Thank you for the thoughtful post.

I think your missional posture should be of secondary importance as you prayfully consider your children's education. I've found most kids to be much more easily influenced than influential, especially in the tender years. Your family's great intentions could easily backfire if you intend to use your kids to be "light" and "salt" in the classroom. Also, I would argue that most schools pale in comparison to the education you and your wife can offer from home. And I'm not aware of any Christian homeschool families who have avoided the culture.

Having said that I know of Christian parents who have raised outstanding young adults using every model you mention.

Q: So what’s a Christian parent to do?
A: Do what's best for your kids.

Second, I've got to rebut your comment about homeschool...
"...with parents who choose to homeschool their children. They have looked at the options, and they have chosen to exclude their families from that aspect of cultural interaction."

My wife and I homeschool all of our five kids, not because we want to exclude them from cultural interaction but because we want to do what is best for them. Why did we start? Because we felt like we could do a better job with a 5 to 1 teacher/student ratio than another system (whether public or private) with a 30 to 1 ratio AND we could include God in everything that we do... not just the four hours of time we have in the evening. We chose to become a single-income, homeschool family because it allowed us to focus on what was important to us, our kids.

Some of ours have been homeschooled through 6th grade, some through 12th. For some we've elected to have them move on to other schooling options because of opportunities with team sports or specialized instruction but -- always because it was the best place for them, not for any other reason.

Anyway... there my 2 cents. Grain of salt... etc...

Thank you! This is the same conversation my wife and I are having about our two-and-a-half-year-old. There is a fifth option that occurs to me, which was described by the principal of an Anglican school when I asked him, "What is Christian education?" His school is explicitly Christian, but open to the community - no statement of faith is required. He feels his school should serve (and transform) its entire community, not just the children of churchgoers. I think many Catholic schools have taken a similar position, as have "mission schools."

I don't think there is a "Christian" answer to the question of where/how to school your children. It comes down to knowing your child, as Dr. Sears so rightly emphasizes, but that can be so hard, especially when they're two. As my wife and I discuss the issue, I'm also struck by how artificial our choices are - the public school system as we know it North America is not terribly old, and most children throughout history have been taught through "home-schooling" or apprenticeships. My wife is a public school teacher, and neither of us are terribly impressed, not even on a strictly educational level. But we also agree with you re: the "subculture" of many private Christian schools.

I'll pray for you if you pray for me. May God have mercy on us both. :)

Looking at the four subgroups within first century Jewish culture is a thought-provoking way to address interaction with whatever culture we find ourselves. It was a keen observation that Jesus did not try and integrate into any one of them. The approach of placing our children in a particular venue as an avenue to engage culture seems misguided. Any conversation that has as a basis the idea that our children are somehow "tools" to further an agenda, ministry, or even the Kingdom does not seem sensible. The Old Testament narrative makes it clear that God desired parents to immerse their children in Him and His acts toward His people. All the feasts and festivals, stories and symbols created a culture that was immersed in a God close at hand. Unfortunately we seem to be living in a culture driven by a spirit to "divide and conquer" families, let alone live within a Kingdom based narrative. The best of the age we live in, has become the apparatuses to sever the bonds between the generations to create the worst of times to live as a "holy" people. Dickens line "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" is very appropo for the Christian family at the start of this new century. At a restraunt this past weekend while waiting for a table, a young couple with a toddler were sitting beside us also waiting. The husband was very much disengaged having both ears occupied with an iPod. While sitting at our table, there was another family across from us. The husband sat playing on his cell phone a good part of the meal while the wife attended to their toddler sitting in a high-chair next to her and tried to have a conversation with their teenager sitting catty-corner. Calculate in the fact that the children are probably in school or day care eight hours per day, five days a week, and both parents are probably working one or two jobs and we have the recipe for a terribly fragmented society. The home, church, and town square that tethered us to one another and God seems to have come up missing. If anyone finds it, let me know.

This is a great discussion about raising kids in today's culture. You and your wife are faced with a difficult choice that so many in today's society are faced with. Airing it in this venue is a wonderful way to get feedback.

I believe that Christians are to live in culture, seeking to change culture (I guess I'm a Zealot, although I would not claim to be). I believe that Christ has called us to live among people seeking to offer an alternative to those around us. As people of God's mission, we are always in his "mission field."

I know families who have done each of these. Each of them have drawbacks. Homeschooled children usually are not socially prepared for the interactions they will face in college and the business world. Private schooled children usually grow up very sheltered and naive to the realities of life and the world outside of their Christian bubble. Public schooled children usually are more worldly, however, they do grow up seeing reallife face-to-face and having to make decisions to follow Christ or not.

