Encourage Public Education
We announced this week our Write on Essay Contest. The contest is open to elementary age students in our school district. I am so looking forward to hearing what they have to say. The question we have asked them to write about is what they would do to make a difference in our city and a follow up one about what they would like the city to look like upon graduation.
We really want to encourage public education in our community. I personally think that the church has done itself a disservice by abandoning the schools. Yes I understand that some schools are hostile to Christianity and I know some are underperforming but I’m just not sure removal is the answer. I think it makes Christians look very selfish.
I have several friends who went the Christian school route for the above reasons who have abandoned it and returned their children to public education. They found that other than Bible scripture the values and the environment were the same and the level of education was no better than what they had been receiving in public education.
Even more interestingly they have found better and more loyal Christian friends at the public schools. I personally think it is better to give them a good foundation, teach them values, than to hide them from having to make those choices.
Will they make ones I wish they wouldn’t? Yes, but that will happen at either place.
In the end I am happy we are supporting our schools, not only with this but with our tutoring program and our socks and underwear gifts. I would rather work with them than against them any day.
handsandfeet 
Darin,
I total agree we need as minister and youth minister to get back on campus and be a presence. We need to start back up Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s and other Christian Organizations. We need to let Christian’s teens and staff know and be at see you at the pole. We need to be at the athletic games and lead the benedictions. We need to stop telling and preaching from our pulpits just how bad pulic schools are so parents will stop home schooling. We need to encouraging our teens and kids to be a light in their school to make a difference. We need to encourange them to be togehter, eat togehter, encourage one another, to look for opportunities to share their faith on campus. We need to challenge them to make a difference one person at a time.
Darin, excellent post brother. Keep it up!
I think our children in public school struggle the most with the sectarian nature of much of Christianity. They hear on Sunday about being part of the one, true church, and then all week they go to school with Christians who run the spectrum from pew-sitter to prayer warrior.
Does anyone else find it strange that Christians are typically encouraged to support the military but not to support public schools? Don’t buy into government education… graduate from Christian school so you can join in that government’s military exploits!
Nick
Nick,
I see your point.
You have to consider that we have some very godly teachers in our public schools that are doing an excellent job of sharing their faith with other students. My dad is a Chemistry teacher, who is about to say evolution folks is just a theory, share his faith, about moles, atoms, going deeper, all the elemetns, matther where did that come from? My mother is a math teacher. She teaches Trigonomotry, Caluculus, Algabra, Geomotry and is a faithful Christian woman who shares her faith with her students. Look at how many prime numbers there are in the Bible, why? What is it’s importants? The trinity?
I remember in Jr. High and High School teachers who madea difference in my faith and life because they cared and where there for me. I graduated from a big 5A High School with 500+ Seniors. Did it challenge my faith, you bet. Did it make me think about the government and the military during the gulf war? Yep. I wanted to go to college and well over half of our class did go to college because of the gulf war. They didn’t want to fight.
Churches did get invovled in things at school. I remember youth minister comming on campus talking about faith, not doing drugs, abstaining from sex. I think it was a program where you wore a ring or something. The churches got involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I remember churches getting involved in project graduation.
I hope like Darin is metioning in his post that we can make a difference with socks and and underwear to those who need it. I hope that we can supply students with jackets at our church this year. We have many students who come from poor home who don’t have winter jackets. I think churches can make a huge difference in the life of studence in public schools if we put our minds to it. If we dedicate ourself to the task.
And thank God for Christian teachers who work in public schools who are making a differnce each and every day in the lives of those who need it. Despite the churches or ministers view of the War.
It is our calling to be in the world and not of the world. To remove our children from public schooling in the pipe-dream of “protecting them from the world” ends up making them more vulnerable. It is our role as adults to train and shape our children, not to give them to Christian schools so that parents can go on with their own lives.
I am very glad that we have dedicated Christians in public schooling. I call for more! More!
I just meant to point out the irony that a lot of Christians don’t want anything to do with government schooling, but they don’t seem to have any problem with government conquering.
in HIS love,
Nick
For me it comes down to the fact that Christians are the ones who started public education. They saw the poor who were not being educated because only the rich had tutors and they said that isn’t right.
Anytime we abandon something, we are withdrawing our ability to fix/change/influence it. We are actually GOING to school one day a week to help influence the lives of children there.
It is ‘only trying to help them learn to read or do math’, but the fact is our presence there allows us to interact with teachers, staff, administration and most of all, the children and their parents.
They know we are Christians, but rather than withdraw from us they are attracted to us… because we are there to help, because we care, and because we are being genuine.
The same traits that drew the crowds to Jesus in the first place.
Our Christian schools fail in the same way that many bible schools fail… not for lack of effort, but for lack of parental support, interaction, and follow through.
Once, Sunday school reinforced what kids saw and were taught at home every day. Now we expect our Sunday school and our Christian schools to do the job that parents should be doing… teaching our kids about Christ and showing God to them in everyday life.
Public education is only Godless if all Godly people withdraw from it…
Jimbo
Nick… you hit a nerve for me.
How Christians can support any kind of war is beyond me. It seems that it is OK to draw a bead on my enemy as long as I am praying for him? Sorry… can’t connect those dots.
The world was easily as much oppressed by the Roman Empire, yet neither Christ or any of his followers so much as plotted, let alone attempted to take up arms to free the oppressed.
Ever.
Maybe they weren’t aware of the prophesies… (insert sarcasm here). Perhaps if they had been aware of the oil in the region… (more sarcasm).
What we have is a problem of mixing patriotism with Christianity by men who don’t get what God is about. It isn’t about an earthly kingdom and restoring physical Israel isn’t a task for Godly men.
God certainly cannot be pleased that Christians are killing those that we were sent to teach, reach, and showing salvation to.
But this is a song about Alice…
Jimbo, the fish swimming upstream.
Amen Jimbo.
IM is a cut-and-dry issue, but somehow participation in combat is complex. I don’t understand it either.
And I agree totally about schools. We are called to be peace-makers with our lives, and if we can do it in schools, so much the better.
Nick
Darin,
That’s an excellent idea that I intend to “borrow” at some point in the future. As I go out with quivering legs into the world of church planting, we will be working tightly with schools. I’m thrilled that two school systems I’m working with are so welcoming to us in allowing us to use their facilites (at a cost of 83 cents per hour! Yes, 83 cents per hour. You guys are always relevant. God bless.
Ben,
That is why I put it out here. The neat thing about it is that I took the poster to the public library and since it is community focused they put it up.
At one school I discovered they could use some sweatpants. I will be purchasing those today. It opens a lot of doors that are normally closed and just puts church in a different light.