00:00:00.000Welcome to Real Christianity. Today we are talking about the biblical perspective on homeschooling
00:00:07.140and the public school system. Guys, this is an important conversation and you would think that
00:00:12.380Veronica would be here with me today, but she's not. We've had a couple hiccups on some scheduling
00:00:17.360stuff and that's okay because you know what? I'm actually the one that really initiated the
00:00:23.180homeschooling direction for our family. She is all on board on that. But I really do think that
00:00:31.120it's the dad's responsibility to direct and lead the family in terms of the education direction.
00:00:39.500And so men, pay attention. This isn't a woman's episode. This is both a men and woman's episode.0.95
00:00:45.460And if you're not married or you don't have kids, still, I think this episode is going to be
00:00:50.200fruitful for you today. Veronica will be joining us for the next several episodes
00:00:54.960as we get kind of closer to closing off the year here. But today is an audio-only episode,
00:01:01.720so if you're a YouTube listener, sorry about that. You guys can still listen to it on audio
00:01:06.840on YouTube. But let's just dive in for a second here. If it's your first time listening to the
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00:02:26.260reviews. I read all of them and they're so encouraging. So thank you for that. Another
00:02:32.000thing I wanted to mention, you guys, last week's episode that Veronica and I did on the questions
00:02:36.940about marital sex issues, I hope that that was edifying for you. And I hope that you are also
00:02:42.720considering our ultimate marriage program, our six-week program. We get so many incredible
00:02:49.940testimonials. It is a biblical marriage program over six weeks. It's $199. It's not that much
00:02:57.340money. It helps people have a biblical understanding of marriage, roles, sex, kids,
00:03:05.240money, purpose. I mean, it is just a great program. We put a lot of effort into it and we'd appreciate
00:03:12.780that if you guys could support our ministry by enrolling in that program. So if it's something
00:03:17.520that you need and you're also looking a way to support our ministry, Ultimate Marriage is a
00:03:21.800companion ministry of relearnchurch.org. Okay, today I'm going to unpack, I should say attempt
00:03:29.600to unpack the biblical position for the homeschool versus public school debate. And as most of you
00:03:36.860guys know, we do homeschool our children. Aria is in a Christian homeschool co-op called Classical
00:03:44.240Conversations. And basically, Veronica follows a curriculum at home that's built on the classical
00:03:49.420education model, which is built on the trivium. If you want to look it up, go for it. But we're
00:03:54.760big proponents of the classical education model. And then the kids and her meet up with all the
00:04:00.860other kids and the other moms once per week in town to learn the following week's lesson. And so
00:04:09.220I think it's cool because it gives Aria the sense of a classroom because they do like a one day in
00:04:14.860the classroom with each other and they get to celebrate, you know, holidays and have friends
00:04:19.640from school and you know all at the same time while mom still is the teacher and actually the
00:04:25.680the person that's teaching the class is actually called a tutor and they're tutoring the mom and
00:04:31.160the kids get to share their projects and they get to give speeches in front of the class and
00:04:34.960it's really awesome so we really appreciate classical conversations you probably have one
00:04:41.360in your area if you're looking for that it's kind of like you get to homeschool without being alone
00:04:47.800and so I really appreciate their model. Now, there's two important things to know before we
00:04:51.980get started. First, I was raised in the public school for my entire education, so I'm preaching
00:04:56.640today from conviction, not from loyalty or personal experience to the public school system
00:05:03.300or anything like that. Second, I do not believe the Bible directly condemns public school or
00:05:11.220affirms homeschooling, but really instead offers us a variety of scripture to help us form a wise
00:05:17.780decision around how our children are to be educated. And so let's just talk first about
00:05:23.660public school. Now, over the years, I should say Christians in the public school.
00:05:29.160The most common reasons I've heard Christians use to support their decision for enrolling
00:05:34.380their young children in public school, there's really three of them, and I'm going to kind of
00:05:39.360recite them to you. The first one is, they will be a light to their non-Christian friends.
