Christian Home Educators all know that being able to explain and defend what we do is part and parcel of our educational choice. I am completely fine with this. To swim against the flow in any area of life is going to raise eyebrows and it is good practice to be able to answer questions clearly and without taking offence.
I do wonder, however, whether from time to time to time we should be looking to gently redirect the questioning and challenge Christian parents to account for the decision to send their children to the government for their education.
Here are few questions we could use to provoke discussion:
- Biblically, what is the role of government?
God instituted civil government and it does have an important role in society. The key passages to study are found in Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-16. Paul writes that a ruler is ‘an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer’ (Romans 13:4). The apostle Peter writes that the role of government is to ‘punish those who do evil and praise those who do good’ (1 Peter 2:14).
Reading these verses in context, can we be sure that there exists a biblical mandate for civil government education? Should governments be involving themselves in affairs that are not within their God-appointed realm?
- According to the Bible, who is instructed to educate children?
Think about these verses:
‘And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise.’ (Deuteronomy 6:7-8)
‘Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.’ (Proverbs 1:8)
‘Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’ (Ephesians 6:4)
The picture painted by Scripture is that parents are to have the ultimately responsibility for educating their children. Interestingly, the current law of the land (in the UK) reflects this biblical teaching in that parents are legally obliged to ensure their children receive ‘an efficient full-time education… either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.’
I do not think we can stretch this to say that our children should have no other teacher but their own parents. Moses was taught by his father-in-law (Exodus 18), Timothy was taught by Paul (1 and 2 Timothy) and the disciples were taught by Jesus. Nonetheless, it is one thing for a parent to carefully select a tutor or to accompany their child to a chosen class or group. It is another thing to be at the mercy of the government system with regards to school, class, teacher and curriculum!
- What are the means designated by God to seek and save the lost?
Believers in Christ have a genuine concern for the lost. We understand the reality of heaven and hell and the thought that the nation is filled with souls who are headed for a Christless eternity fills us with horror. How much more so the knowledge that our children are born in sin and are unreconciled to God (Psalm 51:5; 2 Corinthians 5:20)?
But Christ, in his mercy seeks and saves the lost (Luke 19:10). He has not left himself without a witness but has laid down means for salvation. These means are the teaching of God’s word (2 Timothy 3:15), prayer (Colossians 4:3), and evangelism (Romans 10:17).
In all honesty, does the government school system make use of any of these means? On the off-chance that a child is delegated a Christian teacher, how free would this teacher really be to share the gospel with our child or even pray with him during the day?
Finally,
If we were parachuted into a fledging nation with only a Bible in our hands, would we study God’s word and create something that looks like the UK government school system today?
I am not sure that we would. Yet, the education system is so ingrained into our nation, culture and into the lives of those around us that we rarely stop and question whether there is a biblical mandate for it. When it comes to the biblical case for civil government education, in all honesty, I do not think that there is one.
