This blog is based on my notes for a talk I gave recently. The outline including Scripture was my springboard for the talk, the italicized portion is the essence of my commentary, although it has been somewhat tailored to include recent conversations.

The Importance of a Christ-centered Education

I Introduction–“Rational Wiki” and the False Dicotomy

I had been involved in a few conversations awhile ago where the phrase “false dichotomy” kept coming up. In my desire to get better acquainted with the term, I used that wonderful resource, Google. I came across Rational Wiki, which appears to be the atheist version of Wikipedia. The following excerpt was what I found there:

A false dilemma, or false dichotomy, is a logical fallacy which involves presenting two opposing views, options or outcomes in such a way that they seem to be the only possibilities: that is, if one is true, the other must be false, or, more typically, if you do not accept one then the other must be accepted. The reality in most cases is that there are many in-between or other alternative options, not just two mutually exclusive ones.
“America — Love It Or Leave It” is a popular false dilemma. The dilemma suggests that a “true patriot” must embrace everything ever done by America, or become un-American. However, since America as a nation was founded on the concept of respectful political dissent, one must doubt the premise of this false dilemma very seriously.
President George W. Bush stated, in a speech about the War on Terror, that “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”[3] Nonsense. Believing that some measures taken by the Dubya (or Obama, or any other) government were unnecessary, excessive or morally suspect obviously doesn’t entail a murderous disregard for human life — quite the opposite, in many cases.
A false dichotomy similar to the last two surrounds discussions about Israel. One example of this is how some persons insist that being critical of the state of Israel or Israeli policies amounts to a) anti-Zionism and b) anti-Semitism. Another example is how persons both on the “pro-Palestinian side” and the “pro-Israeli side” claim that you cannot both support Israel’s right to exist and Israel’s right to self-defense and also support an independent Palestine.[4]
And lest we forget, Matthew 12:30-33. (For the Biblically challenged, it starts with “He that is not with me is against me” and continues in the same direction.)
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
WAIT–WHAT?! While we can be guilty of presenting false dichotomies, God cannot! If God says you are either with Him or against Him, then truly, we are either with Him or against Him. As Christians we must understand there is NO Neutrality when it comes to God.

II Education is Not Neutral

I would further submit to you that according to Scripture, education is not neutral either.

A) It is Either for God:

Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

B) Or it is Against God:

Psalm 14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There none who does good, No, not one.

Romans 1:18-32

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 1 gives us a portrait of our society today. And what we must notice is that verse 18 tells us how it begins…by suppressing the truth of God, even to the point of denying His existence. And yet Scripture tells us that “In Him, we live and move and have our being(Acts 17:28)”! To address any area of knowledge without acknowledging God as the foundation for all we can know is to sinfully rob God of His glory. For years now, the Government schools that have “educated” the vast majority of Americans, have done so by imparting knowledge that has no foundation in the Lord. Not one day in those twelve years, not one hour in those 14,000 hours, is God given the glory. The impact on a society that is indoctrinated in an atheistic worldview can be seen everywhere we look today. We’ve suppressed the truth in ourselves and in how we raise up the next generation. And in America today, we are reaping what we’ve sown.

III Educational Environment is Not Neutral

In the same vein of there being no neutrality with God, we must realize that not only is education not neutral, neither is the educational environment.

A) The Culture We Are Immersed in is Either For God:
Prov. 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the
companion of fools will be destroyed.

B) Or Against God:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of
the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
1 Cor. 15:33 Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good
habits.’
2 Cor. 6:14-18 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

We are unequally yoked in the sense that we are sharing in the enterprise of educating our children with those who do not love God or seek to glorify Him in all that they do. We are putting our children under the authority of a godless system and allowing them unfettered access to our children for 12 years of their life. Let us not be under any misconceptions…when we do that, we are yoked to that system whether we like it or not. And as I’ve pointed out with Scripture already, any education that denies the Lord and seeks to impart knowledge that does not find its foundation in God and His Word, is Evil according to Scripture. Truly, anything done that is done apart from God is evil. Whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23), even the plowing of the wicked is sin (Prov. 21:4)!
In addition to the system that is made up of a godless curriculum and a teaching staff that is instructed to teach “values” without a biblical foundation and often times can even be opposed to biblical values; there is also the fact that we are plunging our children into a subculture of unsaved youth. For most of their waking day, they are surrounded by unbelievers acting like unbelievers. I’ve shared just a few of the verses that clearly show that the Bible warns us against such companionship. It is one thing for us as adults to have to deal with unbelievers, it’s something else entirely for our impressionable children to have to be not only surrounded by godless companions, with no one to give them proper guidance in those situations, but also to be under the authority of godless educators as well!

