May 2019

Last week I received an email from a reader that asked me for some advice.  The person’s concern was about parents’ reasoning when it comes to enrolling their children in a secular school.  Over the past 50+ years I have probably heard all the reasons why Christian parents send their children to secular schools.  Most of these reasons are logical from a human perspective.  However, human reasoning cannot be the basis for how parents educate their children and youth.

The specific parent reasoning that was sent to me last week went like this.

I want them to experience and get exposed to the public school while they are still at home under my care.  That way I can talk to them and help them through all of the issues they will face in a public school.  Once they go off to college, I won’t be there to help them with this.

Similar reasons for enrolling children in secular schools include:

• I don’t want to shelter my children from the real world.
• I am only doing this for academic reasons.
• I believe that my children need to be salt and light like Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

Many times when we are faced with this type of reasoning, we struggle to know how best to respond.  It is clear from Scripture that parents have the God-given responsibility to educate their children.  This also carries with it the fact that God will hold parents, especially Christian parents, accountable for how they fulfill this responsibility.  I am convinced that God expects Christians to make schooling decisions based on biblical principles.

I am going to attempt to share some of my thoughts on how we can respond biblically to parents who sincerely believe it is best for their children to attend a secular school.  I will try to avoid giving my opinion on the subject as human opinion is what has gotten us into the condition we are in today.

The Danger of Dualistic Thinking

I believe that the biggest challenge facing Christians today when making major decisions is that we are plagued by a dualistic worldview.  By this, I mean that Christians have divided life up into two compartments — the secular and the sacred.  When this happens, life becomes fragmented with no biblical basis behind our decision making.  The result is inconsistency.

Parents must be consistent in their theology.  The parent who wants his/her child to “experience” or be “exposed” to secular education while they still live at home must be challenged to be consistent with this type of reasoning.  Would they send their children to a church that doesn’t believe the Bible to be God’s Word?  Would they want their child to “experience” an Eastern religion or “be exposed” to Muslim teaching at the local mosque?  After all, parents can “talk to them” and “walk through all of the issues” related to these false religions that they would encounter.

The Myth of Neutrality

I have addressed this issue in a number of posts over the years.  Many parents believe that most of the “academics” that a child will learn in secular schools is spiritually neutral.  They also are aware that there are some false ideas that they will be confronted with such as evolution.  However, they believe that they can help their children navigate these big issues at home and, therefore, can survive being in a secular school.

The truth is that there is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to any aspect of education.  All education is presented in the context of the worldview of the teacher and the textbook authors.  That is why Jesus made it clear in Luke 6:40 that when a person is fully trained (educated), they will be like their teachers.  The student will develop a worldview that will drive all of their attitudes and actions that will be in line with that of his/her teachers.

False Teachers

The Scriptures are clear on this point.  Christians are to avoid false teachers.  As I share these verses, keep in mind that we cannot apply them only to what is taught at church as this would require dualistic thinking.

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  2 Peter 2:1 (NKJV)

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.  They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.  Jeremiah 23:16 (NKJV)

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.  Acts 20:28-30 (NKJV)

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  Matthew 24:24 (NKJV)

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  Matthew 7:15 (NKJV)

Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;  2 John 2:9-10 (NKJV)

No Biblical Worldview

Studies show that the majority of Christians today do not possess a biblical worldview.  I recently was speaking at a conference and heard George Barna share some of his findings.  Less than 10% of adults have a biblical worldview.  When this is broken down by generations, it was found that only 4% of Millennials possess a biblical worldview.  The Millennials are the primary parenting generation today.

Parents can only give what they possess!  If parents do not possess a comprehensive and extensive biblical worldview, they will not be able to biblically “help their children through all the issues that they will face in secular education.”

Wrong Purpose of Protection

Scripture is clear about the fact that children are to be protected from harm.  This protection is not only from physical harm but also from mental and spiritual harm.  The problem that homes, churches and schools have caused when it comes to protecting our children is that they have not understood the biblical purpose for protection.  Kevin Swanson said it best in his book, Upgrade.

The goal of protection cannot be sheltering.  The goal of protection must be preparation.

Parents are to protect their children and youth from false worldview or ideas.  However, as they protect their children they are to prepare them for spiritual warfare.  This must be one of the main goals of the education Christians give their children and youth.  They must be fit for battle and this will take a united effort from the home, church and school.  If they are not fit for spiritual battle, children and youth cannot be sent to the battle front in a secular school.  Consider God’s instructions to the Israelites concerning the importance of preparing children for battle.

Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel.  Numbers 1:2-3 (NKJV)

Conclusions

Parents have the God-given responsibility for how they educate their children.  God expects them to provide their children with a biblically-based, Christ-centered education that is presented from a biblical worldview.  This is because children and youth will develop a worldview that is patterned after the worldview of their teachers.

In order to prepare our children for battle it is going to take a united effort between the home, church and school.  I have talked with countless numbers of parents and pastors who have shared the sad story of how a child, after receiving a secular education, announces that he/she no longer believes in Christianity.  This is because we have not addressed the issue of education biblically and the results have been devastating.  In closing, consider what God told His people through the prophet Jeremiah when they chose education based on the world’s ideas rather than God’s.

