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Salt & Light, The
Great Commission & Who's
Responsible for Educating Your Children
by E. Ray Moore, Jr., Chaplain (Lt. Col.) USAR Ret.
One of the foremost criticisms from Christians who
oppose the Exodus Mandate's agenda of encouraging
Christian parents to remove their children from the
public education system is, "Christian children should
not be taken out of public schools because they are
serving as 'salt and light' to their classmates and
carrying out the Great Commission." (See Matt. 5:13-14
and Matt. 28:18-20)
It goes without saying that ALL Christians have a
responsibility to be "salt and light" and help fulfill
the Great Commission as commanded by our Lord. However,
the salt and light theological argument is being
grossly misapplied to children at the K though 12
level.
The fact is children at the K-12 levels are not mature
enough nor are they properly equipped apologetically to
exist in a humanistic religious environment that is
hostile and contrary to their Christian faith. Some may
question the validity of calling public education a
"humanistic religious environment," but according to
Joe R. Burnett, the editor of The Humanist Magazine
in 1961, "Public education is the parochial education
for scientific humanism."
The fact is ALL EDUCATION IS RELIGIOUS. There is no
such thing as neutrality in education and the public
education system has been officially godless and
humanistic in both design and practice for a long, long
time.
If you question these facts, then I suggest you consult
the 15 major U.S. Supreme Court cases since the
Everson case in 1947 that have expelled Christian
doctrine, practice and now, moral behavior, from our
public schools. If that's not enough to convince you
that what I am saying is the truth, then take a look at
the curriculum in your local government school. Even
the most cursory review should be enough to prove that
public education is decidedly anti-Christian and
designed to "indoctrinate" as opposed to truly
"educate" children. Add the fact that the overwhelming
majority of public school educators are non-Christians
who bring their anti-Christian bias to the classroom
and what you have is an environment that is not only
anti-Christian, academically counterproductive and
morally bankrupt, but sometimes even physically unsafe
for a child of God.
Any semblance of a Christian worldview which parents
have instilled in their children at home is under
constant attack every hour their child sits in a public
school classroom. And, whether they realize it or not,
the same goes for teachers and administrators who are
Christians in the public education system whose witness
is suppressed as well as their Constitutional right of
free speech.
Christian parents are commanded to place their
children under godly and Christian teaching, not
neo-pagan or humanistic instruction. Like it or not,
there are only two choices -- obedience or disobedience
to God's commands. (See Col. 2:8; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Deut.
6:1-9; Mal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 6:14-19 along with Luke 6:40.
Matt. 22:37-38 and Eph. 6:4)
Kindergarten through grade 12 education, either by
Christian home schooling or through a solid, biblically
based Christian day school, conforms to the overall
responsibility for Christian families to engage in
biblical parenting. Placing a child in a public school
does not!
|| Children Missionaries? ||
The same basic justification for Christian parents
keeping their children in the pubic education system is
made using the Great Commission. (See Matt. 28:18-20)
The thrust of this argument is that Christian children
at K-12 levels are or can be missionaries in public
schools.
Christian adults bear this responsibility, not their
children. Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is it
remotely suggested that Jews or Christians are
permitted to have their children educated in a pagan
institution. In fact, the Bible is quite clear that
children require nurturing, training, and, yes, even
being "set apart for a season." In other words,
childhood is a time of discipling.
Being a missionary is not kids play -- it's adult work
and certainly not for children who are not yet prepared
or trained apologetically to defend their faith and
beliefs. Christian parents who send their children as
surrogate evangelists to public schools may sincerely
believe they are doing the right thing and I certainly
don't believe they are willfully or consciously being
disobedient to God. Rather, I believe they are doing so
for any one of a number of misguided reasons. It could
be a case of not taking the time to really investigate
what the Scriptures have to say regarding their
responsibilities to protect their children; they're
unaware of the facts regarding public education as
mentioned previously above; they haven't taken a long
hard look at the potential consequences of their
actions or perhaps they're following the advice of
someone or some misguided program. Regardless of the
reason, the fact remains that they are either being
deceived or deceiving themselves if they believe their
children can be successful as missionaries in the
public education system. It is only by the grace of
God that in some cases He protects their children from
harm.
|| Who's Converting Whom ||
The reality of the situation is that very little
Christian witnessing is ever done by children in public
schools to begin with. As with everything else in life,
there are of course some exceptions to the rule.
