The RenewaNation Review 2021 Volume 13 Issue 2 | Page 33

SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS
Faith is being mixed daily with state education today . It ’ s just a different kind of faith than the one mixed with U . S . schools for our first 150 years . In the majority of U . S . schools today , it is not permitted to teach the way Noah Webster envisioned we should teach children . In declaring , “ Education is useless without the Bible ,” Webster condemned the wasteland of disoriented learning we see in America today . Did he not ?
In most schools , it is no longer permitted to teach students that the Bible provides direction for truly understanding every subject in school . Yet , it is allowable to teach ( directly or indirectly ) that a framework of meaning is something students determine for themselves .
“ If it is a faith position to teach students that the Bible provides the overarching framework of meaning and purpose for learning and living , is it not also a faith position to teach — or to imply — that it does not ?”
Here ’ s the big question : If it is a faith position to teach students that the Bible provides the overarching framework of meaning and purpose for learning and living , is it not also a faith position to teach — or to imply — that it does not ?
If it is a faith position to say , “ Jesus is Lord of all , and by Him and through Him all things exist ,” is it not also a faith position to say — in so many words or lack thereof —“ Christ and the Bible are irrelevant to our discussion of pronouns and math ?” Are not both statements faith positions ?
To teach students that Christ and the Bible are irrelevant to pronouns and math can be done very effectively without telling them this directly . A teacher does not have to stand in front of a class and say , “ the Bible has nothing to do with our discussion ” to communicate the message that the Holy Book is irrelevant . In school , silence speaks louder than words .
If we think the U . S . system of education is religiously neutral , think again . If state schools were indoctrinating children in Buddhism , Islam , or Native American Animism , many Christian parents would be quite distressed . Maybe . But when it comes to indoctrinating children in John Dewey ’ s “ Common Faith ” ( the non-theistic faith in autonomous human self-sufficiency ), many Christian parents are curiously passive . ( See Dewey ’ s book , A Common Faith .)
Apparently , a host of Christian parents think secularism is neutral . If their children can learn to read and write well enough to enter a university , they ’ ll give secularized education a big pass . Evidently , many Christian parents feel that things are okay if teachers don ’ t stand up in front of a class and say , “ The Bible is a fairy tale .”
Yet , when teachers don ’ t place a single academic subject into the context of a biblical frame of reference for thirteen years , are those teachers really being neutral ?
A PROFOUNDLY TROUBLING STATEMENT
Jesus said a lot of difficult things , but He made a profoundly troubling statement when He said , “ He who is not with Me is against Me ” ( Matt . 12:30 NKJV ). What did He mean by this statement ? If a person is not with ( or for ) Christ , is he or she against Him ?
What if a person never says anything bad about Christ , never uses His name in vain , and never criticizes or thinks poorly of people who follow Him ? Is that person against Christ because he or she is not for Him ? It appears so .
What about schools ? If an institution selling knowledge and understanding is not for Christ , is it against Christ ? Are non-Christian schools ( public or private ) against Christ if they never mention His name to a student , one way or another , for thirteen years ? We need to think about this deeply .
Does a school have to announce that it is “ against Christ ” to be against Christ ? Must it be written in the official handbook , “ Our school is against Christ ,” or be posted on the classroom wall or discussed at parent-teacher meetings for this to be the case ?
Let ’ s pose the question another way : “ Are non-Christian schools for Christ ?”
What might happen if you asked your local public school principal ( who is a dedicated Christian attending your church and feels called to serve in that capacity ): “ Is your school for Christ ?”
What if the answer is : “ Our school is neither for nor against Christ . We have students who are Christians and students who are not Christians . We take no position on the matter , pro or con , at school . We are neutral .”
Would Christ say this school ( which is an institution selling knowledge and understanding ) is for Him or against Him ?
Sometimes Jesus ’ words are profoundly troubling . They ’ re meant to be . ■
Dr . Christian Overman is the author of Assumptions That Affect Our Lives and God ’ s Pleasure at Work : The Difference One Life Can Make . Dr . Overman has taught on biblical worldview and Christian education across America and Central America , South America , Europe , Africa , and Asia . He and his wife , Kathy , have four adult children and twelve grandchildren . Contact Dr . Overman at overman @ biblicalworldview . com .
RENEWANATION . ORG 33