AN EDUCATION ACCEPTABLE TO GOD
by Pastor Ralph Ovadal
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.
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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.
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It
is absolutely contrary to the will of God for Christians
to place their children in the public, or state, school
system.
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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 influence and 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 magazine popular with the government educators, the Humanist magazine, January/February, 1983:
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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.
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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.”
“There’s just certain kids we should have 24/7 to really create a safe environment and give them a chance to be successful.”
Education Secretary Arne Duncan
May 12, 2015
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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 his children 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 has freely, 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?
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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.
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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.”
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“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Psalm 127:3
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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.
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“Train up a child
in the way he should go . . .”Proverbs 22:6
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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.
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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 education per 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.
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“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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“And, ye fathers, provoke not
your children to wrath:
but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:4
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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 in the 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 atheists teaching 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 “drinketh damage.” 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 such
as 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 the NEA.
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:
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(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.”
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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.”
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Now going on:
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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.”
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“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
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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 are declaring 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 on
with 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.
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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”?
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“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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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. Now, all of this
is so very grievous, and we feel a concern for these poor young people
and a love for their souls; so we count ourselves blessed to be able to
share Christ with them. But these are two different issues--the
evangelism of the young of this culture in a biblical, Christ-honoring
way as opposed to the education and training up of the young of the
church.
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? Are you 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?
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.
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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.
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“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
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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.”