For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water…And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?  Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you.  Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you.  Jeremiah 2:13, 18-19 (NKJV)

I believe that God is asking parents, church leaders and educators a very important question when it comes to where and how our children and youth are being educated.  The question must be answered first by parents and then by church leaders and teachers.

Where is the flock [children] that was given to you?  Jeremiah 13:20 (NKJV)

The average Christian is shocked by where today’s culture is.  I hear people talk about what has happened in the last 10-20 years as if they are surprised as to how crazy everything has become.  Think about some of the happenings we have witnessed lately that seem mind-boggling to say the least.

• Public officials openly state that a baby in a mother’s womb is not a human being.
• Parents are giving there newborn child a “gender neutral” name so that the child can choose its gender when it gets older.
• Government officials have declared that we only have 12 more years of life on the planet.
• Children are being given gender-altering drugs without parent consent.
• Males transgendering to females are now dominating many women sports.
• Schools have announced that they are changing Mother’s Day and Father’s Day recognition to “Acknowledgement Day”  so that “we as a community recognize that our families are not made up of any particular combination of people and that we are no longer subscribe to a binary world.”
• Legislatures have passed bills that allow for an abortion right up to the time of birth and, at the same time, they have voted down bills that will require medical attention be given to a baby that survives an abortion.

You can add to these realities such things as:

• Suicide rates are skyrocketing, especially among young people.
• Mass shootings continue to dominate the headlines and show little, if any, value to human life.

I could go on and on with examples absurd things that are now fully acceptable in today’s postmodern, secular society.  However, should we be shocked or horrified by what is seen as “normal” in today’s world?  It is my conviction that, even though we should be broken-hearted by where we are as a society, we shouldn’t be shocked.  In fact, today’s culture had to become what it is today because of the philosophy of education that has dominated schools at all levels for over 100+ years.

Secular philosophy has to lead to a culture that has no direction or sense of truth, beauty or goodness.  In 1927, President Bell of St. Stephens College described the youth of his day in what must have been shocking to Christians who were listening to him.

We are sending forth graduates with diffused minds, scarcely fit to take command of their own lives or to cooperate in the development of a social state; drifters into conformity and essential human futility; easy victims of specious crowd psychologies; followers of what seem easy ways out… 

As I read this many years ago, I thought he was accurately describing the youth of today.  There is no question that today’s young people are “drifters into conformity” and they have become victims of “crowd psychologies.”  Bell went on to state,

They esteem themselves only creatures of their environment and so they tend to become just that.

When children and youth sit under hours upon hours of teaching based on evolutionary thought, it is inevitable that they see themselves as something that exists as the result of time and chance.  Bell then explained what is the result of this type of thinking.

They have little of no perception of standards — truth, beauty or goodness; they have no goals of purposeful perfection with which to estimate values or by which to gauge achievement.  All things are to them relative — relative not to absolutes but to expediency.  

Truth means to them little more than a body of observable facts; beauty, conformity to fashion, goodness, doing those things that will make one comfortable or popular. (emphasis mine)

He concluded his description of the youth of his day by placing the blame on the adults not on the condition of the youth.

Out of our most able youth, capable of high adventure, we are manufacturing mental and ethical jellyfish.

The title of today’s post is “Today’s Culture Was Inevitable.”  In reality, it was totally predictable.  We shouldn’t be surprised at any of the “craziness” we are witnessing all around the world today.  I am convinced it is because secular education has produced a completely secular society.

The term secular has been a topic in many of my posts over the past several years. As a reminder, the term, secular, means non-religious.  Secularists claim that they are not against religion or the concept of God.  They simply say it has no bearing on public life.  So, secular education teaches everything from a man-centered worldview.  God is totally irrelevant; which is another way of saying He doesn’t exist.

When education takes place on the premise that God doesn’t exist, somethings are inevitable.  Here are just a few of what is the predictable results of secular thinking and teaching.  If God is ignored or denied:

• there can be no universal absolute truth.
• man must be a product of nature and cannot have any value higher than any other element of nature.
• life can have no overarching purpose and, therefore, cannot produce real significance.
• there can be no absolute moral values.
• there is no such thing as evil because that would mean that there is a universal good.

Jim Denison recently noted,

In the 1960s, we shifted form “us” to “me.”  Truth is what I say it is; morality is what works for me without harming others.

As President Bell clearly stated, we are manufacturing young people who have become secular beings who decide for themselves what is right and wrong or true and false.  We are seeing what Paul warned about in a letter to young Timothy take place before our very eyes.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, basters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.  2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)

How can this take place in society?  In the last days, does Satan invent some type of special dust that he sprinkles on people to act this way?  No, this is the inevitable result that has to take place when children and youth are educated in a way that ignores and/or denies the existence of God.  I have said it before and it begs repeating again.

Secular education can and does occur in any form of education.  It is the dominant philosophy in state/government (including charter) and most private schools.  However, I have also seen it in some Christian and home schools and even in some churches and Christian homes.

