Common Misconceptions on Public School: Part II

In my last post I put forth a couple of passages that ultra homeschool only, kind of cultish like Christians use to show why homeschooling is the only way to go. I find their "exegesis" wanting and really, those verses show that it is the parents main purpose and calling to raise their children in a godly way to fear the Lord. It falls on the parents, not on anyone else. I have spoken to many who homeschool, but see why I am going to public school my children and agree fully that the homeschool only crowd really goes overboard in many of their yokes that they place on others. What is interesting is that the same interpretation usage that they impose on these verses, they scoff when applied to other parts of application in the Christian realm. I am glad I have many friends who homeschool, public school and private school. I am glad because I get the opportunity to see and pray for their struggles that they have in trying to live out God's mission in each one of these. What is sad, is that many of my friends who are either public schooling their children or who are homeschooled themselves, have told me that they would rather not enter the fray because they have decided that they don't want to get yelled at or ostracized. They have done it before and have seen the lengths that some of the homeschool only crowd will go to get their point across. That is weird. Sorry, but it is a strange phenomenon that people get so crazed on how others should try and live on mission for Christ and his glory when schooling isn't mentioned in the Bible. At best, this is a grey area and what I have found is that grey areas are often fought harder for than the gospel itself. I am going to give a couple of other misconceptions of public school that I have seen that need to be touched on.

Public School Isn't that Bad

This is actually a fear that I have for those who have chosen to public school their kids, yet do it cavalierly. There are some who just don't want to homeschool, who don't want to private school and just allow their kids in the public school system without care. This is very dangerous and is just as bad as letting the child watch TV, get on the internet, go over to other people's houses, etc. without continual investigation for the child's safety, both spiritually and physically. Public school has much to offer in the way of sinning and being led astray. The reason? It is of the world and doesn't have a Christian worldview. So, your child will be taught and led in odd ways that will require you to step in and know which defenses need to be put up at home, so that the child can carry those on to school. They need to be trained to see through the eyes of Christ and the abiding word of the Spirit so that they can notice and see those things that are contrary to the Word. This is something that starts at home so that they can discern for the rest of their lives. This will carry over to school, college, future jobs, current jobs, etc.

Not only this, but the parent needs to continually inquiry the student, the teacher and the administration. Will it be a fight at times? Yes. But to never acknowledge public school as being a place where battles will be won and lost is crazy and is inviting Satan to trample your child. This is not being a careful, God-honoring parent seeking to train the child in godliness. This is merely sending your child off to Caesar, hoping everything turns out for the best.

Know that public school is a difficult venture. Do not ignore this and seek to win your child's heart with the gospel so they too can see truth from error and show and tell and show the truth of God's indwelling Spirit to others.


We don't know if the child is saved, so how can they be salt and light?

This is true. We don't know who is saved and who isn't. But, if we carry this logic out, you should never allow your child to move out of your house. A parent's responsibility to their child doesn't end until the parent, or the child dies to be with their Creator and Saviour. Just because the government says that 18 is when a child becomes an "adult" does not remove the biblical standard of a child to honor their parent. I still go to my parents for advice and understanding and I still desire to honor them with my words and deeds. They are my parents. Kids get into their heads that once they leave the home that all bets are off. It never says that in the Scriptures. The closest it ever comes is when the child is married and they are to become one flesh submitting one to another. But, that still doesn't remove honoring the parent. Will there be times that a child has different convictions of the parent outside of the home? Yes, of course. But, the overarching way that a child can honor God, is by honoring their parent.

So, with this in mind, can my 6 year old, who loves Jesus in words, but not really in deeds be salt and light in his classroom? Yes. He is in a Jesus loving family. From the Scriptures, the family was always a unit, called to glorify God. When the father sinned against God in a way that caused the punishment to be death, who died? The whole family, including children. Why? Why would the children be killed for their father's sin? Because as a family they were a unit that was to sing and show the praises of their King, King Jesus. God sees the family as a unit. This is why God tells us that sin in the family usually carries over from generation to generation and why those who love God will carry that fruit from generation to generation.

How is my child going to be able to witness to others if he doesn't truly know it himself yet? He shows Jesus by deeds as well. He shows Jesus by listening to his teacher, honoring his teacher, helping those children in need, befriending the nerds, the jocks and the dorks. My child shows Jesus more than just standing up and giving a sermon about heaven and hell. In Matthew 28:19 we have the "Great Commission" where Christ calls us all to "Go, therefore." This term in the Greek is like saying, "As you go, make disciples". In other words, it speaks of as you go everyday make disciples of Christ. Sometimes it will be with words, sometimes in deed.

