the troubled consciences of weaker brethren concerning certain meats, Romans 14:13: “. . . that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” Would not the same rule apply with regard to putting impressionable young people into the moral cesspool which is the local government school? Are you not obviously putting an occasion to stumble, to fall right in your impressionable child’s way day after day after day?
Our Lord Jesus warned, Matthew 18:7, “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come”: that is, the fallen world is filled with temptations. That is to be expected of a fallen world, and offences will come. But then Christ went on to say this: “but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” Yes, woe to the man who puts temptation in front of others. Yes, woe to him; and what then of parents who voluntarily put their own precious children, a heritage and reward of the Lord, into the temptation-saturated environment of the government school system five days a week, seven hours or more per day?
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Some parents protest that their children are born-again, as if that somehow makes it acceptable to cast them into the moral sewer every day. Did not Christ Jesus say, Matthew 18:6, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me”—that is, tempt with sin the youngest believer, certainly believing children—“it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea”?
Now, I have to wrap this up, and I want to do so by urging pastors to play the faithful man and protect the lambs of Christ’s flock. Pastors ought to preach and teach and press home the plain truth concerning the issue we have taken up today.
Churches need to come up with ways and strategies to help those parents who truly need help to homeschool their children or place them in a faithful, solid Christian school. Galatians 6:10: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” And I want to again stress with regard to Christian schools, they need to be truly faithful and solid. It will not do to place your children into a Christian school that teaches, in reality, disregard of the Scriptures, that has, practically speaking, a low view of the Scriptures.
“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place their child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt.”
Martin Luther |
Parents need to be willing to sacrifice much to be faithful in this matter, but there are real hardship situations; and churches ought to be willing to do what is necessary to get those children out of the state school system and to ensure that they are rightly and thoroughly schooled spiritually, morally, academically. There are many innovative combinations which can be employed to make that happen, but that is beyond the scope of this message; and I need to bring things to a close—in truth, to bring this heartfelt plea on behalf of the glory and honor of our Lord, the good of His church, and most certainly the well-being of the children of that church to a close.
There is so much more which could be said; but I want to, in closing, share this quote from Martin Luther: “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place their child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt.”
Christian parents, the Scriptures are clear—clear as can be—with regard to the education of children. James 4:17 declares, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” God forbid that you would any longer send your dear children, day after day, through those gates of hell Martin Luther so rightly warned against. If your children are in the government school system, a.k.a. the public school system, get them out. You will never regret it. Get them out! But if you refuse to obey the Lord and remove them for a proper, Christian schooling, I tell you, I warn you, there will be, to some extent or another, a sorrowful reaping for what you sinfully continued to sow. Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
