CC - My church is ultra pro-public schooling

[lea_lpz]

That' surprising. My church is very supportive of homeschooling and we have a homeschool group (though I haven't attended yet; it's during my little ones' nap). But then my kids are young, so haven't exerienced their jr. / sr. high program for kids.

 

The older two, do they participate in activities out of the home, like sports lessons, music lessons, etc, volunteering. Maybe they could use these activities as their "mission fields".

 

Having said that, I am a newer Christian, so, I still have pretty fresh in mind how I felt about religious people trying to convert me. I also am still relatively young, so the high school, college years are still fresh in my head. I think if a stranger were to try to tell me about God, it would have annoyed me and I would have blown them off entirely. However, occasionally I would have a friend, or meet someone in a casual social gathering, that was a practicing Christian. I was a lot more inclined to want to hear their own testimony about Christ as their savior and how they saw Christ work in their life if they didn't push it on me but instead I got to know them and I was so impressed with their moral character that I asked or let the topic be approached. I remember a couple of times, the people I met in high school that made me most want to give going to church a try were two young girls who were kind to me and just glowed of the Holy Spirit and had something at the time I couldn't put my finger on, but they had such peace. They never forced conversion on me. They just walked the walk and you could tell that it made them happy. Truely, you could see their inner beauty.

[Tammyla]

Personally, I believe public, private, or home school is for educating thier minds.

[Janie Grace]

Yup--I have nothing against the youth pastor. We've known each other since college and his heart is really for these kids. I think I'm just tired of having my children and others like them not be considered and being constantly in the minority. It starts to wear on a person sometime being the odd man out. We'll see what happens next year and I'll deal with it at that time.

 

Beth

 

I just think you should simply tell him this. It just sounds like he's being a bit clueless/inconsiderate that not EVERYONE in the room is a public schooler. You can't control your kids being in the minority unless you switch churches. But you CAN help this guy (who sounds like a great guy) be more aware of the diversity of choices represented. Perhaps you can give him ideas for exhorting the other kids in the same way ("ie, or some of you aren't in school but can reach out to other on your sports teams, in the neighborhood, etc.") It's not like we homeschoolers are cloistered and don't care about the lost (well, some are, but not all!). Our mission fields just look different, and often we're reaching out together as families.

[Janie Grace]

Having said that, I am a newer Christian, so, I still have pretty fresh in mind how I felt about religious people trying to convert me. I also am still relatively young, so the high school, college years are still fresh in my head. I think if a stranger were to try to tell me about God, it would have annoyed me and I would have blown them off entirely. However, occasionally I would have a friend, or meet someone in a casual social gathering, that was a practicing Christian. I was a lot more inclined to want to hear their own testimony about Christ as their savior and how they saw Christ work in their life if they didn't push it on me but instead I got to know them and I was so impressed with their moral character that I asked or let the topic be approached. I remember a couple of times, the people I met in high school that made me most want to give going to church a try were two young girls who were kind to me and just glowed of the Holy Spirit and had something at the time I couldn't put my finger on, but they had such peace. They never forced conversion on me. They just walked the walk and you could tell that it made them happy. Truely, you could see their inner beauty.

 

Thank you for sharing this. What a wonderful reminder that we as Christians need to be abiding in Christ, and allowing HIS beauty in us to attract people.

[TammyS]

Why are you homeschooling as a Christian? I am homeschooling my children so that they can retain their innocence as long as possible and have a Christ centered worldview. I want them to understand history and science from a Christian perspective first before they get bombarded with secular teachings (of which there are a lot in our liberal small town). Now that I have a son going into those junior high years, my church is making me wonder if we are making the right choice. The church is very much "bring Jesus to the world" kind of church. That's fine - I have absolutely no problem with that.

 

BUT, when they talk about the youth group bringing Jesus to the world it is always in the context of "mission field of their high school/junior high" - ONLY in the context of their school. There are only 90 families in our church - about 2/3rds have kids. There are only 5 homeschooling families and between us we have 20 kids. As my children are getting older, it's starting to bug me and makes me wonder every time if I am doing my kid's faith a disservice. How am I to counter this thought process that my son will get every week he's in youth group?

 

Beth

 

I hear this ideology thrown around a lot, and IMO, it's idiotic. Let's imagine it from the point of view of an algebra teacher.

 

"Hi, I'm Mrs Belling and I'm here to teach you algebra. Actually, more like share what I'm learning about algebra, because I'm still early in the learning process. But I am wayyyy enthusiastic and I can show you a couple of the things I've learned already!"