Because I am a child of God and called to show my children Jesus and tell them to follow Jesus, I will always speak and teach my child the ways of Christ and tell them to follow Jesus and do what he did and run to him when they fail because he died for them. I can't imagine telling my child, "hey, you don't need to be salt and light because you don't know Jesus, you're off the hook."

But, my child can be salt and light to the unbelieving world by honoring his parents. Will this develop through time to become "his own faith?" Yes, of course. But, before then, I don't excuse him because I don't know if he is saved or not, that is a copout.

I wonder if those that use this defense allow their children to pray, allow their children to ask Jesus for forgiveness, or what they say if their child says that they love Jesus or call God Father? Are we to correct them and tell them, "well, we don't know if you are saved, so please don't do these things." Logic says that if your child can't be salt and light because you don't know their heart, then you can't expect them to do anything godly and certainly shouldn't allow your child to call God their Father or say that they love Jesus. This becomes a theological beat down.

Jesus welcomes the children and loves their faith. I will never tell my child to deny their duties that Christ calls them to, including being the salt and light to a world that needs Jesus and his hope. I desire to always call them to love Jesus and I pray that their desire will be to show off the glories of God to all those they come across, no matter their age or maturity in the faith.

I am sure there are other misconceptions or questions people have for me concerning public school. I welcome any questions or comments, but know that if you decide to call me a heretic or a pagan, or a secular humanist that puts God on top, I will take offense.

God has called his people to do all things for the glory of Him alone. When we decide to put anything before that, whether it is fear, comfort, or out of love for others, including our children, we make an idol. We must make decisions, not that are best for our families, but what is best for the glory of God. Will this be a struggle at times? Yes, but why is this surprising? God tells us through Paul that those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, hated and mocked. I am not saying that then all should be in public school, but to not see why some have felt the calling of God to do so is ignorant, misguided and is a shame.

I have spoken to a lot of people who are on mission in the public school, and find it disgraceful and have questioned their decision because of the hyper homeschool population. They haven't questioned it because of the great arguments put forth, but because of the great scorn they have received. Let me be blunt:

No matter how you school your child, you are not a more mature believer and Jesus is not pleased with you any more than others. But, if you make the decision of schooling your child apart from asking God where you can show off his glory most, you are making an immature decision and God is not pleased with that sort of decision making.

I don't care if you homeschool, public school or private school, you should be making this decision for the sake and the glory of God alone. Any other reason is stealing God's glory and giving it to another.

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A Pause On Schooling Before We Continue

This has been very interesting so far and has been one to where I hope that those who have commented will go back and look at my original post on why this series it being put up. I am not putting this up to convince anyone of a specific way to school their children. I am not sure why it has come across this way or why people aren't reading my qualifiers when they go through my posts or understand how much I know many different home, private or public schoolers and many have done it for wrong reasons and right reasons.

Again, my reason for this is not because I haven't made up my mind on what I will do for my family, but is to show the different perspectives on schooling to aid others in what they will do or why they are doing it. This is the whole reason, and I stated this in my original post. I want myself and the readers to always get to the reason of "why" more than the means of "how". Also, for whatever reason, poeple don't believe me that when I have said that my family will be public schooling and this is the choice for my family, they take that as an attack on home schooling. Not true at all and I have said this so many times I don't know what else to say.



My choice and your choice in all we do should also first be looked throught the lens of on glorifying Christ and then from there, taking that and seeking God's will on how to do that most for you and for your family.



Like someone said, I have many home school children in my church and I love them dearly and have enjoyed watching their mission for Christ. What I have also found interesting is that some of them have read my posts and have believed them to be spot on and enjoyed them thoroughly. I am not questioning the means of what people are doing, I am hopefully driving people to the why of what they are doing. If you read this blog, heard me teach or preach that is what I have always tried to do, get people to look into their heart for why they are doing things.



The reason is because we can make things that God has created and commanded to become meaningless idols that God detests. We can make our children idols, we can make money an idol, we can make our possessions an idol, we can make studying/reading/memorizing the Bible and idol, we can make praying an idol, we can make serving others an idol, etc. The real question sometimes has nothing to do with the outworking that we all see, but the inward of what our works are doing...glorifying God or glorifying the flesh.



David says this specifically about something he commanded...which is sacrifice and meal offering, yet says that God did not desire these. Why? Because the heart was not focused on the glory of God, but just focused on the means of sacrifice and forgiveness. Notice that David's focus is on the will of God.

Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:6-8

Again, the reason for these posts is not to start a fight, to divide or to "stir up trouble". I have simply laid out what I have seen, read, spoken to others about and my convictions of the Scripture on the reason to home school and some of the cons that could come up if you decide to do so. If one were to see that I said that "these could happen but won't always happen" they would see that I was being balanced with warning.

The last post received 36 comments. I put up 4 of those and most of the comments were made by homeschool advocates. You will notice that most public school advocates just stayed silent on the posts, but have emailed me privately because what they have seen on the blog is what has happened privately and they are exhausted in trying to show the reasons of why they are convinced that public school is where THEIR family has been put to be on mission for the glory of Christ.

I have also had the priviledge to speak with Todd privately and we both decided to remove our comments towards each other for reasons that are going to stay between him and I.

I think people also forgot that this is a series in which I will show the cons of private and public school as well and the challenges that those parents will face as well. This isn't a series on homeschooling, it just happened to be the first post.

I will also say that if I am attacked personally, I have tried to just stay out of that, because I don't want to go into ad hominem attacks and get emotional with others. For those who think I am being dramatic or have some sort of matyrdom complex, I have had many others read the posts, the comments and one other place that comments were being made and they were amazed to see how I was treated and how this subject was handled by a certain few.

This is what I am asking as you comment and make your voice heard. Please read the qualifiers that I put out there. Know that this isn't a book or a polemic against or for any type of schooling. These blog posts are to start someone in understanding some basic things and understanding of choosing God's glory above everything else. I am not going to tell someone how to school their kids, but continue to support them as they support the cause of Christ's glory.

Also know that those that you are talking to are real people, making real decisions and will probably be in heaven alongside you praising Jesus.

I have found it interested that I have been told that I am "ignorant" "a secular humanist throwing God on top" and someone who is "divisive." I have taken these charges seriously and have asked others that I know who love Jesus, will tell me if I am being retarded in my thinking, if I am being overly critical, or if I am being a biased jerk, they have all came back with the same response...no.

I pray that the rest of the series will be challenging and fair and that all those involved will again, read the intro to understand why I am writing these. I have already gotten great response from others who have said that it has helped them understand the reason behind the decisions they make and not just the means that should be considered. That really has excited me to hear that.

I will also put one final note. I have said that I will "never homeschool." I will say, that is exaggerated and has been something that has hit me well. I believe in doing God's will and believe that homeschooling is a viable option for families, so I could never say "I will never homeschool." Point taken.

It also saddens me to see people say that they would rather talk to homeschoolers than public schoolers, that Christians don't belong in public schools and the exaggerated comments made against public schools. It saddens me because I also have many students who are public schooled, and they have read the comments and feel as though they are stupid, pagan and God haters for going to public school. Not only students, but teachers that are Christian have felt this way as well. They aren't commenting because they do not want to get in the fray and start a fight...this is also why my comments have been few after my posts. I am not here to battle. I am here to contend earnestly for the faith and for the glory of God, not for a specific way to school a child.

May God be praised.

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Common Misconceptions About Homeschooling

My Kid Will Be a Social Misfit

Let’s be honest, if you are a Christian and you raise your child to be Christlike, your child is well on his way in being a social misfit. Saying things like “to live is Christ and to die is gain” is pretty strange and not real socially acceptable. When your child doesn’t sleep in on Sundays but goes to church and listens to a dude talking about a 2000 year old book for an hour is also very odd and not socially acceptable.

So, if you are a Christian we are already in a lot of trouble when trying to be social in this world. What we don’t want to do is set up our kids to be like he is from Leave it to Beaver in a King of the Hill world. I get that. To be honest, I know a ton of homeschoolers, private and public schoolers and all of them are odd in some way. Some homeschoolers that I know are just like you would expect, social misfits that couldn’t hold a conversation with Richard Simmons. Not sure if I could do that either. But, the weird thing is that I see the same thing with public school kids as well. My personal belief is that it is on the head of the parent to get their children involved in other things that interest their child. Get them involved in sports, art, dance, etc. to make sure that the child is able to stay social and on mission for the glory of Christ. If one keeps their child at home and allows very little interaction with the opposite sex and other people with differing views, you are well on your way to building a holy bubble around your child that could very well turn them into a Pharisee with very little social skills. So, to be honest, it has to do more with the family and parents than how one is schooled. Although, this will be much more difficult to accomplish in a homeschool atmosphere than a public or private school one.

