The Silent Witness
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses...who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of
lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their
dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection...of whom the world was not worthy...” (Hebrews
12:1, 11:33-35, 38a).
“Why not leave our children in public school where they can
be a silent witness?” is a question often asked by good and
honest parents. The simple answer is “how can one be silent
and be a witness?” The same logic could be used in speaking
of an “honest thief” or a sober drunkard” or a
“truthful liar”. The witnesses in Hebrews 11 were not
silent!
The philosophy of leaving children in the public school to be a
silent witness is erroneous and false. The child from the
Christian home needs the Christian school. There are at least
three reasons why the child should be in the Christian school.
First, it is scripturally right to bring up your children in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. Such
upbringing is not possible where God is forsaken and where
godliness is treated lightly. The question often arises, does not
the Christian school become a hothouse and weaken the child? The
answer to this is an emphatic NO! The late Dr Mark Fakkema writes
in The Hothouse Argument, “We place young plants in a
hothouse in order to make them strong enough to weather the
elements outside. We do not put young plants in hothouses to make
them weak; we put them there because they are weak, too weak for
outdoor exposure.”
Some feel that exposure to the public school will train Christian
soldiers how to fight the enemy. If this is a good philosophy,
why not take American young men and send them to Viet Nam to be
trained and them bring them back to let them fight? That is
foolish! They wouldn’t fight the enemy if they were trained
by the enemy. But that is exactly what people are doing with
their children. Young folks are sent to unbelievers to be
trained. No wonder then that many children from Christian homes
are found to be on the wrong side.
Second, Christian children in the public schools do not become
spiritually strong and vigorous; on the contrary, they often lose
whatever spirituality they may have, and are frequently
frustrated. There is security in knowing what is right and
acceptable or what is wrong and unacceptable. The Christian
child, under the influence of an ungodly teacher, will have many
inner conflicts and no longer will feel secure.
Keeping children in public school to become silent witnesses
leads to a compromising position. The story of Lot in Sodom is a
familiar one. Lot was a just man we are told, but a silent
witness. Lot did not gain strength by living in Sodom, but rather
was influenced by the Sodomites.
Third, the Christian school helps develop a philosophy that gives
the child a right perspective of life and his place in the world.
The great emphasis today is upon youth, yet for over 1900 years
the church had no youth department. Because of our overemphasis
upon youth, it has given young people an exaggerated idea of
their own importance. The truth of the matter is youth does not
contribute to youth. How many young people have built great
churches or schools? How many young people have performed any
outstanding work of any nature in any age? The Christian school
says to the young person, “You are a part of this culture.
You are not a separate entity. You are not the only part but you
are a part.” The Christian school develops the philosophy
that laws should be respected, parents obeyed. The Christian
school stresses the importance of patriotism, discipline and
morals. Above all, the Christian school says that the greatest
importance of life is the proper relationship with God.
Students asked to enter a Christian school often remark,
“I’ll have to give up my friends.” Teachers, when
presented with the challenge of teaching in the Christian school,
reply, “I’ll lose my teacher tenure, my teacher
retirement, and there a great loss of income.” Parents, when
asked to support the Christian school, feel that it is a waste of
time and money. Yet the witnesses described in Hebrews 11 gave up
not merely a job, not simply money. nor even tenures or friends,
they gave up their lives for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Are Christian schools sheltering Christian young people? NO! NO!
A thousand times NO! Children in public schools are sheltered.
They are not exposed to God. Christian parents owe it to
themselves, their children and to God to see that their child
receives a Christian education. God is looking for those who
witness, not whine; those with backbone, not wishbone. The
Christian school builds character and conviction while striving
to remove cowardice compromise.
A silent witness? No, indeed!
~ by Robert J. Billings