I understand when many people think that public schools are failing. I know that people think that the public school system is not working, but I still believe the issue is motivation from home. If parents were more involved with their children in raising them and teaching them, public schools would be more successful. I am a product of public education and strong motivation from my parents.

Prayerfully consider being a change agent in culture instead of withdrawing from culture and hiding.

As a parent of grown children, working in a public High School I have a slightly different frame of reference. I attended a Christian High School and because of that experience, My children all attended public school right through college. Where we separated from the 4 models above is that I started volunteering in our children's classes when they were in Kindergarden. I was there, not to fight against a pagan system, but to assist the teachers in making sure my children got a good education. Some of the results of my being there were that I knew my children's teachers very well, I knew their friends very well, we had time together as we traveled back and forth to school to talk about how proud I was of them when they stood up for their beliefs. I was able to catch the little moments as they happened and make them moments of growth. It was one of the greatest joys of my life and when it came time for them to move on we were all ready. I didn't wring my hands and wonder where the time had gone because I had been there. I knew they were at the place in their growth that we had been working for all those years. They were ready to go on with their faith intact, prepared to continue to take Christ into their worlds. I continue to work in a public high school and consider it a privilege and an incredible mission field. I'm so very thankful, now as when my children were in school, for the Christian teachers who are helping to shape the lives of our children. I'm impressed by the Christian kids who are living a life that reflects Jesus in the midst of a pagan society.
Having said all that, I must make it clear that this is what worked for us and it is how God directed us for our children. I believe that God directs each parent differently because He knows what each individual child's emotional, spiritual, and academic needs are. I applaud each parent as they seek God's heart for their child(ren).The important thing is that no matter what vehicle is used for your child's education, you, as parents, must be actively engaged in it. You can not drop kids into a system, whether it be home school, public school, or any kind of private school and think you've done your job.

YOU ARE A HOMESCHOOLER.

If you have children of any age, whether you like it or not, whether you think you have the ability or not, and most importantly, regardless of where your children are enrolled for formal training, you are a homeschooler.

Before our children were born, I knew I wanted to home school them. My wife was not so sure. She did not share my confidence in our ability. I was brokenhearted when we sent our oldest to public school for first grade, feeling I had betrayed her.

However, I had made a commitment to God when she was born that as long as He gave me charge over our children, I would be their primary teacher regardless and that I would do whatever was necessary to be His tool to lead them to Him. So our children entered public school with a strong academic and spiritual foundation. For instance, we taught both of our children to read with phonics and we taught them about creation from Genesis before they entered first grade.

When they were in 3rd and 1st grades, frustrated with our particular school and feeling more confident and led by God, we decided the time was right to pull them and home school. It was a challenging, fulfilling and successful experience even though we were not perfect at it. Our children made decisions for Christ when they were 6 and 7.

We never regretted home schooling but then when an opportunity arose, we enrolled our children in a new charter school when they were in 7th and 5th grades. The children were ready for the change and happy with it. My daughter is a high school junior now with a 4.0 average. My son does well also and he is a typical teenage male who would rather be skateboarding.

Most importantly, they are leaders among their peers, bold and uncompromising about their faith. They seem to attract friends who are hurting and in need of stable relationships and to whom my wife and I have become parental figures. Do I take credit for this? No Way. God has brought this about as much in spite of me as because of me. I praise Him every day for allowing me to see my children turn out the way they have.

We have trained them to think for themselves so they are prepared for the challenges to their faith that will come from school, college, and “the real world”. We tell them to take a stand when necessary but to never disrupt a class.

Also, we started early talking to them candidly about important things like sexual issues and what God’s Word says about them. The fact that my wife and I have stayed together through tough times is critical. I see in their friends the devastating results of broken homes.

There are many factors involved in deciding how to educate your children. Whatever you choose, NEVER EVER surrender your child’s mind to anyone other than the Lord. God has made their spiritual foundation as well as their academic foundation YOUR responsibility. If you abdicate that position, no other success in your life will make up for it.

What's a Christian parent to do?
Pray.

As a former teacher, I have taught in private school, public school, and homeschool co-op. I have taught regular students, advanced placement students, and special education students.

I can attest that our public school system is not broken. But neither is it perfect. Public school teachers are overworked and underpaid. Classes are full, and funds are short. Worst of all, it seems most parents just don't care.

I know of families who have successfully home schooled their children through High School. I know of private and charter schools that offer fantastic educational opportunities. I certainly know of the successes that come out of public schools.

Each system can work. And there is room in our economy for each system.

The analogy I'm about to use isn't entirely fair, but I have to ask: How wonderful would our public schools be if more Christians recognized them as neighbors? Jesus calls us to love our neighbors—but not from an abstract distance. The Pharisee and the Levite pass by the sick man on the road. The Samaritan loves his neighbor. He stops and helps. He invests his time and his money.