By Homeschooling My Child Will Be More Safe

This is only true if you decide to shut the world out from them. Then check misconception number 1 and it will turn into a reality instead of a misconception. Are there crazy things that happen at public school? Sure. But there are crazy things that happen everywhere all the time. Again, it has to do with parental involvement to not merely give their kids a list of “do’s and don’ts” but to give them principles to rule their life so that when those temptations come their way, they know how to answer and respond. I have great conversations with public school kids who come and ask me different understandings of what they should do in certain situations. At a young age they are already understanding how decisions impact the glory of God and not just merely a “don’t do that” mentality. So, don’t think that just because you homeschool your child it is more safe…unless you decide to shut them off from the world, then all bets are off.

By Homeschooling My Child is Taught Only What I Approve Of

At the younger ages, this is totally true. This also depends on how you decide to homeschool, whether it is through co-op, video, or totally dependant on you. Now, I will say that if you are not qualified to teach certain subjects, please don’t act like you can. I will go through more of the subjects that I will struggle with in public school when I get to those posts and how I personally will deal with them.

When your child gets older, there are many thoughts in Christian circles on many different subjects where you might not be qualified to teach. Science and theology are big ones. There are many ideas in science from Christians that are vast and wide, same with theology. You will have to be very careful in what you are going to allow your kids to be taught and be very involved, which is no different than a public school parent. I had one student come to me once, as he learns through video by himself in his room, and was asking me if a certain thing his theology teacher was correct. This guy (teacher) was whack. It was way off and not even close to what the Bible teaches.

So, to a certain age, your child will only be taught what you approve of, but there will be an age to where they will have to be taught by someone else in some fashion. I know there are exceptions to this, but from what I have seen most homeschool parents end up allowing other experts take over at some point. Which I believe is a good thing, but stay involved and make sure that you discuss what your child is learning or you have fallen into the same trap as an uninvolved public or private school parent.

Homeschooling Gives My Child a Better Education

Maybe. This isn’t entirely true. It can be. But I still believe that it isn’t the type of school you are in, but has to do more with the parent’s involvement and the child’s work ethic. If you deeply entrench your child with a God fearing work ethic, they will get the most out of the education that they can. I firmly believe this. I have seen really dumb homeschoolers, very bright homeschoolers, very dumb public schoolers and very bright public schoolers. What is interesting, is that the potential of that child is only reached when the child and the parent put forth the effort. You can try to blame this on the “system” but from all the people I know, the research that I have seen put forth, it is bunk. For every dumb public schooler there is an equally dumb homeschooler.

Final Thoughts

Am I against homeschooling? No. Not at all. Am I against it for my family? Yes. We will not homeschool, period. But that is the answer for my family. What I really want people to be asking and really challenging themselves with is “Why am I homeschooling?” If it does not start with the glory of God and the mission that he has put your family in, I believe you will start living in some sort of idolatry. This is the same with someone who desires to public or private school as well. It must start with Jesus and work down from there. Your first question for your family must be, “We want to glorify God in all we do” the second question always flows from this, “How do we accomplish this?” If the how or the why rises above the first question, you are out of order and have started to lose sight of the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” If you start with “I want my kid to have the best education” or “the public school system is terrible” or “I want to spend more time with my child” you have missed the point of living on mission. We are told that this life is difficult, that we will be hated, persecuted, and that Jesus came with a sword that will separate even families. This is the life you have chosen, errr, that God has chosen for you. This doesn’t mean that if you choose homeschooling that I believe you are not living on mission or that you chose wrongly, but I am praying that you have chosen it not for your kid’s sake, but for the sake of Christ and His glory alone. Do not fear. Do not fear choosing homeschooling your child because you think they will be socially crazy, do not fear that you will be sheltering them, do not fear that they will not have friends. Fear God. Then choose how you will live this out. God should always be first in our decisions, not our children.

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Should I Home School My Kids?

For most of the Christians out there, I have found out, that the answer to the question above is a resounding YES! I am going to do my best to show the pros and cons of home schooling and to do this, there will be some generalizations. I know there are exceptions to every rule. I know that for every con I put out there, you will have a rebuttal because little Billy-Joe never experienced any of the things that I state. If you want to put all your chips on Billy-Joe instead of critically thinking through issues, that's up to you and the box you're in.

This post is going to be the pros and cons and I have decided to put forth follow up posts on each of these to include a post on "Common Misconceptions". This will answer some objections to things that I have heard and hopefully help people to see through some of the mischaracterizations or Bible verses that they have used for years to prove the point of their desired educational response.

For home schooling, I know that there are many ways that this is accomplished. From a quasi Amish style all the way to what looks like a private school that meets together, but just doesn't have a mascot or team colors. Again, because of the wide variety I will have to generalize, so I hope that in the comments you will be forgiving and also put forth the different ways you have seen some of the pros and cons lived out differently. I totally welcome all comments, you can even call me a retarded public school moron, but just be ready for the aftermath...remember, I can control a lot since this is my blog :).