00:05:46.480Number two is, you know, we have to teach our children to be in the world, not of the world.0.98
00:05:52.420And number three is, we can't keep them in a bubble forever.
00:05:54.940They need to develop real-world people skills.
00:05:58.620So, in my experience, the most common reasons or scripture that these Christian parents offer to support their decisions are, like, this is the doctrine they're using to support those three reasons.
00:06:14.960it says, let your light shine before men. Matthew 5.13 says, you are the salt of the earth.
00:06:21.600John 15.19, be in the world, not of the world. These are the doctrines or the scriptures that
00:06:28.800they're kind of at the foundation of these reasons. And I believe most parents get mixed up,
00:06:36.180you know, and they forget that these instructions were not instructions written to children,
00:06:42.660but they're written to adults. And if you read the scriptures, you know that Jesus nor any of
00:06:49.600the apostles sent young children out to evangelize or to disciple or to be missionaries or to be
00:06:56.520iron sharpening iron in another child's life. This doesn't mean, however, that your child can't
00:07:04.020share the gospel, and some do, but there's a difference between a child sharing the gospel
00:07:09.100within the safety of their private life, and a child being sent on mission at seven years old
00:07:16.120into a hostile cultural environment to be a light to those around them.
00:07:21.000Now, let me remind you what Jesus says regarding the leadership of children. And this is an
00:07:29.400important verse. I want you to pay attention here. It's Matthew 18, 6. And he says,
00:07:33.660But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a millstone wrapped around his neck and he'd be drowned in the sea.
00:07:46.880Now, when Jesus says little ones, I don't think he's specifically and solely talking about children, but to all who are young in their faith, which is for sure the posture of every young child.
00:07:59.360I mean, essentially, the warning is to not purposefully choose to put those who are underdeveloped in their faith in a place of hostility, temptation, moral confusion, or worldly seduction.
00:08:15.540I would say that Jesus is saying, be super careful that you don't falter one of these little ones.
00:08:23.980Because if you do, it's better that you just drown in the sea or die right now than the punishment and pain that you're going to experience when you stand before me.
00:08:35.820Jesus really cares about his little lambs.0.95
00:08:38.400And if we lead them astray under false things.
00:08:43.720I think even as a believer, you're still going to stand before the Lord and give an account for everything you did.
00:08:49.380Even if you actually get saved in terms of you're saved, you're still going to have to answer for these bad decisions.
00:08:55.920And so, you know, having said that, and really with reviewing the general state of our public school system,
00:09:03.040a system which teaches anti-biblical sexuality, false scientific teachings about creation and biology,
00:09:09.260emotional morality, and really an overall philosophy designed to work against the values
00:09:15.660and positions of the Christian family. The scripture in Matthew with Jesus talking should
00:09:21.800at the very least cause Christian parents to re-examine their thinking. And if you're still0.63
00:09:27.620on the fence, I'm going to put it another way for you. I'm going to give you kind of an illustration
00:09:31.260here. I want you to imagine a family who is decidedly atheist and devotedly liberal in
00:09:39.200their politics, okay? Just imagine this family. And a family, you know, they support the open
00:09:44.320interpretation of marriage, the abortion of babies, a fluid view of gender. They're a proponent of
00:09:51.000evolution. Now, imagine that this family, they work diligently to teach these values to their
00:09:56.720children by taking them to political protests, allowing them to watch documentaries and read
00:10:04.080books that support their beliefs. Now, what do you believe the chances are of that family
00:10:10.360allowing their young and impressionable children to spend eight hours per day, five days per week
00:10:17.060for 13 years being educated by a decidedly Christian and devotedly conservative school,
00:10:25.220A school that teaches children that evolution is false and creation is true.
00:10:29.220A school that teaches the biblical model for marriage, life, and gender,0.81
00:10:33.340and what basically their parents have taught them is actually a lie or false.
