Should Christians send their children to public schools? Now, first I want to say it’s the parents’ decision as to where they send their kids to be educated. And I do recognize in a fallen world there are all sorts of family issues (e.g., single-parent families) for varied reasons. However, at the very minimum, each Christian should build their thinking on God’s Word in regard to the training of children and do the best they possible can with much prayer and God’s help—and hopefully the help of God’s people in the church—to attain to what God instructs. Okay, here we go with the question: Should Christians send their kids to public schools?
Foundational Principles from God’s Word
From God’s Word we do get answers to the following foundational questions:
- Who owns children? Parents and, ultimately, God.
- Who is responsible for the education of children? Parents—fathers in particular as the spiritual head of the home.
- What is the priority of education? The spiritual/biblical worldview—there’s nothing more important than our children trusting Christ for salvation.
- What should we understand about children? They are not miniature adults, and they have a sin nature.
- What warnings are there? For one, bad company corrupts good character.
Okay, keep all this in mind as we dive into this question of public schools.
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Are Kids Missionaries?
Many people in the church have told me their children should be in the public school to witness to other kids. But what’s the biblical basis for this? When I ask, I’m usually told, “We are to be light and salt in this world.” Yes, this is true, but one can only shine light if one already has it to shine. Yes, Matthew 5:13 states, “You are the salt of the earth,” but Mark 9:50 also states, “Have salt in yourselves.” Your kids can’t be salt until they have salt.
And by “salt,” it means they are to be filled with biblical truth but also prepared with answers (1 Peter 3:15) to be able to withstand the attacks of the devil in the world they live in. That’s why Answers in Genesis provides all sorts of curricula for churches and homes to help raise generations filled with biblical truth and equipped to defend the Christian faith against the attacks of our day.
Now Scripture also warns in Matthew 5:13 that,
Matthew 5:13 KJV – “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
In other words, contamination destroys. Before our kids can be a witness to the world, they need to be filled with salt, as uncontaminated as possible, to know what they believe and why and to be equipped to defend their faith.
Whatever School Choice You Make, Keep the Right Priorities
Let’s face it, most of the public school system indoctrinates kids for six or so hours a day in the anti-God secular worldview of evolutionary naturalism and sexual humanism. According to studies, most churched kids have not survived the public education system and have walked away from the church. A small number of children from churched homes survive and are able to be salt and light. But they are rare exceptions. All are contaminated to varying degrees, but most become severely contaminated. This is reflected in the fact there’s been a massive generational loss from the church.
Bottom line, are you putting your own kids at risk from contamination because you want them in the system to witness to others? And how much have you as a parent (and the church) really made sure such children are truly filled with salt to be able to do this?
Most families and churches have not taught apologetics, and most have compromised God’s Word in Genesis, opening the door for that contamination to take hold. Most fathers have not been the spiritual heads of their houses as they should. Look at the evidence! Most of the younger generations have walked away from the church. That is undeniable. Generation Z is the first post-Christian generation and is generally very atheistic in their worldview.
When considering this question of public schools, remember that when your kids are born, they don’t know about the Bible, Adam and Eve, sin, the promise of the Savior, the flood, Babel, the cross, the resurrection, the saving gospel, or how to answer the attacks of our day. Our job as parents is to make sure they are taught and equipped so they can live for God’s glory and impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where are your kids spiritually? Who really has the greatest educational impact on your kids and grandkids?
Ultimately, whatever school choice you make for your family—homeschool, Christian school, or public school—remember that, first and foremost, your job is to disciple your kids from God’s Word, filling them with salt and light.
No one else can or should be doing that for you, Mom and Dad—it’s your job and it’s the most important job you can have! Now you can certainly delegate some of that to others, but you are still ultimately responsible before the Lord.