Please also know that I believe that home schooling is a viable option for Christians. I know many who home school. I know many who have failed in home schooling their kids and I could unfairly concentrate on those failures. I also know many who have succeeded greatly in home schooling, and I could unfairly concentrate on those victories. My job is to balance this so that we will all critically think through these issues and answer the reason of "why" we school the way we do, not just the different ways we have seen it work, or not work.

The Pros of Home School

I know that it might be strange for some of you to hear a public school kid say anything positive about home schooling, but I am not blind or deaf, so I know of some.

1. Total Parental Involvement

This has to be the biggest pro for home schooling. There is no fighting with curriculum, either with secular thought or theological convictions. The parent has total control of showing how God's glory is seen in all parts of every subject, whether science, math or economics. A hard working parent who home schools will be able to continually show forth why God gave us math (order), why God gave us science (to point to the creator) and why God gave us economic thought (to show that God gives us the power to create wealth) all for this glory. Not only this, but your personal theological convictions are able to be put forth as well. The Arminian doesn't have to worry about a Calvinist speaking about election, predestination and other correct theology and the Calvinist doesn't have to worry about the Arminian putting forth their craziness of libertarian free will and how God continually changes based on the prayers of those that chose him freely.

This type of involvement will put forth your children to think just like you do, however that is. To be honest, in my convictions, I want my children to critically think like I do. I want them to have the same convictions that I do, because I believe all my convictions are correct. This might sound quite prideful, but if I didn't believe my convictions were correct, I would change them.

The parent also gets to hopefully be the one to introduce why the kid shouldn't do drugs, look at porn, shoot people, shank others, etc. Through home schooling the influence of the outside world is mitigated, and this can be a plus. Especially since public schools hand out guns and drugs when you walk through the door.

If you work out the average amount of hours kids will be in school from age 5 to 18 you would come up with about 14,000 hours. Those 14,000 hours are redeemed and given back to the parent if you home school.

2. Freedom of Education

How do kids learn? Every child is different. With home schooling you can completely tailor the way your kid learns and not have to worry about him learning audibly if he is a visual learner and vice versa. They can learn through a lot of different ways and experiences. This is difficult if they are in private or public schools. Much of their day is impacted by how the school has to educate a mass audience. Although teachers differ, it will be hard if your child learns differently than the status quo.

This freedom is also extended in the fact that if a child has a learning disability or some sort of mental retardation, the parent can change and take as much time with that child that they need. This is a huge plus with home schooling. Some children that have mental issues can't concentrate for longer than 20 or 30 minutes and so breaks need to be taken often and those breaks might need to be drastic. Such as taking a walk, spending time outside, etc. This is just very hard for the public school or private school to accommodate. My pastor's family is a great example. His son had major heart issues, even to the point where he had a heart transplant. He would have missed so much school it wasn't possible. He told me because of this, they chose home schooling for their family. I totally support that.

There are many other freedoms for the home schooled. Such as the freedom of the family to do missions trips together, serve in the church together in ways others can't, etc.

The other freedom for home schooling is that you can take a vacation whenever the family wants, you can wake up late, learn on the couch and watch Judge Judy...and that's just cool. Okay, maybe Little House on the Prairie and not Judge Judy, but since home schoolers don't have TVs this can be quite tricky. Okay, okay...enough. :)

These are the pros that I see in home schooling. There are pros that others see in homeschooling, which I don't believe are pros, so because I am the one writing these, will not include them. You can include some more in the comment field if you would like.

The Cons of Home School

1. Removal of Christian Thought in World

This is my biggest issue with home schooling. If you look at church history, the biggest turn in why our culture has changed so much to secular thought happened when the church left the cities and went to the suburbs. Although most of the NT flowed from Paul going to the major cities of commerce of the day, the church left the cities to take refuge from the biggest culture maker, which is the big cities. Everything flows from the biggest cities to the smaller ones. It was a mad dash to get out of the cities, and we are now seeing the effects.

The same is happening in our public schools. Whether we like it or not, the major social and cultural aspect of children comes from the big cities, to the schools and then flows to our suburbs, home school and private school. It isn't the other way around. The danger of the removal of all Christians from public schools is to remove the Christian voice against the darkness of this world. Notice Paul went to where the learning was happening, not to the outskirts of its effects.

We need strong Christian families to invest in public schools to give a voice to intelligent strong Christian convictions, if not, we will be removed altogether in the education of tomorrow's leaders. Who is going to stand against the atheistic teacher if there are no Christians in the classroom? We are handing them a free ride with no alternative voice of God's design.

