The Duty of Christian Schooling, Part IV

Living in the "Real" World

Christian schools are like cotton-wool! How often have we heard this advanced as a reason to avoid Christian schools? One of the most common reasons given by Christian parents to send their children to a secular state school is that their children might be exposed Unbelief as early as possible, so they might learn to be missionaries. They fear that Christian schooling is separating children from the real world and therefore failing to prepare them for what the world is really like. They believe that sending their children to a Christian school closets them in a protective cloister that will do more harm than good, in the long run.

Now the desire that one's children will grow up to be faithful witnesses for Christ amidst an Unbelieving world is biblical and very commendable. This is clearly part of what every Christian parent wants to see emerging in the lives of their children as they grow to maturity. It is part of what it means for our children to grow up to be true servants of Christ. So, the desire of parents to expose their children to Unbelief and to unbelievers so that they may reach out to them as witnesses to Christ is itself laudable and praiseworthy.

The real matter at issue here is whether such Christian parents have thought this through sufficiently. The reality is that we all know that young children need to be protected in their infancy from the full rigours of adult responsibility, which they are not yet ready or able to bear. In the ordinary providence of our Lord, children will grow up to marry, to support themselves in careers, hold down jobs, and bear, raise and support their own children, in their turn. They will assume responsibilities in the Church. They will undertake responsibilities in the community.

All of these are part and parcel of what it means to be an adult. As Christian parents we are concerned to develop and train our children to be able to take up these responsibilities—at the appropriate time. But, we all know that it would be unwise and, indeed, destructive to a child to expect them to bear those responsibilities at five years old. Why, then, would Christian parents believe that sending their child to a secular state school is necessary so that their children can learn to be a missionary for the Gospel at five years old? Do we think the same way about any other adult responsibility that our children will one day assume? Of course not.

And consider what we, as parents, are asking of our children in such a case. We are asking them to go to an institution which exists to teach and reflect an Unbelieving world-view, and to be subject to the authority of a teacher who, even if a Christian, is not allowed to acknowledge or honour our Lord Jesus publicly. One famous theologian once described his experience as an adult attending a secular university as “standing daily under the cold showers of Unbelief”. He found it very difficult to talk to fellow students about the Gospel because daily the teaching authorities presented and proclaimed a world in which God did not exist—anywhere.

If this kind of situation was challenging and difficult for a fervent Christian man in his early twenties, what must it be like for a child? It places our children in an environment where the “deck is stacked” against them completely, as it were. It is asking them to do something which older, more mature Christians find a difficult struggle. Have Christian parents really considered what they are asking of their children when they send them to state secular schools so they can learn to be missionaries on a mission field?

What would we think of a parent who said, “Well, Suzie, one day you are going to have to support yourself, so the earlier you start, the better. I know you are only five, but we are going to start charging you board. You are going to need an income. You need to knock on doors in our neighbourhood to see if you can find some work.” We would find such an idea grotesque, to say the least. But is the decision to send our children to a secular state school in order to train them to be missionaries any different? Is it any less inappropriate?

Yet the concern to train our children to seek to win those who are estranged from God remains a worthy one. And we can think of no better training ground than sending them to a Christian school. In the first place they will be surrounded by an environment which respects and honours our Lord. Secondly, there will be many opportunities to talk naturally about the Lord as they learn and study, since all topics and subjects will be presented by all the teachers as part of God's wonderful world. Thirdly, whilst there will be many children from Christian families at the school there will also be children from families which are not Christian. This gives Christian children a wonderful opportunity to seek out and befriend such children and speak to them about the Lord—in a true Christian environment.

Therefore, we believe that the best and most supportive environment in which to encourage our children to have a love for the lost and a heart to reach out to them is in a Christian school.