Ever since the beginning, Satan has tricked people into seeking knowledge apart from God! Eve admitted she was not allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge, but Satan said in effect, “The old man is holding out on you, he knows the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” Eve didn’t resist further, the allure of independent knowledge was too great; she bit. (Genesis 3)
Just before Israel entered the promised land, God drew near to them so that they would not be swept away by the vile culture of the Canaanites. God wanted to teach them how to survive in the midst of such depravity, and not only survive, but thrive; that is, to bring up the next generation and live with God as king. One of the pivotal texts of all Scripture, known as the Shema, talks about bringing up children and their education:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).
This verse is central to Biblical education. It establishes that education must be God-centered.
First, I must center my life around God, then I must incline my heart to listen to the Word of God. This is not just hearing only, but listening with the intent of obedience (James 1:22). After this, I must teach the Word of God to my children. The commands of God come before any other knowledge is pursued.
The ancient Israelis taught their children to read by memorizing Scripture. Psalm 119 is a poem that goes through the alphabet. Each stanza has eight lines and it begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Knowledge is imparted through the Word. As it says in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
This is the inescapable problem of the government schools; they cannot allow God to be central to the curriculum. If the local school is adventurous, they may allow God an ancillary mention, but giving him the central place would evoke a visit from the ACLU to ensure that he was removed immediately. The government schools cannot be God-centered, no matter how hard they try. Truth is, they never have been.
The foundation of secular education is to make the acquisition of knowledge central, not God. C.S. Lewis lamented this in his essay “Men Without Chests.” By removing God from the central focus, secular schools convey the impression that God is not that important. He is excluded from knowledge. Curricula take great pains to show that we do not need a creator to explain life, psychology, ethics, and all other disciplines. Even the teachers who are Christians are very limited in the way that they can bring God into the classroom. Truly, they would find themselves on the street by the end of the day if they ever tried to make God central to their classroom. I recognize that there are varying degrees of God-tolerance in the secular school, but there is no place where he is worshipped, obeyed, and central to the curriculum.
This presents a problem to Christian parents, because we take the Bible seriously. God said that we have to make Him the central feature of our worship, our honor, and our obedience. In the Shema, we are told to make Him the central feature of education. As a Christian parent, I recognize my responsibility in this regard.
The Apostle Peter put the emphases this way: “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
Peter says we start with faith! Next we add virtue or goodness to that faith. We only get around to adding knowledge after we have learned faith and goodness. Faith -> Virtue -> Knowledge; this design enables us to teach our children not just information, but goodness, morality, and values.
Knowledge without virtue is on display everywhere in our world. It is responsible for the ethical crisis in medicine and technology. Should a Christian participate in making a more efficient way to abort a baby? Christians across the nation do this all the time because they have practiced separating God and knowledge. Do not be surprised when your child becomes a technologically savvy barbarian.
It is on you, parent. God gave you the responsibility. And even if you refuse to obey Him, you’ll have to give an account some day for the degree to which you obeyed God’s command. Teach your children in the manner that God has commanded and you will be blessed all of your days.
Full disclosure: I have kids in the public school system. We love the elementary teachers at our local public school and appreciate their Christianity. They do the best they can within that system. But even there, God cannot be honored in the secular school, he cannot be worshipped “with all the mind” as we are commanded to do, and he cannot be given his rightful place as the center of all knowledge.
The struggle to earn a living and bring up good kids is difficult. Christian schools are not widespread, homeschooling is a difficult option for busy parents, churches seem to be confused about their role in aiding the parents in education, and the government takes our money to fund their idea of the socializing school system. All this amounts to a very steep uphill climb. I hear you.
My hope is that as you read this, you will recognize:
1. That you as a parent are responsible for your child’s education.
2. That the Bible mandates a God-centered curriculum
3. That all is not well, even in the best government schools
4. That you begin to think how you can implement the faith, virtue, knowledge
mandate in your own family.
May the Lord be with you as you seek to more fully obey the command to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. May He guide your efforts to bring up your children in the “fear and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
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