If we are Christians who home educate our children or who have taken the decision to send our children to a Christian school, then at one point or another we are certain to come across the ‘salt and light’ argument, namely the idea that as Christians we should be ‘salt and light’ in the government school system. Perhaps people think our children should be evangelising classmates, perhaps people think that we should be evangelising unbelieving parents at the school gates, or sitting on committees in an attempt to influence the Christian input in the curriculum.
This is a common argument and there can be a temptation to become defensive when we hear the same comments time after time. Nonetheless, I believe that we do have a responsibility to make a response. Few people change their minds about an issue because of a sarcastic or frustrated retort. Other believing parents are far more likely to take us seriously if we can give a clear and gentle biblical response to the so-called ‘salt and light argument’. Here are few pointers that may be of help as we strive to communicate effectively with others.
1. This argument from Matthew 5:13-16 is not based on a proper understanding of the text. In Matthew 5, Jesus is telling his followers (those who believe) that they ARE salt and light, not that they SHOULD BE salt and light. It is a statement of fact and not a command to go and do something. The idea of being ‘salt and light’ has to do with being distinct from others rather than assimilating with others. If we love Christ we are, by default, different from those around us.
2. It is a grave error to assume that the children of believing parents are themselves believers. God has placed unconverted children in our families. Unconverted children are not a good tool for evangelising other unconverted children.
3. It is a mistake to believe that the home educating mother or the Christian teacher in a Christian school is not involved in evangelism. The children whom God has placed in our families are our priority for evangelism. Mothers who are home with children all day are continually presenting the gospel to their children both formally (in devotions/catechism) and informally through the teaching of worldview and as questions arise. Her best time in the day is given to purposefully and intentionally evangelising her children (as opposed to early in the morning during the rush to get out of the house or late in the evening when everybody is tired). Likewise, a Christian teacher can never assume that the children in his classroom are converted. He is making use of the freedom in the environment he is in to continually share the gospel with students in his class, on his own initiative, without having to wait for a question first.
4. We do not place our weakest soldiers on the front. Many times, by God’s grace, children are born again in their younger years. But this does not mean that they are ready to enter the classroom and withstand the bombardment of ungodly and unbiblical beliefs that are being intentionally taught to them in the school system. Furthermore, I believe that we are placing a heavy burden on those children we send into the school system to ‘evangelise’ their ungodly school friends. If we are concerned for lost children, we should be seeking a way to reach them ourselves. The answer is not to send our children to do the job for us.
5. Ultimately our desire is that our children will be used by the Lord in the salvation of many others. That is why we are deliberately spending so much time training them up in the Lord and teaching them to have an answer for the hope that is within. The purpose of Christian education is to raise Christians who are fully prepared to go into all the world making disciples.
6. Just because parents and children are involved in giving and receiving a Christian education does not mean there are not many opportunities to evangelise those outside of our immediate family in the course of everyday life. Unbelievers are all around us, they do not confine themselves to school buildings! They are our family, our friends and our neighbours.
We have never placed our children in the school system and it amazes me the number of opportunities that arise for evangelism as a direct consequence of our decision. A plumber spent a number of days in our house recently whilst he did some work with us. He was fascinated by our choice to educate our children at home. We were able to speak to him about the Lord and his Word and he gladly took some literature to read. I find that our decision to educate our children in the Lord is what often makes us distinct to the unbelievers in our lives and, I would argue, this very distinctiveness is strong evidence that we are, after all, ‘salt and light’.
