“I am afraid that the schools will prove the very
gates of hell unless they diligently labor in
explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving
them in the heart of youth.” Martin Luther
peers. “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor 15:33)
every time. In the public school system, your child will be
daily influenced by people who either do not want or are not
permitted to live as if God were even relevant at all.
In a Christian education setting, your child will be
surrounded by teachers, students, and other families who,
while not perfect, share your faith in Christ. More than ever,
we need to build authentic faith communities.
MYTH 5: My child will not perform as well in a Chris-
tian school as in a public school.
Two significant factors to a student’s academic success are
parental involvement and caring teachers. Most Christian
education environments only partner with supportive and
involved parents. Caring teachers are often second to none
as they daily seek to disciple students in partnership with
parents. These two factors alone are quantifiably proven
to raise academic results. As long as a Christian education
environment insists on quality from its teachers and you are
actively involved in your child’s education, your child will be
well-positioned to succeed.
MYTH 6: My children will trust what I teach them
instead of what the public school teaches them.
The most important lesson you will teach your children by
sending them to a school where God is irrelevant is that
God is indeed irrelevant. Although most Christian parents
would never dream of sending a child to a school that would
force them to publicly confess that God is dead, the public
school system accomplishes the same objective. By teaching
students they can learn all they need for life apart from any
thought of God, He might as well be dead. And they learn all
of this with your approval.
Remember, nothing is neutral. “He who is not with me is
against me” (Luke 11:23).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the
knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov 9:10).
MYTH 7: My children will be in a bubble in a Christian
school. They won’t be ready for the real world.
First, public school is not the real world. It is a forced learn-
ing environment from which God is excluded. That descrip-
tion does not fit a biblical definition of how the world is.
Second, students are like a young plant in a greenhouse.
A young plant must be protected, fed, and carefully cultivat-
36
ed. As it grows more mature, it can be exposed for seasons
of time to the outside elements, although still under careful
observation. Only when it has reached maturity, is it able to
enter the outside world and thrive.
Likewise, students in a Christian education environment
are protected quite a bit when they are younger. However, as
they mature, they should be eased into understanding the
different points of view they will encounter and the temp-
tations they will need to resist. By the time they reach their
later high school years, students should be exposed to just
about every false teaching they will ever encounter on a
college campus and beyond.
We are called to be in the world but not of it. When we
stand on the truth, we have no fear of falsehoods.
For example, in the school I led, we taught a literal six-day
interpretation of Creation based on the Genesis account.
However, as our students matured, they learned of the differ-
ent viewpoints within Christianity as well as the macro-
evolutionary ideas that clearly contradict both Scripture and
sound science.
MYTH 8: My child is a gifted athlete and needs to
attend a public school to get noticed.
Athletic talent scouts find talent wherever it may be. The
list is long of professional athletes who attended Christian
schools. Our school had graduated a professional basketball
player by the time I left.
However, we as parents must always remember to keep
first things first. Nowhere in Scripture will you find a call
to play sports professionally. We do find a call to do all that
we do with all our might. Thus a full athletic program with
many options for students can be a good thing but should
not be the main thing.
We give it 100% to please Christ. We play to win. Howev-
er, sports are not, nor should they be, the most important
thing at any school.
“What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but
lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) We must refuse to follow
the culture around us that seems to worship sports. We must
intentionally choose to prioritize our focus based on the
worship of God. We play for Him—the One who laid down
His life for us.
Consider these thoughts as you weigh the value of Chris-
tian education for your child. It is one of the most important
decisions you’ll ever make. ■
Bill Blankschaen is a writer, author, and speaker who empowers people to live an authentic
life with abundant faith. A former pastor, Christian school leader, and master teacher, he is
the founder of FaithWalkers (Faithwalkers.com) where he equips Christians to live an au-
thentic life and a blogger on faith and cultural issues at Patheos and TheResurgent.com. In
addition to his own writing and speaking, Bill helps other people and organizations to tell
their own story in effective ways at BillintheBlank.com.