I want to comment on some of the statements made so far. For the record, I am a product of public education, a former principle of a Christian school, taught at a Christian University, and was an administrator at a secular college. I have seen many parts of the picture from the inside.

>>>>>Each of them have drawbacks. Homeschooled children usually are not socially prepared for the interactions they will face in college and the business world.

I would challenge this statement. The only part that I have seen supported is that homeschool kids typically have not been in a classroom where they have to take lecture notes. That they learn rapidly, since it's no big deal, and the homeschoolers typically are far above average students.

The down side of home schooling is when it is done by people who simply should not do it. Successful homeschooling requires commitment, structure and discipline. People who are themselves semi-literate (I have seen some homeschool parents who are) simply cannot teach their children properly. There are other reasons that not everyone should homeschool.

>>>>>>Private schooled children usually grow up very sheltered and naive to the realities of life and the world outside of their Christian bubble.

That may be true in some cases, but there are Christian schools that work to keep their kids involved outside the school. Only the most narrow, fundamentalist kinds of schools live in a bubble.

>>>>>>Public schooled children usually are more worldly, however, they do grow up seeing reallife face-to-face and having to make decisions to follow Christ or not.

Have you been in a public school recently? It isn't a matter of seeing "reallife" face-to-face, but a matter of being in an often substandard education system with the deck stacked heavily against them.

>>>>>>I am a product of public education and strong motivation from my parents.

So am I. Yet I am also acutely aware that the system I attended -- which had it's own share of problems, by the way -- was far different from that public schools of today. It truly is a different world.

Sorry, but I need to add an additional thought. Working in both Christian and secular higher education, I can attest that kids who are the product of quality homeschooling and private schooling are FAR better equipped than the typical public school graduate.

As you consider this question, consider this: The education your child receives will play a HUGE part in setting the course of his or her life, and determine to a great deal what options are open or closed in life. It's one thing to say you want your child to be a change agent in the 6th or 11th grade, though it may men a lower quality education. It's another to say you want your child to get the best possible preparation so he or she will be a dynamic follower of Jesus and a change agent through life.

I'll shut up now. :)

I appreciate your desire, as a young unseasoned parent, to wrestle with the issue of education. I can still remember that discussion with my wife in 1984 before our first child was born (while at Denver Seminary, btw). It was prompted by a CT article on "Schooling at the Kitchen Table." That discussion, even though seminal in our unseasoned early years of marriage, set the course of our lives and even our ministry. What you decide now will shape the rest of your lives, and your children's lives. You should get as much accurate information as you can, pray about it, and trust God to lead you.

I appreciate your spirit of openness, but I think your use of the four Jewish groups is not helpful. I don't want to sound critical, but I think your desire to be creative as a writer has overly influenced your article, rather than your need to be accurate and objective. I'm a writer, too, and I love a good teaching concept, but I think you should seriously rethink this one.

Just for background, we have homeschooled our children for nearly 20 years. We've graduated two successful young adults who honor God with their lives, and have two more at home. We have written books on homeschooling and parenting, and have ministered to Christian and homeschool parents for over a decade. Obviously, I am not neutral about the validity of homeschooling.

We are not now, have never been, and will never be, Essenes. That is an unfair and prejudicial comparison. We are not cultural isolationists. We decided to homeschool because we determined that God designed the home to be a complete living and learning environment for raising godly children. We felt it was our responsibility to disciple our children, and the home was God's eternal design for that process. Education was simply the logical extension of spiritual discipleship.

Rather than allowing our children to be shaped and changed by the culture, we wanted to prepare our children to be culture changers. We believed God wanted us to be the primary influencers of our children, and not just of their spirits and hearts, but of their minds, too. So homeschooling for us was never an "alternative education," but rather the fullest expression of biblical discipleship. It was a faith decision and lifestyle that has required more of us than we ever imagined, but it was the right thing to do.

I just want to encourage you to rethink your view of homeschooling. Most of the homeschool parents I know are not the isolationist fundamentalists that you paint us as, perhaps unintentionally, in the Essene comparison. We are all very normal, culturally-engaged, spiritual, ministry-minded Christian families who want the very best for our children. Take a closer look at homeschooling.

for separatist and paranoid reasons my parents homeshooled me all the way through highschool. not the best motivation and it didn't "work." i picked up girls and smoking and the rest just as easily as everyone else. i, and my homeschooled church friends were just as good at lying to our parents as any teenager. i did get a great education though and avoided being treated like trash by my peers everyday at school. it is a myth, as far as i have seen, that homeschooled children are not well-equiped to deal with the harsh realities of college or the business world. in fact, most homeschooled children that i have known are well-aquainted with the business world and what it takes to keep a job because they are able to work jobs at a young age and even learn a trade if it is possible. i am not sure there is an easy answer to the questions but it is an insult to perpetuate the myth of social inept homeschooled children. and if you want my opinion, social ineptness is what parents have to fight when their public schooled children get home. sin isn't picked up at school anymore than it is eradicated at home. parents, myself included have to avoid these caricatures from both sides as we make this decision.