The church has tried to put the evidence forth that since the removal of prayer from schools, they have gone down hill. False. It isn't the removal of prayer, but has been the removal of the prayer warrior from the schools. When Christians are removed, Christian thought is removed, we shouldn't be surprised.

I am not saying, please hear this, I am not saying that we should then only have people go to public school, but to remove the Christian from the public school system altogether silences Jesus in our greatest learning institutions.

2. It's not the Real World

This sounds like an overstatement..and it really is. Please read to see what I mean. There is something called the Protestant work ethic, which came from the outflow of the Reformation. Before the Reformation, the Roman Catholic always put forth that the highest calling comes to the one who works as clergy within the church. The Reformers put forth one of the greatest solas, "Soli Deo Gloria" or "For God's Glory Alone." The Reformers reminded everyone that God told us to do all things for the glory of God, including our work. So, they put forth that working within the church is not the greatest calling, but the greatest calling comes forth that where ever God has placed you, make it your mission field and do it for the glory of God and not man.

Same can be said for school. Personally I grew up in the public school system but everything flowed from my parents convictions of the Bible. So, when the big bang stuff started coming up, I laughed. When atheism was put forth, I laughed harder. Now, I was not the best example of a public school kid, but examples of me or anyone else is moot, we don't act based on what we see but what God says.

The fact is when your kids leave your house (age 18, etc.), they might be trained, taught and challenged by non-Christians or by people that don't have your same theological convictions. The biggest con of home schooling in this area is that the child can be coddled so much that they have only learned what parents have told them without really getting the chance to practically deal with the questions of the kind atheist, the kind Mormon, the kind Muslim who ask them tough questions and live a life that looks a lot like theirs.

When I went to a private College, we could usually tell who was home schooled. They were not accustomed to answering and defending opposing world views. They would spout what their parents told them to say, but never had real experience on how to deal with those were thoughtful, insightful and very kind, but totally opposite in every way when it came to convictions and world views.

Does this have to be how it is with home schoolers? No. Of course not. There are many ways that a home school family can try and defend against this, and I have seen this successfully done.

3. Real Involvement with the World

Here is where I have seen the most difficulty with my teens in youth group. They admit that they just don't have many lost friends. These kids are very good kids, very involved in many things, but in the end, they just don't have many friends that are lost. This is hard. Things can be done to try and mitigate this, but from what I have seen over the years, this is a big deal to those kids that I see that desire to evangelize and show off the glory of Christ to the lost, but just don't know how to have some sort of "community" with the lost.

Personally, growing up, my parents didn't do enough investigation, but because I was public schooled, I have many different kinds of friends that know where I stand, that I have spoken and lived Christ out in front of their eyes. They see my faults, they see my victories, but hopefully most importantly, they see my hope. Have I seen home schoolers who have done the same thing? Yes, of course. But, it just isn't the norm.

Jesus was called a friend of sinners, and home schooling can be a deterrent to this. Notice I said could be, not always will be.

I have found this to be more of a conviction of Christians than I first thought. It really did surprise me. When homeschooling, you must ask yourself why you are doing so. If it is because you want your kids to get better grades, be more smart, or to win scholarships for intelligence, you totally miss the point of being a Christian. Sometimes we must give up some stuff for the sake of the glory of Christ.

If, on the other hand, you desire to home school because you believe that it is the best for the glory of God for your family, you have asked the correct question. Anytime you start with your child, above the glory of God, you are working in a false dichotomy. Being a Christian in this world is dangerous. It is dangerous physically, spiritually and emotionally.

We are called to be a people on mission for the glory of God. If your mission is home schooling, because it is the best way your family can glorify God alone, then so be it...I fully support you. If your mission is trying to get your child the best education that fits them...that is wrong.

In my facebook status someone asked, "So, Seth when your children are in JR high and the teacher says they will fail the test if they do not say the earth took billions of years to make, what do you tell him to do. Be a light and fail, or shut up and answer the question the way the teacher wants him to?"

My answer: Be a light and fail. It is worth failing and hardship to show off the glory of the cross and our God.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 10:26-33

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How Should I School My Kids?: Introduction

I have always known that schooling was a big issue when it came to Christian parents and their children. I have been intrigued by it ever since my mom was told that she wasn't a good mother for being a public school teacher herself, and also sending me and my youngest brother to public schools our whole life. The crazy thing is that my mom was well educated, so was my dad, and I was still public schooled. There were many things that my parents could have improved on, and many things my children will say that I should improve on, but the decision to have me public schooled was not one of them. I grew up for the first 12 years of my life in Oklahoma, dreadful place, but the people are cool. In Oklahoma the only people that I knew who were home schooled looked like they came straight off the covered wagon and land rush. Seriously. Not kidding. I never knew that kids could be even partially normal and be homeschooled, they were just a strange bunch.

