Troublesome Topic: Consider Homeschooling
Lesson 12 of 14We should teach young people what the whole Bible says about sex, marriage, divorce and remarriage. We should make clear to them how serious God is about these things, evidenced by the harsh consequences laid out in the Law.
Obviously, this teaching will sound very different from what people are hearing from the world. That is as it should be. It is not a problem if we are saying something very different from the world on matters related to sex and marriage; the problem comes when we sound just like the world.
If a child is hearing one thing at home and another thing at school he will have to choose, and he will usually choose the one that he likes best based on how it makes him feel, not the one that has the highest “price tag.” But a child that is homeschooled will not likely hear competing voices during his formative years (if he does not watch much TV and is not free to surf the internet at will). Thus his training will be consistent and clear. I believe that the homeschool movement may have the best chance of successfully teaching these principles in ways that have lasting impact.
Of course, we need to allow our children to see glimpses of the real world outside of our homes in order to discuss with them what is going on in our world. If we don’t do that, they are liable to experience a hard rebound when they get out on their own, a rebound which may include lots of experimentation. Some of this is unavoidable, but I think we can do a better job than we have been doing.
I have experience in public education, private education, and homeschooling, and in my mind, one of the keys to do a better job of training our children is to not send them to public school (or even a private school) but to educate them ourselves. God has given us that responsibility and I believe that passing it to others always brings results that are more negative than positive.
You can do it. You are capable of homeschooling your children because you love them and because there are many helpful resources available today. Others have made it work; so can you.
It is time to dispense with the idea that everyone needs a college education. For some careers it is still needed, but in many cases it is not. In most cases students come out of college thoroughly inculcated with an anti-God mentality which includes all the teaching of our culture about evolution, sex, relationships, sexual identity, abortion, etc. Only sometimes are they well prepared for a career despite having incurred heavy debts. Much of the time a college or university is rated by students according to how big of a party school it is. One student told me that after four years of college he got a piece of paper (a diploma) which only proved that he was willing and able to jump through the hoops they had put before him. An apprenticeship that you arrange with a company of your choice is a better idea.
We have a culture which actively promotes a “me-first” attitude. Such an attitude is natural for anyone living outside of a relationship with God, so no one needs help becoming self-centered. However, our culture sells me-first thinking to us and to our kids in innumerable ways. As followers of Jesus, we should not allow our children to be taught how to live by the educational machinery of our culture. I think it is best if we can spit ourselves out of that system and train our children in the ways that we believe are important. It is well worth any sacrifice required.
The next lesson is: I Challenge Everyone To Think Differently and Seek God First