DEBUNKING
EIGHT POPULAR MYTHS
ABOUT PUBLIC AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
By Bill Blankschaen
Below are eight popular myths many Christian par-
ents believe about public and Christian education.
MYTH 1: My child can be a light in a public school. Isn’t
that what Jesus called us to be?
Jesus may have called you to be a light, but nowhere does
He call your child to the task of cultural transformation.
His instruction about letting the light shine was to His adult
disciples whom He had specifically chosen and empowered
for the task before them (see Matt 5:14-16).
As long as we are quoting Jesus, He also said that anyone
who harms a child should have a millstone hung around his
neck and be tossed into the sea (see Matt 18:6). He clear-
ly understood children should be protected from any and
all who may harm them physically or spiritually. Yet many
parents send their untrained children into a worldview
battlefield every day, unprepared and unable to withstand
the daily assault on their faith.
Scripture teaches us there is a time for training—when we
are children—and a time to be what we have been trained
to be—when we are mature. “Train up a child in the way
he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”
(Prov 22:6).
MYTH 2: My child will be a missionary in the public
school system.
If the light of a candle represents your child’s faith, consider
this simple truth: every light needs oxygen to thrive or even
to survive. The public school system currently prohibits the
oxygen of God’s truth. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God” (Rom 10:17).
On top of the oxygen-deprived environment, the
state-mandated curriculum and procedures actively attack
your child’s faith, creating a violent storm that threatens to
extinguish the flame entirely. It’s like placing a lone candle in
a sealed jar—in the middle of a hurricane!
If it survives at all, the candle will likely burn out quickly.
At best, it will burn weakly, a shadow of the flame it could
have been. Why hope they survive when they can thrive in
an oxygen-rich environment?
MYTH 3: We can’t afford to pay for a biblical education
for our child.
Unfortunately, our current school-funding system does
require that property taxes support the public schools
whether you send your child to those schools or not. Thus
many parents who choose Christian education must pay
twice. The reality, however, is that it is not a question of if
you will pay for your child’s education but when you will
pay for it.
A parent who invests time, energy, and resources in a
biblical foundation will reap the promises of God as the
child continues as an adult in “the way he should go.” On the
other hand, a parent who does not invest in a biblical foun-
dation will also often pay in life consequences, heartache,
and trials as their child nears adulthood and beyond.
Lest we forget these Scriptures:
• “My God shall supply all your needs according to the
riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
• “He who loves his child is diligent to discipline him”
(Prov 13:24).
• “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever
one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal 6:7).
• “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps 81:10).
MYTH 4: We can counteract the non-Christian influ-
ences in a public school.
Much of what our kids learn is not only taught but caught.
Your child will absorb just as much from the people around
them as they do from the actual textbooks and curricu-
lum—for seven to eight hours every day. They will absorb it
both from teachers—whom you tell them to listen to—and
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