Being that I have been quoted, I will respond. I stand behind my views as exactly that...my views. Each personality I made reference to are ones that I have witnessed in my growing up, my education in college, and in my current children's ministry.

I understand the validity of each of these forms of education. I understand how committed each group of people are to each of them. God can use his people in great ways when we follow him in mission. I am sorry, but I just do not see the home or the private school as following God in his mission for the world.

Ken,

You said: I am sorry, but I just do not see the home or the private school as following God in his mission for the world.

With all due respect, and I say this with love and honesty, your statement is such a bald expression of spiritual pride and unbiblical judgmentalism that it astounds more than it offends. Your apology is accepted, but not your broadbrush assessment of all home and private schools.

I wish that you could know my two oldest children, homeschooled all the way. One is an author, aspiring to write literary fiction that will reflect and refract faith and truth. The other is a musician wanting to write and perform music that opens windows to faith for both the seeking and the faithful. Both love God and want to impact the world for the gospel.

Our "mission" in homeschooling has always been to prepare our children to be exactly what they have become. For you to suggest that our mission, and now their mission, is somehow not "following God in his mission for the world" is, as plainly and as truthfully as I can put it, sinful. And in fairness, it is no different than if a home or private schooler declared that any parent who puts their children in public school is not following God. Both statements are arrogant; both are sinful.

Let me just encourage you as an older Christian (sounds like I'm about 30 years your senior) to tone down your ideals, and be open to what God is doing outside the walls of your world, and outside your limited experience. His mission in the world is much broader, much more varied, and much more dynamic than either you or I can imagine. Be careful that you don't end up offending the Spirit of God by attributing to man, or even inadvertently to Satan, what He is doing in the world.

As a product of Christian education, K - college, and as a former teacher in both Christian and public school settings who currently has two children enrolled in public school, I just want to make clear that no matter how or where one decides to school one's children, what happens in the home vastly outweighs what happens in school. A solid Christian faith experience at home can counterbalance a bad school situation, but an excellent school situation almost never counterbalances a bad home situation. (An exception could be where a school community is highly intentional about intervention.)

The best thing to do is consider your children and consider your options. I see value in a child having trained educational teachers, but I know parents who have done an excellent job of home-schooling. (I've also seen very poor home-schooling.) We have our kids in public school because we decided we would rather have our kids learning no theology at school than the theology promoted at either of our local Christian schools. In our case we wanted to be able to say, "We do (or don't do) this because we are Christians." We didn't want to keep having to explain that "We're Christians, but not that kind of Christian."

Again, consider all your options, (Are you yourself really the best thing that could happen to your kids' education?) and then prayerfully make the decision that is best for you.

To the original writer I would answer: You err not knowing the scripture when you say, "Jesus was born into a four sect system in the 1st century world. And instead of embracing any of the systems that already existed, he rejected them all." Not so! Jesus was homeschooled! John 7:14, 15 NIV says: "Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, 'How did this man get such learning without having studied?'" Another version puts it, "How does he know so much without being schooled?" (MSG).
When Jesus was 12 years old he had a short 3-day encounter with the teachers at the temple, and "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." Think about it. Would they have been amazed if he had been one of their regular students? He learned at home, just as David and Solomon before him (read Proverbs).

Clay:

You wrote two blogs that made me angry, so you get two blogs back. First I’ll defend myself, then I’ll defend Ken.

Comparing someone to an Essene is not prejudicial. John the Baptist lived in the same area as the Essenes and had many similar behaviors and attitudes as the Essenes. Both believed the Kingdom of God was at hand. Both regularly practiced ceremonial cleansing through ritual bathing. To compare John to the Essenes is not prejudicial, it’s accurate. There is nothing wrong with being an Essene.

Also, in my article I did not say that people who choose homeschool are isolationists towards culture in all regards. But you cannot argue the fact that you have removed your family from the conversation of public and private education. Instead of placing yourselves in the middle as active participants, you are at best spectators, and at worst outside critics. You are not a participant, you have isolated yourself from ONE piece of culture, education.

