Christian Primary Education in the 21st Century
Christian Primary Education is a passion for me. Thus, it amazes me when I hear other Jesus followers dismiss the concept or speak flippantly about it. Oddly, and, ignorantly, Christian schools are deemed by some to be inferior or unnecessary. To others they’re too expensive, strict, intrusive, or too cloistered from the world.
While no school is perfect, Christian based primary education plays a vital role in the training of our children, and today, more than ever, I believe it is absolutely essential. So as not to send mixed messages, public school is its own mission field for those called to stay there and change the world! However, when it comes to the future of our children, we must make Christ-centered education a priority. Satan is the master deceiver, and He desperately wants us to think that Christian primary education is not really important and that the public schools can educate our children just fine. They’ll teach the basics and we’ll add Jesus. But that is NOT God’s plan.
I want to point out to parents/grandparents and guardians that Christian primary education is vital because of several things:
- The public-school system has an agenda – and it’s not just about evolution. It is about changing your child’s value system.
I’ve heard parents say that they know their child is hearing about evolution in the public school but that they talk to them about it at home, so everything’s fine. I wish this were the case, but it’s just not. Yes, kids can be great at refuting evolution and staying true to their belief in a Creator – that’s not the big problem. The issue is that the public-school system is pushing dangerous philosophies. These philosophies put man, more specifically themselves, at the center. They’re appealing and based on the authority behind the teaching, sound reasonable. They are also clever, insidious and subtle.
Your local public-school system is humanistic at its core and pushes its progressive agenda every way it can. From a young age, students are taught that there is no absolute truth; that LGBTQ+ lifestyles are an acceptable alternative, that some people are more valuable than others, and that socialism is the key to the future of our society. As mentioned, the issue is that these anti-God values are taught subtly – weaved into illustrations and every element of the lesson plans. A mature in Christ adult might not even catch them. A child surely doesn’t.
Because parents aren’t there to hear it all, they don’t even know what or how to refute this onslaught of lies and treachery.
- Our kids need to do more than simply receive the puzzle pieces of learning.
Admittedly, a child can survive the onslaught of unbiblical training and graduate from a public school with their faith intact. But there is no parent that desires mediocrity for their child! Since when is the goal to raise kids who just “got by”? We want our children to understand God’s truths and how to apply them to every situation in life. We want them to have deep, meaningful relationships with God and man We want them to be who God created them to be and use their lives for His glory
Of course, children from a public-school education have and can be used of God. But, the main purpose of Christian primary schools is to deliberately disciple students. Effective Christian schools use every opportunity to speak Biblical truth into students’ lives and aid them to be more like Christ. Christian schools should not just be the absence of wrong philosophies. They should instead be the infusion of truth into every aspect of a school day – from academics to peer relationships to sports. A student who learns to hear and apply Biblical truths across the spectrum of a day, a week, does more than survive, they thrive!
- Our kids are still in training.
The public-school system is a mission field, but the missionaries should be mature “in Christ” adults, not our children.
To illustrate, let’s imagine that our government wants to send a spy to infiltrate an Al-Qaeda training facility that uses propaganda and indoctrination to radicalize youth. The General carefully selects his candidate – a 13-year-old teenager. He’s a loyal American, the son of a Navy Seal who is smart, independent, and loves America. They send him into the Al-Qaeda base where he trains and gathers intel for six years. To help him remember the truth of freedom, we periodically schedule secret meetings and smuggle in American pamphlets and materials. What’s the problem with this scenario? The boy is 13 and has had no training. He’s still an impressionable 13-year-old and hasn’t been taught how to resist indoctrination by extremists. Even if he remains true to his country, he won’t emerge from the facility with his beliefs intact.
Today, in 2023 our public-school is very much a spiritual “Al-Qaeda” We are fighting a battle for the souls of children. We are fighting for their future, their wholeness, for Biblical faith, and the character of our nation. Our children aren’t ready to be sent out on their own into the fight. They are in training. If we want them to be effective soldiers for Christ, they need to complete training in a place that drives them closer to Jesus not away from Him.
Children, teens particularly, are impressionable and still learning how to distinguish truth from error. This is the time that they need Biblical guidance and direction – and an hour on Sunday morning just isn’t going to cut it. A school, actively questioning his home and faith is just wrong!
The goal of Primary Christian Education isn’t to insulate students from the fight, but they can’t train properly in the camp of the enemy. We must diligently teach and train them as young people so that they will grow up to be powerfully effective soldiers for Christ.
Christ-based Monday-Friday education is vital. important? Our nation’s future depends on it.