Director’s Chair
Dr. Estelle Myers
Many times I am asked “Why pay for Christian Education, when you can obtain free education in the public sector?” There are several very good reasons, but the primary one is this: If children are our most precious possessions, and are in fact our heritage from the Lord as the Bible points out in Psalm 127:3, then it stands to reason that we should do whatever is necessary to provide for their spiritual well fare as well as their intellectual, physical, emotional, and social well being. Yet many do not even think twice about placing their young children under the influence of an educational system that does not even recognize the existent of God, let alone teach Christian values and ethics. Martin Luther stated, “I am afraid that schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.”
I have personally counseled with many parents of teens, who were bewildered as to why their children no longer wanted to attend church or youth group and are in fact rebelling against their personal family values. The answer is extremely logical: you cannot expect to place your child for 18 years, in a 40 hour per week godless school system, and then hope that they respect God in the end. Back in 2002, the SBC did a study with the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life, and discovered that 88% of the children raised in evangelical homes who attended public schools leave the church by the age of 18, and many never return. These figures are staggering, and probably worse 15 years later.
If you take on the name of Christ, as a Christian, then place yourself or your children under teaching that does not honor nor respect the Word of God in any way, shape, or fashion, is that not disrespectful to your heavenly Father? Hear the word of the Lord to Ely the priest, during Samuel’s time:“I promised that your house and your father’s house would minister before me forever.” But now the Lord declares, “Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.” (I Samuel 2: 30) The apostle Paul put it this way in Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” My dear parents, scriptures tell us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. The very first commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and strength.” Even Jesus quoted this as the greatest commandment of all time, in Matthew 22:38.
We do not honor God when we place our children under the teaching of a godless educational system, that is teaching their own philosophies to our children.
There is no such thing as a “neutral” teacher. Everyone has their own philosophies of life, and those philosophies will come out in their teaching practices, so be very careful whom you leave your children with, as they will definitely influence the character of your child. The first seven years of life are called the “formative years,” as the character of your child is literally formed during these early years. If we do not take advantage of these early years, we should not be surprised at the outcome of their character when they are older.
The majority of people place their children in Christian schools for safety, quality of education, and smaller class sizes. While all of those reasons are true and good reasons for removing your child from the public sector, I believe the ultimate reason should be to place them in a setting where the Word of God will be taught on a daily basis. Any private school can teach the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it is only the Christian school that can openly, and consistently teach God’s truth daily which ultimately affects the morals and values of the character of our children. Einstein said that “Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless”. Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” My prayer is for the hearts and souls, of not only our young people here at MBS, but for the world. We cannot complain about the moral degradation of our world, and the overall collapse of Christian values and ethics in our community, if we persist in propagating a system that outright disrespects the Bible.
I commend each and everyone of you for intentionally raising your most cherished possessions by placing them in a Christian school. Believe me, you will not be disappointed! God keeps his promises.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will no depart from it.”
— Proverbs 22:6
May God bless us all with an amazing school year in 2017 as we place our hope in Him.