Everything we learn will either more closely align our mind with the mind of Christ or it will move our thinking further away from the mind of Christ. This leads us to conclude that all education (the formation of the mind) is a form of discipleship. The foundation of all knowledge and wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7) and so any educational system, method, or model that rejects or ignores this will be deficient. Moreover, education that is disconnected from discipleship will lead to a pride that puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1), and God opposes the proud (James 4:6). Thus, if all education is discipleship, then the responsibility for education cannot and must not be removed from those to whom God has entrusted a child’s discipleship.
Where then does this responsibility lie? The answer found in scripture is overwhelmingly with the parents. Parents carry this responsibility. Parents (and especially fathers) are to take this responsibility seriously, giving their children a complete, culturally Christian education (Ephesians 6:4). This education cannot be restricted to a classroom timetable, but must occur all the time (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:9). It should begin when they are very young, in the confident assurance that this is a means by which God will safeguard their salvation (Proverbs 22:6; 2 Timothy 3:15).
So let’s begin a Christian school! Well, not so fast. A Christian parent who takes the responsibility for their children's education seriously will refuse to delegate that education to a non-Christian institution, but they will also refuse to delegate that responsibility to a Christian school. They will also be aware of the risks that come with a kind of box-ticking that can come with a decision to home educate: “Well they’re out of the school system, now everything will be fine.” Sure, except now you don’t have the school system to blame if it all goes wrong! In other words, no model will be a complete solution to the current deficiencies in the education and discipleship of our children. We need better models, but first we need a reformation in the culture of our homes, churches, and educational institutions. We need to establish a culture of Christian education that sees it as something that takes place at the kitchen table just as surely as it takes place in a classroom; that occurs at bedtime just as much as during the school day. It occurs when our children watch us even more than when our children are told something by a teacher. And a culture isn’t built other than by a reformation in the heart and in the home. No church or school will be stronger than the families that together make up that particular community, and so we seek to help parents rediscover this responsibility, and from that place we seek to create options for them to pursue it in a concrete way.
And that is where our models come in. Models are not bad, but they must come after the culture has been defined, and not the other way around. This will mean that all decision-making when it comes to establishing those models will be firmly within the principles and parameters of the pre-defined biblical culture. As already argued above, two of these core principles are that:
all education is discipleship, and,
the provision of a Christian education is a parent’s (especially the father’s) responsibility.
Now, we live in a complicated world, and removing children from the modern school system is not going to be easy for many. Even if we all agreed that this should happen, the reality is that we have a duty to help those who don’t share that conviction to pick up the mandate to take responsibility for the education of their own children while the children are in a public school. This task will be difficult, but God is kind, and it is therefore our aim to produce resources, training, community support, and so on to help parents in this task. Parents in this situation who are already facing incredible challenges because of this should not feel more pressure from those of us who see things differently. We must cast a positive, biblically-grounded vision that is inviting and compelling, whilst working to establish more options for these people to take.
Such as the provision of alternative education. This will include at least three models:
A community of home educators, connected to each other, providing mutual support and encouragement.
A formal home-school cooperative that some home educators can subscribe to.
A private Christian school.
Whilst building these three options, we will be offering people not just a challenge (that they must take the responsibility for the education of their children seriously), but also an opportunity to obey God in this area. And whilst these things are getting established, the responsibility, involvement, and even oversight of qualified parents must be maintained across each model, in order to faithfully obey the biblical mandates.
This kind of cultural transformation takes time, and we must hold convictions strongly, but not just one set of convictions. We believe in the necessity of Christian education, but we also believe in helping the ‘weaker brother’ (1 Corinthians 8:11) grow in their conscience and biblical convictions, which also takes time.
This cultural reformation will also need to spread to our churches. It will be from churches that financial support for those who cannot afford a Christian education will likely come. It will be from the pulpit that biblical teaching about this will come. It will be from churches that the discipleship of parents in this matter will come. And it will be of incredible benefit to the future of the church in this nation if the children in our churches are being educated in a Christian worldview all week: in their formal education, in their home and family life, and not just for an hour on a Sunday morning.
When Paul taught the church in Ephesus to do this, we have to remember that the culture then was also pagan; that the children were also receiving a godless education; that obeying this command was also a huge challenge. But they managed it. With God’s help, we can too.
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