Objection # 4 : You should send your children to a public school to evangelize others .
The desire to be salt and light and share the gospel with others is a noble thing , but it is a fundamentally flawed argument as a motive for choosing non-Christian education . Jesus never said , “ Go and be salt and light .” He said , “ You are the light of the world .” We are already salt and light to a dark world , and we are called to live this out right now , not use this as justification to immerse a child in a world of darkness . Christian schools and homeschools are salt and light to non-Christian education and a dark world . Unbelievers should see the attractiveness of Christian education and be drawn to it and Christ . Christian education is an evangelistic engine to lead children to saving faith in Jesus Christ . According to the Bible , the gospel is central to teaching children ( Ps . 78:5-7 ). Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned as a young child , “ which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ ” ( 2 Tim . 3:14-15 ). What led to saving faith for Timothy ? He was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the teaching of the Bible . Any form of education where the gospel is not central and regularly proclaimed is a departure from Scripture .
Non-Christian education may be a mission field , but this does not require the missionaries to be children , nor does it limit the church from evangelizing non-Christian children in their community in other ways and at other times . Soldiers are not sent into battle until they are trained , which should also be true for Christian children . Evangelism should happen at public schools , but it is through the effort of Christian adults . As a pastor , I was invited to speak every year to all the eighth graders in one of the largest school districts in Minnesota . I was given a whole class period for an entire day during the unit on world religions in history class to explain Christianity , and I shared the gospel with every eighth grader in our community . As a church , we share the gospel with hundreds of children through Awana , VBS , ministry in community parks , camps , retreats , and countless other ways throughout the year . The children at non-Christian schools can be evangelized in these kinds of ways .
Education is an evangelistic endeavor where children are the objects of mission , not the agents of mission . To confuse these two items is a major error . Would you send your children to a Muslim , Mormon , or Hindu school ? Parents are wise enough to recognize this would be highly problematic
for their children . Public education is highly religious in every way , with its own secular creeds and doctrine . Children are taught what to believe about the origin of all things , the purpose of life , the meaning of marriage , what it means to be a man or woman , what went wrong in the world , and what the solution is . Then , they are provided a secular moral code to live by .
Public education has removed God and substituted man in His place . There is no such thing as religious neutrality in non-Christian education . Secular humanists like Charles Potter have been very open about this fact for decades . He states , “ Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism , and every American school is a school of humanism . What can a theistic Sunday School meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching ?” Children from Christian homes are being evangelized and then catechized to believe in the religion of secular humanism . Non-Christian schools are winning vast numbers of converts from Christian homes . Education is evangelistic , which is why every child from a Christian home needs a Christian education .
“ Only take care , and keep your soul diligently , lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen , and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life . Make them known to your children and your children ' s children ." Deuteronomy 4:9
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