IV Scriptural Obligations Regarding Education

So if Scripture declares with absolute certainty that there is no neutrality with God, and that extends even into the realm of education, then the next question should be, what does the Scripture teach us about how we should educate our children? I’m glad you asked! First:

A) Do No Harm
Eph. 6:4a: fathers, do not exasperate your children!
Matt 18:6 Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
1 Cor. 8:12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against
Christ.
Col. 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and
empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and
not according to Christ.

Some might be curious about my use of 1 Cor. 8:12 considering the context of that verse. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with education, but I believe there is most certainly a secondary application here. The idea of causing someone to sin, to betray their conscience, could definitely have application to a child who is still being trained to understand good and evil, but is under enormous pressure to conform to the actions and values of the godless. To cause them to fall into sin is considered a sin against Christ and ties together with Matt 18:6 very easily. Colossians 2:8 can certainly apply to more than just false teachers in the church, it’s quite an apt description of the indoctrination offered in the government schools.
And to comment on the first half of Ephesians 6:4, that instruction has broad application as do the other verses. For the purpose of this talk, I would suggest that having our children simultaneously instructed in two opposing worldviews would be extremely exasperating. Or worse, to allow the government schools to be the only one informing their worldview, yet expect them to follow our (hopefully biblical) worldview that we aren’t even properly informing them of. That would certainly provoke our children. I think we are seeing the fruit of that as many young people are leaving behind the beliefs and values of their parents and are following with more consistency that which was instilled in them with far more time and effort by the government schools.
The Bible is clear, we must do no harm to our children as we raise them up and educate them. To lead them astray or to allow them to be lead astray is a sin against Christ! Rather we should train them in a manner that is glorifying to God. How?

B) Instruct them Early and Continually
Gen. 18:19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
Deut. 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
Deut. 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (and Deut 11:19 says it again)
Prov. 4:1-4 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.
Eph. 6:4b bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Psalm 78: 1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

These verses are just a sampling of so many that clearly indicate that we ought to be instructing our children very purposefully. We should be teaching them about the Lord very early on and on a continual basis. That instruction should encompass all areas of life, both in academic subjects and everyday life situations. God has condescended to make Himself known to us by speaking to us through the prophets and then finally through His Son who lived and died and rose again for our redemption. We live only because Christ has redeemed us. For this fact alone, we must live to glorify Christ in all that we do and say. How else can we best do this except to have all our knowledge grounded in the firm foundation of God’s Word? What we teach our children, we want them to teach their children after them. We are commanded by God to bring our children up in the training and admonition of the Lord. And we can do that by building on the sure foundation of His Word. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:3)

V Conclusion

How we educate our children is not neutral. To say that education is either for God, or against God is not a false dichotomy. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How do we know that? We were taught it. Not in a government school though.
Many of us should understand this already. I hope this has been an encouragement and I hope that we would share this truth with others when opportunities present themselves. I also hope that we will help our fellow believers overcome obstacles preventing them from giving their children a Christ-centered education.
As our society grows more corrupt, it’s important to realize how many of these problems have not only originated from an atheistic indoctrination in the government schools, but then it filters back into those schools, making the educational offering there even more evil than we remember it being in our own childhood. It’s an ugly cycle, and if we want to break it we need to find alternatives. Homeschooling has been a tremendous blessing for many, filled with countless benefits. Unfortunately, not everyone’s circumstances allow them to have that opportunity. There are Christian schools out there, but there are some issues there as well. The cost is often prohibitive. Some schools are using state provided curriculum which is a shame when so much good curriculum is available these days. Also there isn’t enough parental involvement and ownership. This can effect accountability and difficulty dealing with children who can be a corrupting influence to their peers. Smaller, family-run schools out of local congregations could help to alleviate many of those issues and have everyone on the same page and active in the process. However, in order for the Church to begin supporting one another in this goal, we first need to see education the way God sees it.
Children grounded in truth from an early age and raised to have a biblical worldview as opposed to a secular humanistic worldview or some combination thereof, will have a much greater potential to understand and effectively impact the culture around them for the sake of the Gospel. As a Church (universal–and local) we need to see the importance of education and understand it is not neutral. And then we must educate our children in a manner that glorifies our God.