Salt & Light, The Great
Commission & Who's Responsible for Educating Your Children
by E. Ray Moore, Jr., Chaplain (Lt.
Col.) USAR Ret.
One of the foremost criticisms
from Christians who oppose the Exodus Mandate's agenda of
encouraging Christian parents to remove their children from
the public education system is, "Christian children should not
be taken out of public schools because they are serving as
'salt and light' to their classmates and carrying out the
Great Commission." (See Matt. 5:13-14 and Matt. 28:18-20)
It goes without saying that ALL Christians have a
responsibility to be "salt and light" and help fulfill the
Great Commission as commanded by our Lord. However, the salt
and light theological argument is being grossly misapplied to
children at the K though 12 level.
The fact is children at the K-12 levels are not mature enough
nor are they properly equipped apologetically to exist in a
_humanistic religious environment_ that is hostile and
contrary to their Christian faith. Some may question the
validity of calling public education a "humanistic religious
environment," but according to Joe R. Burnett, the editor of
_The Humanist_ Magazine in 1961, "Public education is the
parochial education for scientific humanism."
The fact is ALL EDUCATION IS RELIGIOUS. There is no such thing
as neutrality in education and the public education system has
been _officially_ godless and humanistic in both design and
practice for a long, long time.
If you question these facts, then I suggest you consult the
dozen major U. S. Supreme Court cases since the _Everson_ case
in 1947 that have expelled Christian doctrine, practice and
now, moral behavior, from our public schools. If that's not
enough to convince you that what I am saying is the truth,
then take a look at the curriculum in your local government
school. Even the most cursory review should be enough to prove
that public education is decidedly anti-Christian and designed
to "indoctrinate" as opposed to truly "educate" children. Add
the fact that the overwhelming majority of public school
educators are non-Christians who bring their anti-Christian
bias to the classroom and what you have is an environment that
is not only anti-Christian, academically counterproductive and
morally bankrupt, but sometimes even physically unsafe for a
child of God.
Any semblance of a Christian worldview which parents have
instilled in their children at home is under constant attack
every hour their child sits in a public school classroom. And,
whether they realize it or not, the same goes for teachers and
administrators who are Christians in the public education
system whose witness is suppressed as well as their
Constitutional right of free speech.
Christian parents are _commanded_ to place their children
under godly and Christian teaching, not neo-pagan or
humanistic instruction. Like it or not, there are only two
choices -- obedience or disobedience to God's commands. (See
Col. 2:8; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Deut.
6:1-9; Mal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 6:14-19 along with Luke 6:40. Matt.
22:37-38 and Eph. 6:4)
Kindergarten through grade 12 education, either by Christian
home schooling or through a solid, biblically based Christian
day school, conforms to the overall responsibility for
Christian families to engage in biblical parenting. Placing a
child in a public school does not!
Children Missionaries?
The same basic justification for Christian parents keeping
their children in the pubic education system is made using the
Great Commission. (See Matt. 28:18-20) The thrust of this
argument is that Christian children at K-12 levels are or can
be missionaries in public schools.
Christian adults bear this responsibility, not their children.
Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is it remotely suggested
that Jews or Christians are permitted to have their children
educated in a pagan institution. In fact, the Bible is quite
clear that children require nurturing, training, and, yes,
even being "set apart for a season." In other words, childhood
is a time of discipling.
Being a missionary is not kids play -- it's adult work and
certainly not for children who are not yet prepared or trained
apologetically to defend their faith and beliefs. Christian
parents who send their children as surrogate evangelists to
public schools may sincerely believe they are doing the right
thing and I certainly don't believe they are willfully or
consciously being disobedient to God. Rather, I believe they
are doing so for any one of a number of misguided reasons. It
could be a case of not taking the time to really investigate
what the Scriptures have to say regarding their
responsibilities to protect their children; they're unaware of
the facts regarding public education as mentioned previously
above; they haven't taken a long hard look at the potential
consequences of their actions or perhaps they're following the
advise of someone or some misguided program. Regardless of the
reason, the fact remains that they are either being deceived
or deceiving themselves if they believe their children can be
successful as missionaries in the public education system. It
is only by the grace of God that in some cases He protects
their children from harm.
Who's Converting Whom
The reality of the situation is that very little Christian
witnessing is ever done by children in public schools to begin
with. As with everything else in life, there are of course
some exceptions to the rule.
Without question, the lion's share of converting and
witnessing is accomplished through the public education
curriculum, peer pressure from other children -- most of whom
are non-Christian -- and educators who implant
(either subtly or obviously and conscientiously or
unconscientiously) their humanistic, neo-pagan or new age
doctrines within the minds and hearts of Christian children.
These children, I might add, are a captive audience with
little or no chance to speak up or opportunity to rebut their
teachers.
The research data on the success of the public schools in
indoctrinating Christian youth with humanistic or neo-pagan
worldviews is overwhelming. The Nehemiah Institute's worldview
PEERS test shows that 83-percent of the children from
committed Christian families in public schools adopt a secular
humanist or Marxist socialist worldview. At the SBC's 2002
annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life
reported, among other disturbing things, that 88-percent of
the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at age
18. Barna Research reports that only 9-percent of born-again
teens believe in moral absolutes, and more than half believe
that Jesus sinned while He was on earth. We believe the fact
that 80-percent of Christian families send their children to
public schools is a prime reason for this lost legacy.
Conclusion
For 2,000 years, the Christian Church has based all its
preaching, teaching and educational enterprises such as Sunday
School, Vacation Bible School, AWANA, seminary education,
higher education, pulpit ministry and Bible studies on text
like Matt. 28:20 where Jesus says "Teaching them.." This text
along with many others is the basis for all Church educational
and teaching programs.
Very simply we want to put K-12 education BACK INTO THE GREAT
COMMISSION. We believe Jesus assigned the teaching or the
education mandate to the family and Church, not to the state
or government. The state or government has usurped the role of
the family and Church in running K-12 public schools. We don't
want government offering the sacraments or ordinances of the
Church, preaching the Gospel, taking over the pastoral role,
and we don't want them teaching children at the K through12
levels either. The state shouldn't run our Sunday Schools and
neither should they run our Monday through Friday day schools.
Our case is as much religious and theological as educational
and academic. In Christian theology it is improper to
compartmentalize or separate areas of knowledge or disciplines
such as teaching and education from the anchor or foundation
of God's Holy Word.
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E. Ray Moore, Jr., Chaplain (Lt. Col.) USAR Ret. is a veteran
of Gulf War 1 where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He
is also the Director of the Exodus Mandate Project. For more
information regarding the project go to www. Exodusmandate.
org or write to
PO Box 12072,
Columbia, SC 29211
The above article appeared in the July 2004 issue of the _St.
Louis MetroVoice_ - St. Louis' Christian News and Events
Publication. The MetroVoice is a non-denominationally and
non-politically aligned monthly newspaper that serves the
greater St. Louis Missouri metro area and outlying communities
which approaches everything from a Christian worldview
perspective. For more information regarding the _St. Louis
MetroVoice_ visit their web site at www. metrovoice. net or
call 314-9655757
