“ Fathers , do not provoke your children to anger , but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord ." Ephesians 6:4
Objection # 1 : Christian education shelters children from the real world .
The Truman Show was a blockbuster movie that told the story of a man named Truman Burbank . He grew up living what he thought was an ordinary life , but unbeknownst to him , the world he lived in was a large set for a 24 / 7 reality television show with thousands of hidden cameras , populated with actors , and he was the unsuspecting star . Truman ’ s hometown Seahaven Island is a set built within an enormous dome , which allows the producer to control every aspect of Truman ’ s life , including the weather . As the movie progresses , Truman begins discovering unusual elements , questions his life , and begins a journey to discover the truth about his world . His journey leads him on a long trip where he runs into the wall of the dome and discovers a nearby staircase leading to an exit door . As Truman considers leaving his world , the producer speaks directly to Truman through a speaker system and tries to persuade him to stay by claiming there is no more truth in the real world than in his artificial one , where he has nothing to fear . After a moment of contemplation , Truman bows to the audience and exits .
Millions of children live a different version of The Truman Show based on an artificial world , except it is called public school . Non-Christian education presents a world where God does not exist and is irrelevant to life . In the illusionary world taught to children in non-Christian schools , the universe came into existence through evolution , children can choose if they are a boy or girl , and marriage can be between two men or two women . It is a fantasy world where morality is a social construct and promiscuous sex is a good
thing . An artificial world built on faulty beliefs produces devastating results for children . Like Truman , parents are faced with a choice to keep their children in the artificial world of non-Christian education or exit it so their children can enter the real world of biblical worldview education .
In the real world , God reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords . In the real world , God created the universe . He defines what it means to be human and what marriage is and is not . In the real world , morality is based on God ’ s absolute , unchanging law in the Bible . The real world is a place where God is sovereign , controls the laws of science , gave us language and mathematics , created the world to display Himself , and is the author of history . Good Christian education teaches these life-giving truths and helps children become deeply rooted in the Christian faith while exposing children to worldly ideas to be analyzed through the Bible ( Col . 2:6-8 ; 2 Cor . 10:5 ).
Education should be built on a solid biblical foundation , not an artificial world built on falsehoods . If the choices a young person makes are to be wise , this person must understand the actual reality of the world and understand the framework for truth . In biblical language , this is called knowledge . This is why the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge ( Prov . 1:7 ). This , of course , is not any knowledge but knowledge of the truth : God exists , and He created the world for a purpose ; we are sinners , and Jesus is the only Savior . These truths are the essential knowledge that a true education teaches and reinforces .
RENEWANATION . ORG 39