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Studies have found that between 70-88 percent of teens who profess to be Christians are leaving their parent's faith by the time they are in their second year of college. Other studies have shown that 85 percent - the vast majority - of Christian teens do not hold a Biblical world view. Yes, there is the 12-30 percent who do graduate with their faith and beliefs intact, but Christians parents should not want to take that huge risk in light of God’s Word!
When taking into consideration the argument that children should be sent into the public schools to be salt and light, one needs to look a little closer at the passage from which this argument originates. Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
In this particular section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling Christians to be the salt of the earth, while also warning them that if they lose their saltiness, it will be gone forever. They will be thrown out (transliterated: "violently thrown out") and trampled on (transliterated: "rejected with disdain"). The section where it says, "loses its saltiness" is actually transliterated from the Greek as "being foolish" or "to act foolishly." Jesus, then, rhetorically asks how they can be made salty again, if they have lost that saltiness. Once they have lost their flavor, they will have forever lost their reputation for being salty and will be no further use in the furtherance of God’s Kingdom. All is lost.
If most Christians agree that the Bible never contradicts itself, then we should all be in agreement that we are completely able – though maybe not willing - to follow each and every command and heed all warnings given to us in Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." We cannot obey this commandment if we send our children out to school, because we would be unable to be with them but for a fractional part of a day. If Scripture is in harmony and not in contradiction of itself, then God would require that both Matthew 5:13-16 and Deuteronomy 6:6-9 be used in conjunction with each other, instead of in conflict. Are we unable to minister as a family unit to others - still being salt and light - while teaching our children the Lord's commands while we sit at home, when we walk along the way, when we lie down, and when we get up? Why is there a need to let children go out on their own, with the tendency to be foolish or to lose their flavor, when there are wonderful and Scriptural alternatives to sending them out while they are still spiritually immature?
Just as my brother and I were salt and light in our family’s ministries when we were homeschooled as children, so are my nine homeschooled children. Instead of being sent out to minister to others on their own, without parental instruction and protection, they minister alongside my husband and I in various ways (pro-life ministry, witnessing, etc.). We are all called to the mission field. We are all called to be salt and light. However, in order to live out Deuteronomy 6:6-9, children should be salt and light with their families, so that the parents are able to teach, train and protect their children from losing their “saltiness” while still ministering to the world under our protection and guidance. We are to be in the world and not of it. We are to be teaching our children why we are not of this world; how and why to spiritually combat that which is of this world; and how and why to put feet on those beliefs! That real-life ministering under the parental guidance, as described in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, brings spiritual maturity not found within church pews or public school hallways. As Christian parents, we must live in this world while showing our children the WHAT and WHYs behind what we believe. Without that understanding and continual guidance, which cannot be done if children are out of the parents’ Biblical coaching and mentoring 5 days a week, they will leave home with a poor Biblical worldview. When we include them in learning the practicalities of living out the faith, we can actually observe our children living out their faith while we are guiding them in the world. After that period of initial training, we can watch them slowly head out into the world. That is when they can be salt and light on their own. But for now, under our guidance, while also being salt and light, is where they belong.
Another important consideration when using the salt and light argument to argue for the freedom to send children out under the godless instruction of another is the foolish propensity of children. If Proverbs speaks frequently about children being naturally foolish, why would we send our half-grown children out to be the salt and light without our consistent direction and instruction, which is spoken so highly of in that same book of the Bible? When they are able to be mature, stand their ground unceasingly, while eloquently and decisively defend their faith as in 1 Peter 3:15 - ("Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."), then they are mature enough to be out on their own, consistently free of their childish folly warned about so often in Proverbs.
We must also consider and meditate about the meanings of the below verses in relation to sending our children to be under another’s instruction, guidance and mentorship for 7 to 8 hours, 5 days per week, 9 months per year.
Luke 6:39, 40 "Jesus said: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." Do I want my child to sit under a "spiritually blind" person for 8 hours a day? Do I want him to emulate that teacher and accept the godless curricula as normal and acceptable instruction? Maybe my child will come out of it as the 12-30% who are STRONG and STAND FIRM to the faith, but do I want to take the risk that he will not, especially after considering what Jesus stated about salt permanently losing its effectiveness? I take this warning very seriously.
Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him." Some children are very responsible and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. These children would do well being salt and light at young ages, but how long might it take for that salt to start to lose its flavor? This verse clearly states that children are naturally prone to foolishness and giving into foolish things, albeit less and less as they spiritually mature. I do not want my children, as sweet and godly as they are, to give in to foolish temptations, lose their saltiness and maybe even determine that their faith is not “for them" at some point in their future. Until they show complete spiritual maturity, our children will be salt and light while under their parents’ instruction.
Jeremiah 10:2 "Learn not the way of the heathen."
Proverbs 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."
Our family has chosen to let Scripture live out harmoniously in our home. We allow our children to live out Matthew 5:13-16, being salt and light to a dying world, while Mark and I obey the command given to us in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, perpetually instructing our children of the ways of God. Our desire is to follow Job 23:11-12, "My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread."