That’s not wrong. That’s simply a choice you made. You misinterpreted my assessments of the various educational options as derogatory. So far the only one I don’t believe to be a godly option is the one I labeled “Sadducee”.

Thank you for so passionately defending something you believe in. It’s admirable. But I’m not against homeschooling or homeschoolers. I’m simply asking the question if it is the best option for me and my family.

Dave Terpstra

Clay:

I went easy on in defense of myself, but I will not be as lenient in defense of Ken. WHO ARE YOU TO CALL HIS STATEMENT SIN! It makes me angry to see a fellow follower of Christ publicly declare another follower of Christ’s assessment of God’s will as sin. I realize that the words I am writing right now are close to doing the same thing. And I have no desire to turn Leadership’s blog into a police state. So if you can explain to me how Ken’s quote below is materially different in its assessment of the will of God towards schooling than your quote below, I will calm down. But if you cannot clearly explain how his honest wrestling with God’s will on this subject is different than yours, then please reconcile the situation.

Dave Terpstra

I am sorry, but I just do not see the home or the private school as following God in his mission for the world. – Ken Johnson

We decided to homeschool because we determined that God designed the home to be a complete living and learning environment for raising godly children. We felt it was our responsibility to disciple our children, and the home was God's eternal design for that process. Education was simply the logical extension of spiritual discipleship. – Clay

I am an Australian (and not a parent) so there is a lot I don't know about the American education system. However, one aspect I think has been left out of this debate is money. The discussion implies that Christian parents all have a real choice about private Christian schools/home school/public school. But not all Christians have this choice as some lack the money to send their children to a non-public school and are unable to sacrifice one income in order to homeschool. Even if a Christian school offers scholarships/financial support to children from poor families their capacity to do this is limited to a small percentage of students. Many Christian families surely do not have a choice where to educate their children.

The other factor which has been mentioned here but deserves more discussion is about quality of education and social inequity. If the situation in the United States is like that in Australia then it would not surprise me if the grades children receive are much higher at Christian schools than at public schools. Public schools are often severely underfunded and must help everyone, whereas Christian schools have a better student/teacher ratio and can (and do) expel children with severe behavioural problems. But I think it is important not to abandon public schools and not to create a two tiered education system where the middle class can afford a good (private) education and the poor must have a substandard education. This entrenches disadvantage. After all, in Jesus' ministry and teaching He cared for the poor.

Personally, if I had children, I don't know how I would educate them. It would depend a lot on the circumstances at the time. But I think that money is definitely a factor that should be considered in this discussion.

I am not judging anyone with the statements I have made. The question to ask is...will you hide in your home school or private school to educate your children? or will you engage the world and even seek to be an agent of change in the world...both you and your children?

I know that people think that I have narrow views. I don't. I understand that there are values in each of these possibilities for childhood education. I went to public school through high school and then opted for a private college. In hindsight, I would not have gone to a private Christian college.

I am approaching this subject from a missional perspective. Also, I am approaching this from a perspective of the people whom I have met who have been educated in any one of the four forms of education that were presented.

I do not agree with the person who claims that they were following God in mission by not engaging the world and choosing to educate their children in their home. Clearly, this is an area we disagree...and that is fine.

I'm pretty sure that there is no one correct answer as to whether children should be placed in homeschooling, private schooling, or public schooling. "The Right Answer" is as varied as the number of parents, their children, and the family systems created by parents and children.

I don't think orginal post was attempting to resolve that issue-- it was only attempting to get us to examine our own attitudes toward culture.

I don't think John 7 is about the quality of home schooling Jesus received from Mary and Joseph. I think the point is that Jesus is the Word. He is God. He was and is and is to come. Therefore he understands His holy text in ways we can only imagine.

I'm not sure that my wife and I have the answer and I'm pretty sure that nobody else has "the" answer. We began homeschooling our kindergarten son this year and plan to homeschool at least one more year. As we prayed about and discussed this issue we decided that homeschooling was for us - at least at the beginning.

Our plan is to homeschool to prepare our boys for their mission in the world. We don't feel like we are sheltering our kids but can monitor their influences during the early years. We are also able to spend more time with our kids and model the type of behavior we expect them to have.

Homeschooling does take a big commitment but so does sending them to any other educational environment. My fear is that many Christian parents depend on school to educate in the same way they depend on church to raise them spiritually but that's another discussion for another time.

Thought-provoking! You certainly got us homeschoolers talking. I guess I'd rather be an Essene than a Pharisee...

I see value in a child having trained educational teachers, but I know parents who have done an excellent job of home-schooling.

I wouldn't assume that parents who home-school have no formal training in education themselves. Nor would I assume that just because a teacher has met the minimum standards to obtain a license in his/her state it means he or she is automatically a better teacher than someone who has no formal training in teaching.

