Rather My Children be Illiterate

Posted 7/6/06

I would rather my children be illiterate, than to turn them over to the government school system.

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. Matthew 18:8

But of course, my children are not illiterate. In fact, I’m very pleased and grateful to the Lord that my oldest daughter just graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in Math and Physics! 

I make such a statement above, because there are Christian parents who give up on homeschooling because they are concerned that they are not doing an adequate job. I pray our Lord would encourage them and give them hope, purpose and direction.

When it comes to literacy, followers of Jesus have the most reason of anyone in the world to be able to read and write effectively! As Steve Phillips, missionary to West Africa, states:

“God is literate. He not only speaks, He writes. Paul commands that his letters be read to all the brethren (I Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16). Common men are commanded to read and reason from the written Word of God for themselves (Isa. 34:16); even children are to gain their doctrine from the Scriptures directly (2 Tim. 3:15).” [Steve Phillips, See June 2006 West African Update.]

There are great dangers in turning your children over to government schools.

Now, of course, there are many disputable matters in this discussion. I acknowledge that when a Mom is in extremis and “at the end of her rope” that drastic action may have to be taken. And if you have your children in government schools because you see no other way, then trust the Lord Jesus in the midst of everything! He will give you wisdom and grace.

In disputable matters, we must give one another freedom to apply Biblical principles as best we can, by the grace of God. We each may differ in “where to draw the line”. But we ought to be willing to discuss among ourselves, knowing we have to draw a line somewhere when it comes to being in the world but not of the world.

Knowing that our children must make the transition to adulthood eventually, we aim to guard their lives strictly early on and release them to their own accountability to the Lord as they approach adulthood. For my wife (an incredible homeschooling Mom) and I, we decided that at about the age of 16 we would begin their transition to the working world by enrolling them in the “Running Start” program in the local community college. I recognize that there are some parents who homeschool all the way through college!

Some might say, “We send our children to public schools because we do not want to isolate ourselves from society and we want to be involved in society to be a witness to the unsaved.” Of course I agree that we must be in the world, but not of the world. We are called to be where the sinners are, to be a friend to the prostitute and the dishonest tax collector, even if religious people criticize us for our associations. HOWEVER, should we not be prepared properly for a particular ministry? Is it wise to send a new believer immediately to the Amazon to witness to tribal people? Does the desire to witness to the unsaved require us to let the unsaved teach our own children their world view and philosophies for five or six hours a day? Are there not other ways to be where the sinners are to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ and be involved with their lives?

There are great dangers  in turning your children over to government schools