When taking into consideration the argument that children should be sent into the public schools to be salt and light, one needs to look a little closer at the passage from which this argument originates. Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
In this particular section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling Christians to be the salt of the earth, while also warning them that if they lose their saltiness, it will be gone forever. They will be thrown out (transliterated: "violently thrown out") and trampled on (transliterated: "rejected with disdain"). The section where it says, "loses its saltiness" is actually transliterated from the Greek as "being foolish" or "to act foolishly." Jesus, then, rhetorically asks how they can be made salty again, if they have lost that saltiness. Once they have lost their flavor, they will have forever lost their reputation for being salty and will be no further use in the furtherance of God’s Kingdom. All is lost.
If most Christians agree that the Bible never contradicts itself, then we should all be in agreement that we are completely able – though maybe not willing - to follow each and every command and heed all warnings given to us in Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." We cannot obey this commandment if we send our children out to school, because we would be unable to be with them but for a fractional part of a day. If Scripture is in harmony and not in contradiction of itself, then God would require that both Matthew 5:13-16 and Deuteronomy 6:6-9 be used in conjunction with each other, instead of in conflict. Are we unable to minister as a family unit to others - still being salt and light - while teaching our children the Lord's commands while we sit at home, when we walk along the way, when we lie down, and when we get up? Why is there a need to let children go out on their own, with the tendency to be foolish or to lose their flavor, when there are wonderful and Scriptural alternatives to sending them out while they are still spiritually immature?
Just as my brother and I were salt and light in our family’s ministries when we were homeschooled as children, so are my nine homeschooled children. Instead of being sent out to minister to others on their own, without parental instruction and protection, they minister alongside my husband and I in various ways (pro-life ministry, witnessing, etc.). We are all called to the mission field. We are all called to be salt and light. However, in order to live out Deuteronomy 6:6-9, children should be salt and light with their families, so that the parents are able to teach, train and protect their children from losing their “saltiness” while still ministering to the world under our protection and guidance. We are to be in the world and not of it. We are to be teaching our children why we are not of this world; how and why to spiritually combat that which is of this world; and how and why to put feet on those beliefs! That real-life ministering under the parental guidance, as described in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, brings spiritual maturity not found within church pews or public school hallways. As Christian parents, we must live in this world while showing our children the WHAT and WHYs behind what we believe. Without that understanding and continual guidance, which cannot be done if children are out of the parents’ Biblical coaching and mentoring 5 days a week, they will leave home with a poor Biblical worldview. When we include them in learning the practicalities of living out the faith, we can actually observe our children living out their faith while we are guiding them in the world. After that period of initial training, we can watch them slowly head out into the world. That is when they can be salt and light on their own. But for now, under our guidance, while also being salt and light, is where they belong.
Another important consideration when using the salt and light argument to argue for the freedom to send children out under the godless instruction of another is the foolish propensity of children. If Proverbs speaks frequently about children being naturally foolish, why would we send our half-grown children out to be the salt and light without our consistent direction and instruction, which is spoken so highly of in that same book of the Bible? When they are able to be mature, stand their ground unceasingly, while eloquently and decisively defend their faith as in 1 Peter 3:15 - ("Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."), then they are mature enough to be out on their own, consistently free of their childish folly warned about so often in Proverbs.
We must also consider and meditate about the meanings of the below verses in relation to sending our children to be under another’s instruction, guidance and mentorship for 7 to 8 hours, 5 days per week, 9 months per year.
Luke 6:39, 40 "Jesus said: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." Do I want my child to sit under a "spiritually blind" person for 8 hours a day? Do I want him to emulate that teacher and accept the godless curricula as normal and acceptable instruction? Maybe my child will come out of it as the 12-30% who are STRONG and STAND FIRM to the faith, but do I want to take the risk that he will not, especially after considering what Jesus stated about salt permanently losing its effectiveness? I take this warning very seriously.
Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him." Some children are very responsible and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. These children would do well being salt and light at young ages, but how long might it take for that salt to start to lose its flavor? This verse clearly states that children are naturally prone to foolishness and giving into foolish things, albeit less and less as they spiritually mature. I do not want my children, as sweet and godly as they are, to give in to foolish temptations, lose their saltiness and maybe even determine that their faith is not “for them" at some point in their future. Until they show complete spiritual maturity, our children will be salt and light while under their parents’ instruction.
Jeremiah 10:2 "Learn not the way of the heathen."
Proverbs 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."
Our family has chosen to let Scripture live out harmoniously in our home. We allow our children to live out Matthew 5:13-16, being salt and light to a dying world, while Mark and I obey the command given to us in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, perpetually instructing our children of the ways of God. Our desire is to follow Job 23:11-12, "My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread."
3 comments:
Recently I "stumbled" upon your website. Thank you for your excellent biblical rebuttal against this argument. I hear this often from Christians who choose to send their kids to public schools (mainly because they really don't want to homeschool). You have perfectly assimilated the biblical perspective. How refreshing!
Agree 100% with Lisa. GREAT article!
I just stumbled on this blog post while looking for some evidence for a friend who is going to homeschool but her family is in opposition. This is beautifully written! Thank you for your words!
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