Homeschooling could be a wonderful thing. Michael Card (El Shaddai) home school all his children. But there is a danger. The Youth Pastor of my church home school his 4 children. They are all way too sheltered and have no social skills. They have no idea what the "world" is really like. They were taught/told that public school is evil and all those that attend public school do drugs and have sex. I found this family not to be protecting their children but really doing them harm. Are we not supposed to be IN the world and not OF the world? Jesus did not separarte himself from people; he was among them.

I am not sure the 4 groups you use as a comparison are all that valid for our modern discussion. The culture of the day was so different it is hard to compare the culturally interactive elements of those cultures to our own. I agree with some of the comments that many homeschool parents have not chosen that avenue in order to isolate their children from the culture. But, there are unquestionably parents that do. I have several in our congregation that have even chosen to isolate their children from our youth ministry because the home unit is the only influence they need. That type of thinking astounds me, but I think is pretty rare. I was always in public school. It unquestionably made me more worldly. It also gave me opportunities to sharpen my faith and share my faith that were remarkable. I can remember leading prayer with my wrestling team in high school that had 3 muslims, 2 mormons, 2 jews, a bunch of pagans and me as the only Christian. It was a powerful experience. You just have to figure out what will work best for your kids and your area and go with it. But, regardless of your choice, as Christian parents we are charged with the responsibility of teaching our children to redemptively interact with their culture and to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord. I think that sometimes parents of children in Christian schools and even kids that are actively involved in church remove themselves from this responsibility. Anyways, my 2.5 cents....

While the analogy the author uses is very intriguing, I don't know that we can definitively claim that Jesus rejected all the approaches. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, Simon the Apostle was a Zealot, and one could interpet John the Baptist as an Essene.

Jesus didn't necessarily criticize their way of life directly, he challenged their heart conditions. Jesus's Lordship demands that we look at cultural engagement and children's education very seriously. But smartly, I think, the Bible offers very good principles to live by and avoids being overly prescriptive.

My personal experience is that Christian private schools tend to foster 'Christian' ghettos. When these kids go to college, you can see the Campus Crusades and Intervarsity chapters littered with this student. He or she likes to party and then feels bad for it and goes to his or her 'church' to make them feel better. Eventually, the 'educational' experience of the Christian upbringing wears off and they are no better off than the public school student was without a religious education.

The Catholic education is no different as their schools tend to breed the same sort of passive religious engagement. If we rely solely on this to engender a child's upbriging... all we're doing as a church is encouraging guilty people to sit in our pews who have no real desire for God. They just are used to a form of religion because that is all they have known.

You can have smart, well adjusted, social, and God-fearing children in any sort of educational context. But the most important thing is that they have parents who are live the Gospel as well as preach the Gospel.

God can use his people in great ways when we follow him in mission. I am sorry, but I just do not see the home or the private school as following God in his mission for the world.

Please elaborate on this statement. In what way is sending children to public schools following God in his mission for the world? Is your premise that homeschools and private schools are not in the world whereas public schools are in the world and a missionary field of sorts? Do you believe that there are any missional opportunities at private schools? Do you believe that homeschooling families withdraw completely from society and can't or don't engage in missional activities or reach out to the world at all from inside their homes? I'm trying to understand where you're coming from but I don't see the restrictions you seem to be placing on what can or cannot be considered God's mission.

As a parent I might add that one job of the parent is to prepare their children to interact with their culture as an ambassador for Christ. The most effective way to do this varies on the preparedness of a parent and the lifestyle of the family. For a large number of people homeschooling simply is not an option. Single parents, duel income families, parents with an inability to interact on that level with their kids are all factors in not choosing to home school. I think the issue is preparation for mission, not the system of education.

The problem is that many parents are not thinking missional, they are thinking survival. Many parents are thinking about the cost of education, about the schedule of when we pick up our kids when we drop them off and what gets the very end of their energy is the missional perspective.

You can be missional and be a homeschooler. You can teach your children why they are here, how to share Christ with others, whose opinions matter most in shaping their lives and go to a private, public, home or any other variation of educational structure. The real issue is not where my kids are educated but as a parent am I being intentional about helping them develop and embrace God’s mission for their surroundings.

Thanks for the discussion.

But you cannot argue the fact that you have removed your family from the conversation of public and private education. Instead of placing yourselves in the middle as active participants, you are at best spectators, and at worst outside critics. You are not a participant, you have isolated yourself from ONE piece of culture, education.

Sorry, Dave, but I can argue that fact. I am a taxpayer and I vote for members of the school board. Whether or not I have a child in public school, I still have a say in public education. Would you say that senior citizens have "removed themselves from the conversation?" Or individuals who don't have children at all?