After 12 we moved up to the great Northwest just outside of Seattle and I have been here ever since. My father was a tent maker and was a youth pastor for parts of those years, I was the youth director for my church for the past 5 plus years, public schooled my whole life until college, so I come with much experience even if my own children are quite young (6 and 3). I am guessing it is my age, involvement in church, etc. but it seems nowadays that a small minority of true Christian parents send their children to public schools. Today I simply asked the question of what people preferred, and it quickly turned to a heated debate with close to 200 comments (click here for page view). What was shocking is that the minority of people would even consider public schooling their children. It seemed like those who are broke and holding down two jobs were the only ones, besides a select few, who had a distinctive reason for public schooling their children. Very interesting to say the least.

I will be quite honest. I cannot foresee any reason that I would ever homeschool or private school my children. I am pretty set on public schooling them. I know all the ins and outs of this, have my whole life and still very involved with those who public school their kids. So, I come in this with some conviction already. But, I don't want you to think that I believe that this means that the other means are then a sin and shouldn't be pursued. Not at all. What I want to do, like I try and always do when I blog, is for you to seriously consider why you are choosing or advising others on choosing what to do for their children.

I am going to set this up in three different posts that will give what I believe are the strong and weak points in each of the categories. I hope to not draw any straw men or unnecessary reductio ad absurdum arguments into the mix. What I simply hope to do is get my thoughts down, and then have a healthy discussion on the topics at hand. I know, especially after today, that the blood boils hot on this topic. So, as you read these posts, remember that I can get tongue and cheek, I will destroy bad argumentation when I feel it necessary, but I still love those who challenge me in my thoughts. So come ready to comment, challenge me, be challenged, etc. Remember that I am usually an equal opportunity basher of all. So, if you start laughing at the posts, you probably will be quickly yelling at them too. But, that's cool, as long as these get you to look more to Jesus and his glory, I am good with you screaming at your screen and looking like you have tourettes syndrome.

In the end, I want you to really understand that the answer to everything we do in this life, including our schooling decisions with our children, is not about ourselves, but is about what glorifies God and his risen Son the most. If you do not believe that is the question that should be asked, you will get very frustrated at some of these posts.

So, the outline will be as follows: Each will include pros and cons

Home School
Private School
Public School
Why I am choosing Public School for my children

I hope you will find this proactive and not destructive in decisions when it comes to our schooling. Because our children are the most important things in this world...oops...no they're not, God's glory is.

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 4

Before I start to have some fun with this post, I must ask that you have a sense of humor here. I am going to step on a lot of toes here. But, it's fun and I don't mind. I will mainly be focusing on home schooling vs public schooling. I was personally public schooled and I still have all my faculties and didn't sell my soul to the devil...although I was close a couple of times, but his offer wasn't quite good enough. I know many on both sides of this issue, so have at me if you will...and let's have some fun...and if you get a little mad at me, sorry, get used to it if you read these posts because they hit a lot of people in places they don't like. Including myself. Without further adu (however you spell that little word, remember I was public schooled)...let's do this and watch the carnage.

Step 4 is that you must raise your children like I do! This is a must for any parent. You must know that how you raise your children is absolutely correct and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, especially when you decide to keep them at home to learn on the couch as school starts at half past noon. You must get very dogged about this one. You must understand that homeshooling is the only way to raise your children, especially with all the little demons running around out there. I mean what would happen if they actually came in contact with a person who is a pagan? These pagans might touch them and infect them with the disease of "God hate."

You must understand that public schools are the devil. You must understand that there is no way that your child will be able to go through that and come out a Christian, but will be a flaming liberal. If you have to use Scripture to prove your point. My favorite is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, it is the Shema. It states (I'll put it in red so it looks more official):

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

How can a parent be diligent with their children to teach them this if they go off to school all day with the crazies? Remember that the time before school and also the time after school doesn't count, diligence can only happen between the times of about 7am to 3pm, according to my homemade Jewish calendar. It's right beside my wife's dress that she made from our old curtains. This (the time of diligence) just happens to be the time they will be at school! Also note that you can just ignore the other facts that are spoken in Deuteronomy, such as the dietary laws in chapter 14 and the ceremonial feasts in chapter 16. Also, don't worry, you don't have to write things on your forehead or put Bible verses on your front door, although most people that I know beleive that "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord" should be a staple on all front doors of believers. Why don't you have to do this? I don't know...cause I said so? Will that work? Sometimes ignoring Scripture works especially if you want to be a good legalist. Just say it with authority with a furrowed brow...that usually works.