If we have any chance of seeing these trends reversed, Christians must repent and beg God’s forgiveness for giving our children a secular education that is based on human wisdom.  The home, church and school must provide children and youth with an education driven by a biblical philosophy of education (I refer to it as Kingdom Education).

I am excited to announce that I just finished filming 10 more video lessons on key aspects of kingdom education that will soon be uploaded to the Kingdom Education Ministries membership website.  When edited and uploaded, it will bring the total number of video sessions to 42.  These videos along with the articles, booklets and other resources available to KEM Prime Members are designed to help parents, church leaders and Christian educators strengthen their biblical worldview and philosophy of education.  If you or your school wants more information on how to become a KEM Prime Member, click here or email me at [email protected].  A special thanks goes to Pastor James McMenis and the staff of Word of God Ministries for their partnership with KEM in producing these resources.

In 1897, Robert Dabney published a series of works titled, Discussions.  Volume IV of this series was simply called, Secular.  His focus in this volume was on the consequences that would result if the state or the government became the educators of the children and youth of the country.  He warned,

If the State in America becomes the educator, education must be secularized totally.

It is important to remember that the term “secular” means non-religious or non-theistic.  When applying this definition to what Dabney said would happen, it would read as follows.

If the State in America becomes the educator, education must be non-religious or non-theistic totally.

In other words, God would be completely removed from the educational process.  There is no doubt about the fact that secular education is the dominant education in America today.  Public education is definitely secular and most private schools operate from a secular philosophy of education.  Unfortunately, a growing number of “Christian” schools and homeschools have also become secular.  God may be mentioned in chapels and Bible classes but most of the academic instruction is taught in a non-religous way.

The greatest danger that manifests itself when education becomes secular is that a shift of authority takes place.  Authority shifts from God to man.  Man becomes the center of everything including the determination of truth.  This will always result in children growing up and going out into life with an artificial intelligence.  They may think that they are wise but they don’t have any knowledge of the truth!

…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  2 Timothy 3:7 (NKJV)

There are three words that play intricate roles in the educational process.  These three words are closely related to each other.  However, they are also different in many ways from each other.  These three words are knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

Recently, I came across an interesting table that was developed by the Institute for Faith, Work &  Economics.  The table explained the differences between knowledge, understanding and wisdom.  The chart below has been modified slightly but I believe it will help us understand why secular education will always produce artificial intelligence.As I studied this chart, I saw a progression that will always take place in education.  Students will be presented with basic knowledge.  As the student matures, he/she should gain understanding of the knowledge he/she has received.  Eventually the student will act on his/her knowledge and understanding.

If a school only focuses on “academic excellence”, it may produce good scholars but students will go out into life with very little understanding and, therefore, they will lack wisdom.  This is definitely a danger that must be avoided but it is not the greatest danger facing the next generation.

What we too often fail to realize is that there is an educational philosophy that is behind the entire process of education.  It will either be a secular philosophy of education or a biblical philosophy.  A secular philosophy of education by its very nature will be man-centered.  In contrast, a biblical philosophy of education will be God-centered.  When you apply this to chart above one can see why the world is in the terrible condition that it is in today.

Both a secular and biblical education will, most likely, teach knowledge in a very similar way.  However, when students move from knowledge to understanding, one can see a distinct difference in the two types of education.

In secular education, man is the authority that brings meaning to the facts.  Since secular education must be non-religious, there can be no spiritual meaning presented or even implied to any knowledge.  Therefore, students will develop man-centered principles for the information they receive which will lead them to reason all of life through a secular worldview.  As adults, they will teach these principles to the next generation.

As they apply their knowledge and understanding to all aspects of life, their actions will be based on a humanistic understanding of knowledge.  The resulting wisdom will be the wisdom of the world as described in James 3:14-17.  They will be disciples. However, they will not be disciples of Jesus Christ but of the culture!

We can clearly see this progression taking place in society today.  We are producing scholars that know a lot of facts.  These scholars understand the knowledge that they have obtained by means of a secular education and promote or teach those principles to others.  As they apply everything they have learned through a secular education, they develop a man-centered worldview become disciples of the culture.  All of their actions and attitudes are determined by a secular worldview and are in line with the culture.  They have merely obtained an artificial intelligence!

It is imperative that Christians provide their children and youth with an education that is grounded on a biblical philosophy of education.  This must take place in the home, church and school.  Our children must be taught knowledge with the fear of the Lord as its foundation.  This will lead them to grasping true understanding of the facts they learn.

The understanding that they develop through their education must be shaped by biblical principles that will give true meaning to the knowledge they receive.  This, in turn, will cause them to develop a biblical understanding of knowledge that will shape their reasoning in every area of life. With understanding, they will teach these biblical principles to the next generation.

Finally, Christians must make sure that their children and youth not only know and understand facts but also are able to how to apply what they have learned — all from a biblical worldview framework.  This will lead them to acquire true wisdom from above.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  James 3:17 (NKJV)

When this happens, the next generation will not go out into life as disciples of the culture but as disciples of Jesus Christ.  When this is the result of our children’s education, they will do what our generation hasn’t done.  They will turn the world upside down for the glory of God!