00:10:38.740A school that has their students practice prayer, watch documentaries,
00:10:43.500and read books that support their Christian beliefs.
00:10:46.040What are the chances of that atheist and politically liberal family
00:10:50.100allowing their children to attend that Christian and devotedly conservative school?
00:10:57.620I'll give you the answer. Zero. The chances are zero. So having said that, why then would a
00:11:06.600decidedly Christian family with biblical values choose to place their children in a decidedly
00:11:14.620atheist and devotedly liberal public school system. Like why would a Christian family choose0.98
00:11:20.040to put their kids for eight hours a day, five days per week for 13 years into an education system
00:11:25.380that opposes and teaches against the very foundational values of their Christian faith?
00:11:32.180Now, when you look at it from this perspective, it sounds almost silly, right? But that's what's
00:11:38.460occurring today. Millions of Christian families are choosing to place their children against0.86
00:11:46.080Jesus' strong warning in Scripture in the public school system. Now, I do understand that some0.99
00:11:57.320Christian families simply can't afford to homeschool or private school their children.
00:12:02.300I also understand that not all schools and all teachers are immoral or unbiblical, and there are still some upstanding faculties and decent public schools out there, but these are the exceptions, and they're not the mainstream rule here.0.97
00:12:18.200And in speaking to the public school system really as a whole, you know, especially America's public school system, it's not getting better, it's not getting safer, it's not getting holier.
00:12:29.680Okay, just this year in California, the state legislation unanimously approved public schools to have a curriculum for teaching kindergartners about gender identity and personal options within that idea.0.98
00:12:48.520And middle schoolers get to learn about masturbation, oral sex, anal sex.0.99
00:12:53.960In Florida, just this year, a girl decided to walk into the boys' locker room while the boys were fully undressed.0.99
00:13:02.980And the male teacher that was in there wasn't legally allowed to take any action at all.
00:13:10.060And I actually read the story on the newamerican.com website and actually continues to say, and I'm going to quote this.
00:13:16.780It says, school officials ordered the teacher to be in the boys' locker room while the girl was changing.
00:15:28.160um now we we have to remember that all education is discipleship okay just hear me i'm going to say
00:15:37.540it one more time we must remember that all education is discipleship and if you're sending
00:15:44.080your children to public school for 30 to 40 hours per week how do you expect to out disciple that
00:15:50.620like do you do you think that 60 minutes of sunday school and a few morning devotionals
00:15:56.160is going to compete. There's a really fascinating quote by atheist and communist Vladimir Lenin.
00:16:04.640He once said, quote, give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never
00:16:12.040be uprooted, end quote. And you know, actually the Bible backs up his claim in Proverbs 22, 6.
00:16:20.580It says, train up a child in the way they should go.
00:16:24.500And when they're old, they will not depart from it.
00:16:28.640And see, you can train your children or the culture can train your children.
00:16:33.660But one thing is for sure, do not expect your child to depart from the things that they were taught.
00:16:42.040You know, whether they're true or whether they're not true.
00:16:44.680And whether they're moral or whether they're immoral.
00:16:46.920Okay, because outside of a very real encounter with Jesus in terms of a rebirth, God designed the human brain to lock in the lessons of early childhood.
00:17:01.340I've actually heard it explained that between the ages of one and three, children are like wet clay.
00:17:08.200Between the ages of four and seven, they are moldable clay.
00:17:13.220Eight to 12, they are beginning to be difficult to shape.
00:17:19.220And age 13 to 18, they're generally shaped already.
00:17:24.760And only very small adjustments can be made, and most of the time by sanding or shaving off the unwanted portions.
00:17:33.360And so the development of who they are, what they believe, is taking place very young.
00:17:41.080By the time they're 10, the majority of that's already in place.
00:17:45.980And, you know, again, people, if your child's currently in public school,
00:17:51.820I just want you to hear me when I say this.