Should Christians Send Their Children To Public School?—A Biblical Argument

It’s probably one of the most common questions among Christian parents today, “Should I send my child to public school?” It’s a timely inquiry in the face of increased school shootings, a fast-moving degradation in cultural morality, and the recent interpretive boundaries of historically private spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, and school showers.

As Christians, however, it’s not our job to simply look at the secular evidence to determine our position on life matters like school or work or marriage. Instead, we’re called to first look to the Bible to understand God’s position, and then, adopt it as our own.

We see this practice affirmed throughout God’s Word—in Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Jesus continues in Matthew 4:4 with, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” In the book of John, Jesus offers His highest endorsement of Scripture by saying, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Having said that, how are you making decisions for your family? How are you leveraging truth to resolve life’s most confusing territories? Are you merely following culture’s example of this formative childhood event? Or are you seeking the Scriptures for wisdom to protect your children’s development? I challenge Christian parents to evaluate this discussion and debate around public school through the teachings of the Bible.

Scripture & Notable Points

• Matthew 18:6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
• “Jesus nor any of the Apostles sent young children out to evangelize or to disciple or to be missionaries or to be the iron in another child’s life.”
• “The warning of Scripture is to not purposefully choose to put those who are undeveloped in their faith in a place of temptation, moral confusion, or worldly seduction.”
• “Satan is playing for keeps and he wants the hearts and minds of your young children.”
• “All education is discipleship.”
• “Vladimir Lenin once said, ‘Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.’”
• Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old they will NOT depart from it.”
• Galatians 6:9 “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

What’s your position on homeschooling? What’s your position on the public school system? How has your family navigated these waters?

–Dale Partridge

relearnchurch.org/should-christians-send-their-children-to-public-school-a-biblical-argument/