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Priorities in Education
I was just listening to a little bit of Matt Walsh's commentary concerning how we send our kids off to colleges that are working diligently to destroy the beliefs and values that we as Christian parents try to instill in them. He made a very good point that I think we need to give more consideration to if we are truly trying to raise our children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord."He mentioned a woman who sent her child off to a prestigious school, and then was distraught when the child returned 2 years later as an atheist. He asked the very poignant question: What did you really expect? While the prestigious college on a job resume may look good, what did that prestigious education do for the child's eternal soul?
Unfortunately, many who claim to be true, New Testament Christians have fallen into the same trap as those in the denominational world. We (and I am speaking of the very generic 'we') have so emphasized education and worldly endeavors that we have allowed the building of a spiritual foundation to be secondary (at best). We measure success by what degree a person has, and what job they are able to get. The pursuit of education, and premier employment has destroyed the spiritual life and wellbeing of many young people!
I am not opposed to education. I went to college, and I am very thankful for the education that I was able to attain. We are working to provide a good secular education for our children. If they so choose, I'd be happy to see them go to college. However, what we need to be very conscious of is the priority we place on that education! How often do we emphasize education to the point that it takes precedent over everything else in life, including a solid spiritual education? How often do we fill our kids' time with so many extracurricular events (to pad that college or job resume!) that they simply do not have time to spend in spiritual development? How often do we as parents spend so much time cultivating our children's education that we ourselves become weak in our faith?
We shouldn't be surprised if our kids go off to college and lose their faith, leave the Lord, if we have spent much more time developing them secularly than we have developing them spiritually.
Just taking our kids "to church" is not good enough! We must prepare them directly for the onslaught that will come…and that onslaught starts much younger. I am so discouraged when I read the words of a Christian declaring that these attacks against their children's faith do not exist "in my school." If your child is in a public school, then the attacks are real. Yes, there are some very good teachers that will be helpful to our children if they are utilized, but overall, in a purely secular environment, our children will be bombarded by humanistic and naturalistic attacks. If we don't recognize that to be true, then we have already lost the battle. We must be diligent, as parents, to prepare our children. Teach them truth, and how to defend it.
But we also need to make sure our children are instilled with a proper sense of priorities. Education can be important, but it will NEVER be the most important thing in their lives. The same can be said for any number of extracurricular activities (band, sports, pass times, hobbies, etc…). If we put so much emphasis on the importance of these things that our children don't really know that spiritual things are the most important, then we have not been successful as parents.
While we were in college, I witnessed many young people who came to school, and got so wrapped up in the education process that they did not remain faithful to the Lord. Perhaps they were not grounded? Definitely they prioritized the college experience over their spiritual growth. I was very sad for them, as they missed a great opportunity with a great church in Auburn, AL&hellipbut more importantly, they turned away from their salvation from sin. They chose to "love this present world" more than they loved the Lord. And, in many cases, the parents seemed to not care that they made such decisions. At least from the outside looking in, it was because they had already so emphasized the secular education that they could not really see the detriment of their child's spiritual wellbeing.
As I listened to Matt Walsh, I thought to myself, "If this guy can see this blatant danger to our kids, why can't we as true Christians see it?" I hope we see it. I hope we work with our own children to defend against it.
If you read this, and think it to be anti-education, or anti-public school…read it again&hellip
