Educating Our Children from Bret Capranica on Vimeo.

How should we think about educating our children, especially in light of the very strong convictions held by those in home schooling, private schools, and the public school system?

Parents Are Responsible

In God”™s plan, I think the Bible is clear on who is fundamentally responsible for teaching children:  parents.  Deuteronomy 6 indicates that parents are charged with teaching children God”™s ways throughout the normal flow of life.  Ephesians 6:1-4 clearly lays responsibility upon parents to raise their children in God”™s wisdom and ways.  Parents are responsible for their children.  This seems fundamental, doesn”™t it?

Thus, it is not ultimately the church”™s children”™s ministry that is responsible for teaching our children about God.  It is not the student ministries of the church that is chiefly charged with a teenager”™s spiritual life.  Neither schools (private or public) nor even the church, as an institution, are ultimately the overseers of who, what, when, where, why, and how our children are educated ““ parents are.  That”™s who God charged to be responsible for a child”™s education.

Options are Legitimate

Parental responsibility does not demand parental involvement alone.  Certainly the church”™s children”™s and student ministries can be an asset to our children”™s learning more about God.  Pastors and teachers are charged with spiritual instruction within the church ““ children included. Thankfully, parents are not mandated to teach calculus to their children.  But they are charged with being responsible for being involved in who will teach them.  Responsibility to oversee a child”™s instruction does not demand that no one else be included in instructing a child.

Nor should our convictions about education foster a fortress mentality against the world; but rather, a Great Commission conscience ready to engage our world.

So, whether a parent chooses to school their child from home, in a private school, or through the public system, parents are still responsible for their children.  And their responsibility does not make other options outside of homeschooling illegitimate.  I am persuaded that each home needs to make a decision on this issue based on what would best help their children walk in the wisdom and instruction of the Lord.

I have benefitted from families who have homeschooled their children from pre-school through High School.  They are valiant soldiers for truth and commitment to their children.

I have also seen equally wise and involved parents sacrifice much so their children can be a part of a good Christian private school.  Doing so was deemed best for their family in the area of the country where they lived and with the providential circumstances of their family situation.

I have also been blessed to see one of the most God-centered homes to which I have ever been exposed raise all of their children in a California public school.

In all of these cases, parents did not neglect their God-given stewardship.  Public school families can take their responsibility just as serious as the parents who educate their children at home, or those who choose a private school education.

Personally and Pastorally

Kelly and I have not firmly decided what means we will use in educating our children.  Rest assured we will be deeply involved.  We are charged with the responsibility to oversee their education.  We won”™t mindlessly delegate it to someone else.

In ministry, I pray that the local church can be a place that affirms, assists, and supports those who choose to home school their children.  I am thankful for churches and Christians who have worked together to form excellent private schools and I want to affirm and encourage their labors.  I am also most grateful for Christians who find their calling as public school teachers and for parents who energetically involve themselves in the public school system.  All of these are legitimate options while parents still maintain responsibility for their children”™s education.

It is most unfortunate when a church finds within it niche schisms over where children are educated.  Such is not a fundamental gospel issue.  Such disunity does not display charity or humility.  It is dividing over something that is not even a secondary doctrinal issue.  It is one where varying positions can, will, and should exist within a local church without pitting families and children against one another.

As a pastor, I enjoy the responsibility being involved in my children”™s development, and seeing the church embrace with unity, parents who have various convictions on how they will exercise their responsibility for their children”™s education.

Check out these free resources from The Gospel Coalition – lots of seminary courses online for free! Pure Church: Free Resources!.

I remember visiting Union Seminary a few years ago.  As soon as they heard I and the brothers with me were Southern Baptists, they literally stopped talking to us.  In this report, Dr. Mohler notes the latest statistics of Union’s grads and reminds us of the importance of the local church in the very purpose of the seminary. Inside.SBTS.edu » Remembering Why We Are Here

Just to keep the conversation going – here is Adrian Warnock’s post on Piper’s recent announcement that seminary education will be connected to Bethlehem Baptist Church. adrianwarnock.com: John Piper To Start a Seminary at Bethlehem Church

Here’s an excellent discussion on why many ministerial students tend to drop their interest in pastoral ministry for that of being a professor.  I wonder how many of such students are receiving significant influence from local church pastors and congregations during their studies? Sean Michael Lucas: Ministerial Students, Calling, and PhD Studies

Good tips for you and me to become better writers, and we DO need to become better writers. A Guide to Becoming a Better Writer: 15 Practical Tips – lifehack.org

Robert Gee Witty, founder of Luther Rice Seminary, dies at age 100. Baptist Press – Theological education pioneer dies at 100 – News with a Christian Perspective

In my quiet time, I begin by reading from a book that will stimulate my mind and heart about sanctification or practical life in the church. Recently I have begun reading God in the Wasteland by David F. Wells. I want to share a few excerpts from his book that I noted during my fifteen minute-a-day reading time.

On the current reactions against formal theological training:

Noting the how the early colonial American trends in the mainline schools were producing polished institutions, there was a strong reactions against them.

“This ambitious drive [among the intellectual schools of colonial America] produces some savage anti-clericalism but also because the insurgent leaders were “Ëintent on destroying the monopoly of classically educated and university trained clergymen.’ Their sermons were colloquial, “Ëemploying daring pulpit storytelling, no-holds-barred appeals, overt humor, strident attacks, graphic application, and intimate personal experience.’ The point of it all was to engage the audience. Charles Finney despised sermons that were formally delivered on the grounds that they put content ahead of communication, and, although both he and Dwight L. Moody had their own theologies, they both vigorously opposed “Ëthe formal study of divinity’” (65).

“‘As the common man rose in power n the early republic,’ says Hatch, “Ëthe inevitable consequence was the displacement from power of the uncommon man, the man of ideas.’ Never again, he adds would America produce people of the caliber of Adams, Jefferson, and Madison in the realm of politics or of Jonathan Edwards in the realm of theology” (67).

In light of some of what we have seen in the modern Seeker Sensitive and Emergent Church movements, we have another illustration of the reality that there is nothing new under the sun.

Of course this anti-intellectual and anti-formal training trend can be seen in virtually any corner of even solid and orthodox churches, though for differing reasons, no doubt. Having pastored for eight and a half years without any formal theological training, and now having spent almost ten years involved in formal theological training, I yearn for a balance, seeing the benefit of both practical skill learned only in the crucible of the local church and the necessity for concentrated, disciplined study under the tutelage of learned scholars.

Jesus Creed » PowerPointing in Class: Not!

Can Scot McKnight be respected?  He refuses to use Power Point and even thinks it is detrimental?  Has he lost his mind?  How can anyone take this guy seriously now.

I loved reading this.  I would much rather waste my time with technology in blogging than putting together PP presentations.  Then again, I’m sure I will never be effective in reaching this generation or the next with merely the spoken word from a lone individual standing behind a podium.  Preach on!

Question Evaluation Chart.jpg (JPEG Image, 2760×4000 pixels) – Scaled (13%)

HT:  Justin Taylor