And you could say that a decision to homeschool is indeed participating in the conversation.

In no way have we isolated ourselves from the education "piece" of culture (whatever that means). First of all, such a statement represents a very narrow view of education. My wife (a homeschooling parent) is a Brownie Troop Leader. Do you not think she is involved in education? I am a college professor (and I interact with Education faculty on a regular basis, by the way). Our daughter attends Sunday School. How can you say we've isolated ourselves from education?

Oh! Did you mean public education? Still doesn't matter (see discussion above on paying taxes and voting). There are public school students in my wife's Brownie Troop. There are children in public school at our church. We're well connected to the public education sliver of the overall education pie.

So you see? We are hardly detached from education, however you might think of it.

Dave:

I won't attempt to defend anything I've said, but I will try to briefly respond to a couple of your concerns. It's not my desire in any way to be combative. I was just trying to offer some balance to what seemed to me to be a very one-sided discussion. I obviously did not do that well, although I think if you will reread my posts you will see that I spoke simply and honestly.

Linking homeschoolers to Essenes and using the "isolationist" terminology is highly prejudicial, whether you want to admit it or not. I was not the only post that questioned your use of that terminology. Your response to my post only made it more abundantly clear what you believe. I find your view of education, for want of better terminology, to border on being spiritually elitist. In your view, a Christian family can be fully culturally engaged only if they fit your definition and bias of what that means, and apparently only if they choose public schooling.

As to the two statements you placed at the end of your second post, I think there is a clear difference. Ken declared with frank honesty that he believed private and home education are not part of God's mission for the world. I simply stated why we chose homeschooling without reference to, or judgment of, anyone else's choice. It is serious business to speak for God and to declare unequivocally that the choices of many godly, mature Christian families are not a part of God's plan. However, although I felt it was clearly a judgmental statement, a blog is not the place to confront. So, Ken, please forgive me for crossing that line.

I am, frankly, amazed that you, Dave, seem genuinely surprised that your essay is controversial or offensive to a large part of Christ's body. I will officially be out of Out of Ur now. If I offended, I am sorry. Blessings.

Just my experience, but my parents chose to send me to a public school, though I wished I could have gone to a Christian school at the time, with some of my friends from church ( we just couldn't afford it ). As a result, I brought many friends out to church and camp with me starting even in kindgergarten, several of whom became believers later on, and many other who were exposed to the Gospel while young, and had positive interactions with the church and Christians. My parents were involved in my friendships, and by God's grace I chose friends wisely all the way through highschool. It really is not possible to change the school curriculum, but it is possible to have your children reach friends one by one.

In addition to this, I just have to say that now that I am out of school and teach a grade 1 sunday school class, I see a great divide between kids attending different schools. The Christian private school kids are actually not aware that there are people in this world who don't know Jesus, while the kids in public school are acutely aware of differences in world views. I asked the students to name one person we could pray for for the year who didn't know Jesus - most of my students in private schools or homeschools couldn't name one.
It just boils down to the fact that parents have to take a primary role in education of their children - spiritual and worldy - no matter what form of school they choose for their child.

But you cannot argue the fact that you have removed your family from the conversation of public and private education. Instead of placing yourselves in the middle as active participants, you are at best spectators, and at worst outside critics. You are not a participant, you have isolated yourself from ONE piece of culture, education.

Actually, I would argue that homeschoolers are much more involved in the conversation of education as a whole and that a large percentage of public-school parents are not active participants in their children's education at all.

It just boils down to the fact that parents have to take a primary role in education of their children - spiritual and worldy - no matter what form of school they choose for their child.

Amen to that.

A young person in our church has been heavily into "goth" culture, obsessed with death, involved in Wicca, had an abortion at 16, educated k-12 in a Christian school.

The children in my present pastorate who are recognized as the most undisciplined and disrespectful by most congregants are home schooled.

In both of these situations, it's parental influences and not educational that have contributed to these situations. Whatever system you choose for your children, the message is Be Involved. Parental involvement and positive parenting makes the difference.

And yes, we have done all three. One of our kids was home and private schooled, and the other all public. No noticeable character differences, because they were rooted in the same values at home.

As a pastor for a decade, and parent for the same length of time, I've observed all 4 options closely based on their "product".

I have seen Christian kids turn away from God with each option! And great successes from each of the options as well. About 50% of the teens in our youth ministry are in public school, and about 35% home schooled. Charter school and Christian school are teaching the rest.

The standout successes from a spiritual perspective are those whose parents invest in their lives. These parents volunteer if their child attends school outside the home, they are on-campus each and every week, helping in some way.

