Unprofitable Home Defense, 3

Continued from "Unprofitable Home Defense, 2)

I am continuing my discussion of the theme that it is vain to protect our children physically, if at the same time we cede the molding of their souls to godless, humanist educators. I would like to organize this post around three Scripture passages.

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.(Psalm 10:4)

That Scripture distills the essence of the public schools' stance toward God in theory and practice. By law and judicial decree, public education may not introduce God into any of its studies of His world -- language, art, science, history, economics, government. Mention of God must not enter into the curriculum, in any way that recognizes Him as the sovereign Creator, sustainer and ultimate judge of man's thoughts, knowledge and actions.

When I taught English to Christian school students, I began with John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word . . . ." I told them that not only was language a gift from God, but that Word (logos, idea, rational discourse, message, word) is how God describes the second Person of the Trinity. He is God's communication to us (Hebrews 1:1, ff).

Thus, to learn proper and effective language and communication skills is a privilege and a responsibility for Christians. Our Lord is sovereign over language and judges every word man speaks.(Matthew 12:36)

Are these truths relevant to language and our attitude toward it as Christians? You bet. Do they hear this in the public school? No way.

It's not that they teach false doctrines about God. They don't. They don't even say that He's irrelevant. They communicate His irrelevance by not mentioning Him at all.

God is not in all his thoughts.

That's how God describes the wicked. Therefore, I have to conclude that the public school curriculum is wicked. Not just because it teaches evolution (which is bad) or that homosexuality is a valid lifestyle choice (which is bad), but because they build into our children a whole system of thought that simply leaves out the only One who can give it all meaning and sense.

The next Scripture I'd like to consider is this:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1)

God counts the man blessed who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. One who does not take advice from the wicked.

Now, if you are an adult with some experience and training in Scripture, you can probably discern ungodly counsel and steer clear of it. Of course, many adults lack this discernment, because they, themselves came up in an environment saturated with ungodly counsel (the public schools).

I'm reminded of an incident some 20 years ago. I was working at a hospital to support my family while I ministered at a small rural church. Another worker -- a Christian -- and I became good friends, and I began to give him material to read that described the Biblical worldview as it related to ecomonics, law, government, etc.

One day, he expressed his appreciation for what he had been reading. He said, "Up to now, I've been a humanist and didn't even know it." In other words, he had swallowed the counsel of the ungodly hook, line and sinker.

He had the grace and wisdom to acknowledge and correct his error. Most adult graduates of the public schools do not -- even among Christians -- so they end up sending their own children into the indoctrination centers to receive the counsel of the ungodly.

Then when the young ones get a little older and sit in the seat of the scornful, they wonder what went wrong.

An old adage applies here: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here's the third Scripture for today's discussion:


And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition [counsel] of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

It's not enough just to pull your child out of the environment of ungodly counsel. You must see that your student learns to look at all of life in terms of godly counsel.

Not all Christian schools have godly standards; not all teach their curriculum from a consistently Biblical worldview. Not all parent home-educators have enough of a Scriptural worldview to impart to their offspring.

This means that, whatever alternative you choose to the ungodly education system, you must do your homework. You must educate yourself in terms of how Scripture relates to the various school subjects, and you must investigate curriculum and standards for whatever alternative you settle on.

One place you might start is R.J. Rushdoony's Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum. If you're really interested in home education, drop me a line, and I'll advise you as best I can. My wife & I started home education in 1983, and continued until our youngest graduated in 2009.

You don't have to turn your children over to the pagan indoctrinators. I hope it's obvious from the three Scriptures I used today, that God will hold you responsible if you do.

This topic continued here