Oh, and if your wife does all the schooling at home, that is okay too, even though no Jewish family would agree with you when applying Deuteronomy 6. The Jews took this to be the man's responsibility to do this, but the man is at work all day, and remember, diligence can only happen between 7am to 3pm, so the father obviously can't do this. So ignore that no Jew in the time of the Bible did it like this, and let the wife do all the teaching.

I just can't believe that anyone would want to send their kid to public school. I mean...there are non-Christians there. They might talk to your child. So, if your child happens to go to a public school, tell them to just run screaming if they see one of these people called, "non-Christians." Those kinds of parents that send their kids to public school must not care for their kids. It's not like they can read the material ahead of time, meet with teachers and be involved in any way. That is just crazy. Plus, the PTA really stands for Parents and Teachers for Anarchy.

And if any of these people bring up how Daniel went and had a secular education you should just say that was a one time occurrence and Daniel was lucky that Nebuchadnezzar liked him so much. Daniel wasn't really a light in the darkness, but it was like a Red Sea occurrence. You aren't going to tell your kid to try and part the Red Sea just because Moses did it, are you? Well, maybe you would if you think public school is okay.

We didn't even get to talk about Samuel going to get educated by Eli and that most Jewish boys would go to the synagogue to learn at the age of 7. I mean, how can your children learn Math unless the Math teacher is a Calvinist? 4+4=TULIP

Just remember that homeschooling isn't just a way for the legalist, but it is THE ONLY WAY...at least if you are a Christian who loves your children.

If you want to be a legalist and send your child to public school this becomes a little more tricky. But, all you have to do is continue to see that those that homeschool seem to be born in a bubble and have their hair combed by someone stuck in the fifties. Make sure that you over analyze things and always come up with the excuse that "how can Johnny know how to handle himself in the world if he is not in it." Remember that everything happens between 7am and 3pm and you will be well on your way to understanding how this plays out. Also, learn the following phrase and you will be good, "I don't want to shelter my kids forever." You must get that phrase down if you are going to be a legalist with a child that goes to public school. It is essential.

Okay...so here is the truth of the matter. You can quote any verse you want at me, but none of them tell me to homeschool my child. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is my favorite passage because most take it way out of context and act like the parents can't be diligent with their children if they are going to school. Now, will parents who send their kids to public school have to be diligent? Yes, of course. I know of a parent who reads every single one of the books that will be on her child's reading list for the upcoming year. She meets with the teachers and principal. She is completely involved. She is also MORE involved than most of the homeschool parents I know. I have homeschooled kids coming to me and asking about some whacked out doctrine that they just learned from their home school teacher on video or at their co-op. So, it goes both ways. You can be either really diligent in both circumstances or just plain lazy as well. Don't assume that if you sit your kid in front of a DVD player with a teacher while your child is in bed all day that you are being a diligent and loving parent. Also, if you allow your child to go to public school don't assume that asking, "how was your day" is being diligent. Because usually your kid will usually leave out that he went to history class then skipped Math class to smoke marijuana and make out with Sally behind the bleachers.

Can we please remember Daniel. Can we please remember Samuel. Can we please remember that God has plans for everyone. Some he desires to be homeschooled, some he desires to be a light to the public school. Did you know that when your child gets out of high school and goes to that private college that their are non-Christians there and also profs who don't believe in the Old Testament? Then what? Do you know that your child might work for an atheist? Did you know that Jesus was amongst the roughest people around? Now, are we to be more careful when the children are in our houses? Yes, of course that is why we must be diligent with them to teach them the Shema. Diligence doesn't only come between the months of September to June from 7am to 3pm each day though.

I always laugh when I find that some are homeschool only people. I really can't believe it. I also laugh when I find people who are public school only parents and say that the homeschoolers are "sheltering" their children. Both of these logics are far off. Remember, I am not saying that if you believe in homeschool or public school that you are a legalist. It is when you start putting this yoke on others fiercly is when you start to the be "crazy uncle Ron." Why don't we let the Lord work in the hearts of parents on how they should raise their children and what they connotate as "diligence." I will probably send my child to public school and be on top of things. I want my child to be there to give Christian insight, to show that Christianity is still "in." That it is still here and growing. That God didn't go away and die like Nietzsche would have some believe. I am also not going to throw my child into the den of wolves and say, "good luck, be a city on a hill." I will be diligent and teach them the ways of the Lord and ask him to share that with those that have very contagious disease of paganism. But, I will tell him to watch out when they sneeze.

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