Let's begin with a verse addressing the role of parents in training their children. Deuteronomy 6:6 “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.” It is the responsibility of Christian parents to see to it that their children are taught in the ways of the Lord. The decision to follow Jesus is the child's to make, but Christian parents must ensure that instruction and modeling of the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ occurs in a way that points their children to Jesus. Sure, the church should provide some level of training and teaching, and there is a place for the option of a Christian school to assist in this education, but at the end of the day, parents are responsible for seeing to it that the child has learned.
So what is a parent to do? We should encourage parents to honor God first in their educational choices for their children. Thank God that our prayer in the mid-1990's for “an educational alternative for our young people” was answered when FJS (Followers of Jesus School) began in 1997. Until that time, the two educational choices we had at FJMC were either to send the children to public school or to home school. Now, if the family is not inclined to home school, there is a Christian school educational alternative that is God-directed and discipleship-oriented, contrary to the secularism of the public school.
Let's address the sometime controversy regarding home school and Christian school. These choices should not be one against another; us versus them; comparison extraordinaire; I'm cool you drool. Parents are responsible to choose the educational venue for their children, but certainly the body of Christ should offer advice, counsel, and encouragement as we make that choice for our children. If you have chosen to home school your children, may God bless you with wisdom, and look for ways to bless the ministry of FJS. Parents and teachers at FJS, ask God how to bless the ministry of home school families as they, along with you, seek to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 The first part of that verse could be stated “provide an atmosphere for life according to their gifts and traits.”
I have been on both sides of the opportunity when it comes to Christian school and home school. Our family has been blessed by both, and we wish to encourage and build up the families who home school, and the parents and teachers who are involved at FJS. If you are currently sending your children to public school, I pray that you will find a Christ-centered educational option. It is ultimately the parents' responsibility to instruct their children in the ways of the Lord; let's encourage each other in the journey!
So what is a parent to do? We should encourage parents to honor God first in their educational choices for their children. Thank God that our prayer in the mid-1990's for “an educational alternative for our young people” was answered when FJS (Followers of Jesus School) began in 1997. Until that time, the two educational choices we had at FJMC were either to send the children to public school or to home school. Now, if the family is not inclined to home school, there is a Christian school educational alternative that is God-directed and discipleship-oriented, contrary to the secularism of the public school.
Let's address the sometime controversy regarding home school and Christian school. These choices should not be one against another; us versus them; comparison extraordinaire; I'm cool you drool. Parents are responsible to choose the educational venue for their children, but certainly the body of Christ should offer advice, counsel, and encouragement as we make that choice for our children. If you have chosen to home school your children, may God bless you with wisdom, and look for ways to bless the ministry of FJS. Parents and teachers at FJS, ask God how to bless the ministry of home school families as they, along with you, seek to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 The first part of that verse could be stated “provide an atmosphere for life according to their gifts and traits.”
I have been on both sides of the opportunity when it comes to Christian school and home school. Our family has been blessed by both, and we wish to encourage and build up the families who home school, and the parents and teachers who are involved at FJS. If you are currently sending your children to public school, I pray that you will find a Christ-centered educational option. It is ultimately the parents' responsibility to instruct their children in the ways of the Lord; let's encourage each other in the journey!
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