 

Is that the person you would want teaching algebra? Never mind that poor Mrs Belling is at least not in much danger of her students handing her a book entitled "Why algebra is a stupid waste of time" and giving her speeches about how she should spend her time smoking pot instead because it's wayyyyy more fun. :lol:

[Susan in TN]

Yup--I have nothing against the youth pastor. We've known each other since college and his heart is really for these kids. I think I'm just tired of having my children and others like them not be considered and being constantly in the minority. It starts to wear on a person sometime being the odd man out. We'll see what happens next year and I'll deal with it at that time.

 

Beth

 

In our youth group, there is the opposite issue - nearly everyone is homeschooled and we had to have a serious conversation with our kids when we heard that some "comments" were made over the one kid who goes to public school.

 

Personally, I believe God calls different families to different things. We all must be salt and light wherever He has placed us. But I also believe a "missionary" is a person specifically called by God and sent by a covenant community to do a particular work. It requires an enormous amount of spiritual preparation and maturity to do the work of missions.

[TammyS]

Yup--I have nothing against the youth pastor. We've known each other since college and his heart is really for these kids. I think I'm just tired of having my children and others like them not be considered and being constantly in the minority. It starts to wear on a person sometime being the odd man out. We'll see what happens next year and I'll deal with it at that time.

 

Beth

 

Can I ask? The youth pastor, is he young? One thing that has always troubled me about most youth groups and youth pastors is the he always seems to be young or faking young, trying to fit in and be cool and one of them, rather than imparting to them a good example, spiritual direction, and serious wisdom. My son, 13, has never been in a youth group because everyone I have seen has been very unimpressive (I don't count all of the kids hanging out and having fun as impressive). Youth pastors always seem to me to be long on enthusiasm and short on brains.

[TechWife]

I have yet to meet a person who was converted because of a classmate taught them about Jesus.

:seeya: You have now!

 

I think encouraging kids/teens to live out their faith in front of their peers is appropriate, no matter what their school setting. However, evangelism is only a small part of that lifestyle.

 

I also agree with others that we should not be expecting untrained warriors to fight the battle, that we should be concentrating on teaching & training them so that they can stand firm in the faith.

[bethben]

He's 40 and long on wisdom. He just has public school blinders on. I'm not sure how he'll adjust, but with him I think there's hope. Not so possibly with others.

Beth

[Carol in Cal.]

I wonder what the church asks their adult members to do? Do they have pushes toward evangelizing secular workplaces? Do they push toward evangelizing neighborhood groups, like mothers' groups and playgroups?

 

Certainly all Christians are called to 'always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within', including kids to some extent, but in general, if the kids are sent out and the parents are not, there is a spiritual imbalance. I would be concerned about that.

 

Also, it is not right for a church to assume a norm that is not proclaimed in Scripture. Inclusiveness should start at the church program level, certainly, and be as broad as possible. That is why, in our congregation, although most of the women who participate in the women's group are stay at home wives and mothers, the meetings are in the evening so as to be welcoming to women who work during the day, even though most of them do not participate. That is also why events there are purposely kept very low in cost, even if they are fundraisers, so as to include as many as possible. Barriers to entry should be avoided strenuously. That is the argument that I would use about this practice--don't put up a barrier that God does not establish, by assuming a norm that is not even remotely universal.

[6packofun]

Well, I think it's important to determine if the youth group is actually against homeschooling or just ignoring the homeschoolers. LOL Have they said anything that shows they think you should put your kids in school to be "missionaries" or evangelists? I believe it's possible and that many people think that way.

 

Question it. Why is school the best place to evangelize? Sheer numbers? If that's the case, then Christians should never live in rural, less populated areas, either. They should always seek out large groups, etc. Taken to it's logical conclusion, that argument is pretty lame, IMO.

 

Is it that we're supposed to be going out into all the world? Because that blows the stay-inside-this-institution-for-all-your-evangelizing method out of the water.

 

So if it's really about evangelizing your peers, then it makes sense that Christians would always be called to share with those in their own personal area of influence, the one that God Himself gives to each believer. God gives homeschoolers a different sphere of influence, within the context of their *families*, and that's a good thing! Combined, homeschoolers and public schoolers can reach many more people for Christ.

 

HOWEVER, I also agree with Ellie about children not being the ones called to mission work alone, without their families. Not that they can't have an impact, but family is our training ground.

 

My dh uses an illustration about how it can be SO difficult to resist the pull of the world while surrounding yourself with it and not having family or other Christians to "get your back". Have one student stand on a chair. Have another student standing below them right next to the chair. Chair student is the Christian who must try to pull the other student up to his level, his standard. The other student, representing an unbeliever, will try to pull the Christian DOWN to his level. Who usually wins?

 

So sending our kids out alone and hoping for the best--even if we've "taught them right"--is even more difficult than it is for grown adults trying to be a light in the workplace, etc. Are these youth working in evangelistic TEAMS in their schools? Because THAT is a Biblical model among the adults who went out into the world to share the good news of Christ!

Edited August 7, 2012 by 6packofun
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