My wife and I describe our choice this way, "we will do what is best for each of our children, each year" - whatever that option is. Right now at 8 and 10, our children are thriving emotionally, spiritually and academically in a charter school, and have seen several of their peers become members of God's family each year!

I know that the quality and culture of schools vary. We’re in small-town Oregon, and our district has a high percentage of Christians who teach in public schools. Their presence is having a very healthy impact! In the same way, Christian students with involved Christian parents have far more influence they we give ourselves credit for.

Small schools especially, are very responsive to the concerns of parents who are involved, thoughtful in their expression, and who gently make good suggestions. In many cases across America there are several viable options for raising godly and well prepared children.

Let's also acknowledge that our ability to send kids to all 4 options is merely a luxury of our culture and financial means. This is probably not much of a theological question for the majority of the world.

I am an "old mom" of three daughters (public schooled)with one at home in high school, one in private university and one teaching first grade in public school. I agree with these statements:

"It just boils down to the fact that parents have to take a primary role in education of their children - spiritual and worldy - no matter what form of school they choose for their child."

"You can have smart, well adjusted, social, and God-fearing children in any sort of educational context. But the most important thing is that they have parents who are live the Gospel as well as preach the Gospel."

What truly has made the difference for me personally and for my family has been my involvement in a Moms In Touch International (www.MomsInTouch.org) prayer group where I meet for one hour weekly with other Christian moms from my daughter's school to pray for their our children, their teachers, and their school. No conversation over coffee, just prayer. Moms In Touch groups exist (or can be easily started) for homeschool, Christian school or public school moms. No matter what system we choose for our children's education, we will be anxious. But I truly can say that "by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,... the peace of God that transcends all understanding (guards my) mind and heart in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

What's a Christian parent to do? Looking at Jesus' model, I observed that He rarely did the same thing the same way every time. One time he healed someone and said tell no one, another time he said tell everyone. One time he left the area because he knew some were after him, another time he walked right into their hands. The only thing truly consistent about his life was that he lived day by day in dependence upon his father. And so as a Christian parent, I found the same model applied for my children and for school. Each of my children is the product of a combination of public education, Christian schools, high teacher-student ratio private schools, and lots of direction from home. Not a decision to be made once when a child is 4 or 5 but one that needs to be revisited every year for every child. And I believe one that the best results come from a balanced approach - each type of non-public education has strengths, but over the long term of life those strengths will be stronger if that segment was chosen for a period of one's life, maximum 4 years, and not for a lifelong lifestyle.

All in all we are here to prepare our children to live out their lives as ambassadors of God. To know how to make wise decisions, to embrace opportunities to be salt and light in the transformation of society, to understand the purpose of the body of Christ and find one's place in it, to be exemplary citizes of the kingdom of heaven - is that not what we desire for all our children? To put the emphasis on the institution is to institutionalize the very thing that made it great and diminish its own effectiveneness. It's not about the method, it's about whether or not a particular system or the people within it can be part of the total development picture of a child's life - and how we are parents continue to encourage our children to either buy into the philoophy being taught or learn discernment at recognizing truth and falsehood as it comes thru as well.

I guess the REAL question isn't "How did these four groups interact with Roman society", but "How did these four groups educate their children....."

As a homeschooler since 1989 (and one who started homeschooling for for reasons not related to Christianity) we originally began under the *plan* to reasses for each child each year...until our oldest daughter was verbally abused by a student teacher in 4th grade...BUT it only takes ONE bad teacher to leave lasting scars on a child. It was one of those awesome school districts that was sought out by many in that metro area...our daughter was a honor student, in the gifted program, and well liked. She even used to make Bible studies to share with friends on the playground. Based on what we experienced that 4th grade year, we will not take that risk again with our other children.

As a mom of grown kids who has now been able to see the fruits of what many people chose to do in the last 20 years in our church circle, I would have to say that more often than not, the homeschooled kids really were not prepared for college and far too many of the ones I knew DID NOT FINISH college. I thought about homeschooling my kids many times, but in the end they attended public schools. All of them walk with the Lord today. There are kids they went to school with who walk with the Lord partly because of my kids' testimony. My grown kids went to college and succeeded, and are on their own. To do it again I would not spend the time I did wondering about homeschooling - for those few kids for whom it was successful, that was great, but for all the others it seems to me that they were denied important parts of the education they needed to work and live in our culture. I can't put my finger on exactly what that was -- but then, that's why I shouldn't be doing the schooling.

Of course, that's all anecdotal -- in the end, just like the decisions about breastfeeding vs. bottle, stay-at-home mom vs. working mom, family bed vs. crib, you've got to prayerfully decide what you should do with your children, and go forward! May God make your path plain!