Without question, the lion's share of converting and
witnessing is accomplished through the public education
curriculum, peer pressure from other children -- most
of whom are non-Christian -- and educators who implant
(either subtly or obviously and conscientiously or
unconscientiously) their humanistic, neo-pagan or new
age doctrines within the minds and hearts of Christian
children. These children, I might add, are a captive
audience with little or no chance to speak up or
opportunity to rebut their teachers.
The research data on the success of the public schools
in indoctrinating Christian youth with humanistic or
neo-pagan worldviews is overwhelming. The Nehemiah
Institute's worldview PEERS test shows that 83-percent
of the children from committed Christian families in
public schools adopt a secular humanist or Marxist
socialist worldview. At the SBC's 2002 annual meeting,
the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported,
among other disturbing things, that 88-percent of the
children raised in evangelical homes leave church at
age 18. Barna Research reports that only 9-percent of
born-again teens believe in moral absolutes, and more
than half believe that Jesus sinned while He was on
earth. We believe the fact that 80-percent of Christian
families send their children to public schools is a
prime reason for this lost legacy.
|| Conclusion ||
For 2,000 years, the Christian Church has based all its
preaching, teaching and educational enterprises such as
Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, AWANA, seminary
education, higher education, pulpit ministry and Bible
studies on text like Matt. 28:20 where Jesus says
"Teaching them.." This text along with many others is
the basis for all Church educational and teaching
programs.
Very simply we want to put K-12 education BACK INTO THE
GREAT COMMISSION. We believe Jesus assigned the
teaching or the education mandate to the family and
Church, not to the state or government. The state or
government has usurped the role of the family and
Church in running K-12 public schools. We don't want
government offering the sacraments or ordinances of the
Church, preaching the Gospel, taking over the pastoral
role, and we don't want them teaching children at the K
through12 levels either. The state shouldn't run our
Sunday Schools and neither should they run our Monday
through Friday day schools.
Our case is as much religious and theological as
educational and academic. In Christian theology it is
improper to compartmentalize or separate areas of
knowledge or disciplines such as teaching and education
from the anchor or foundation of God's Holy Word.
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E. Ray Moore, Jr., Chaplain (Lt. Col.) USAR Ret. is a
veteran of Gulf War 1 where he was awarded the Bronze
Star Medal. He is also the Director of the Exodus
Mandate Project. For more information regarding the
project go to
www.Exodusmandate.org or write to PO Box
12072, Columbia, SC 29211
The above article appeared in the July 2004 issue of
the _St. Louis MetroVoice_ - St. Louis' Christian News
and Events Publication. The MetroVoice is a
non-denominationally and non-politically aligned
monthly newspaper that serves the greater St. Louis
Missouri metro area and outlying
communities which
approaches everything from a Christian worldview
perspective. For more information regarding the _St.
Louis MetroVoice_ visit their web site at
www.metrovoice.net or call 314-965-5757.
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||| Related Web Sites |||
Alliance for the Separation of School & State:
http://honested.com/
Considering Homeschooling:
http://www.consideringhomeschooling.org/
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
http://www.hslda.org
National Home Education Research Institute:
http://www.nheri.org/
Exodus Mandate Project:
http://www.exodusmandate.org/
Foundation for American Christian Education:
http://www.face.net/
Nehemiah Institute, Inc.:
http://tinyurl.com/7ga0
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,
this material is distributed without profit or payment
to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.
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