TLP 79: What's the Parent’s Role in their Children’s Education?

For many parents modern education is a necessary evil in which their children must participate. But God tells us that we must be 100% invested in our children’s education. What does that mean and what does that look like? Join AMBrewster today as he discusses the parents role in their children’s education. 

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Episode Notes

Transcript

Introduction

​May I say that our world does so many things upside down?

It’s sad, but the average person doesn’t understand what their place is in the world, let alone what their family’s supposed to be doing there.

On one side we have all the professionals and celebrities telling us we need them in order to figure out what to do. On the other side we have the government telling us we need them or life as we know it will cease to exist. And all the teachers we trust are basically telling us to listen to the professionals or the celebrities or the government.

But we’re seriously mixing things up.

Let’s take a step back for a moment. The food designed to make us well is killing us. The relationships we’re told we need are killing us. The medicine designed to heal is killing us. The jobs we work in order to live are killing us. The technology created to make life more fun is killing us.

And somewhere in the middle the family is imploding. The word family doesn’t mean anything nowadays . . . or it means anything.
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How did we get into this mess? Well, I believe the cause is found in one group of people failing to do two things.

Topic

Children are born ignorant. We know this. And the Bible tells us they’re also born foolish. 
Unlike animals, our children are born with no life-saving skills, developed instincts, or the muscles necessary for survival. Clearly, children are born in need of everything. 

When it comes to education, most parents cover the bases by instructing their child in the primary colors, left and right, basic numbers and letters, and how to talk. The overachievers teach them how to eat, tie their shoes, and — perhaps — even to read. Oh yeah, and we’re all pretty good at communicating to our kids the things that annoy us.

But too many don’t really take their education seriously beyond that. And when I say education, I mean it the way the word was intended to be meant — “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction.”

Yes, most people use the word to refer to the education that occurs at school, but I’m talking about the act of teaching that God refers to over 250 times throughout the Bible. 

Yes, they had school back then, and though the Bible talks about people having been taught in schools, every single command to teach is given to His people in general — certified teachers or not. Twice in the book of Deuteronomy parents are commanded to teach their children, the Gospels show us Christ teaching every moment of the day, and the whole of the New Testament is a command to teach and train and disciple and admonish and build up. 

Now, I’m not saying the application this is that everyone has to pull their kids out of school and teach them at home. We’ll give the homeschoolers their chance on episode 82. But I am saying that we parents must recognize that God has entrusted us with the training of our children.

So, with that said, here are the two issues that I believe have lead our global society to where we are today:
1. Too many Parents haven’t taken ownership of their children’s education.

When you fail to oversee or get involved in your children’s academic education, you’re allowing other people to teach whatever they want however they want, and all the while you’re none the wiser. And since everyone communicates via their worldview, your children are being indoctrinated in a belief system while they sit in Math class.

When you don’t teach your children life skills, they generally don’t learn them until they find themselves in a very tight spot and they need to learn the skill or suffer. Whether it’s cooking or cleaning or mending or basic car care or sewing on buttons or whatever.
So, the first thing that’s helped created this upside down world is parents who aren’t taking ownership of their children’s education; who instead mindlessly throw their kids into the system with no real care or consideration as to what they’ll be learning.

 The second factor that lead our world to its current state is . . .

2. The parents who have taken ownership of their children’s education aren’t making sure they’re educated in the right things.
Spiritually, most children are taught that God doesn’t exist or that we can’t know if God exists, and many more have been force-fed a false god.
Academically, what children in America are learning today is far under the standard of other countries, and even far below the standard of previous generations in our own country. To say we’re dumbing down the nation is an understatement. Now, this isn’t true for every country, but as of this publication, the US is ranked number 7 in the world. That’s a lot of countries ranked lower than we are. So, if we’re not doing a good job, most of the world isn’t either. 

How individual nations are doing in regard to passing life skills on to their children is a harder analytic to find. But from my experiences in the US, I’d say we’re struggling in this category as well.

But I don’t want it to sound like I’m throwing everyone under the bus. I’m not. I’m talking in sweeping generalities. There are a millions of parent across the globe who are very invested in educating their kids in valuable life skills. And they’re doing a great job. But unfortunately — again — these parents may be focusing on life skills but are neglecting the truths about eternal life.

So, regardless of how you look at it, when it comes to education most of the parents in the world are either not involved in their children’s education, or they’re involved, but they’re not focusing on the education that really matters.

Now, you may be one of those parents who’s actively involved in both the academic and spiritual education of your children. Praise God!​

That’s the point. As parents, we are not allowed to mindlessly abdicate our children’s education.

Conclusion

​So, in conclusion — I know this is short, but the concept is biblically simple — Christian parents must actively be involved in their children’s education.

This means 3 things:

1. We are not allowed to delegate our kid’s spiritual education. The whole Bible makes it plainly clear that it’s our job. That doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t bing other people in to participate in that education, but it does mean we should be doing the bulk of it. So, for clarification, I’m saying that going to church, and the Christian school, and mentors, and so on are okay . . . if dad and mom are the key disciplers in their children’s lives. And remember, the more people who get involved in your children’s spiritual education, the more people you will have to actively stay connected with to be sure they’re teaching your children Truth. I’m a biblical counselor, and I’m never offended when a parent wants to double-check with me what I’ve been teaching their kids. That’s how it should be. 
   
2. And, number two, if you’re going to delegate their academic education, you’ll still need to be involved. As I said earlier, no one can teach a subject without also passing on a world view. I used the example of math because most people think that the class most devoid of philosophical considerations. But it’s not. Math is the language of the universe; a universe that God created. To teach math and ignore the Creator Who ordered the cosmos and made certain that one plus one would always equal two is to teach that God either doesn’t exist or isn't important to our discussion of math. But, my friends, God is absolutely and completely important to any discussion of anything. So, not only should you be aware of the way the academic subjects are being taught, but you should also be aware that the school is also going to teach your children a belief system about nearly everything else in life from how to dress, what to believe about sexuality, how to handle bullies, what the motivation for team sports is, how to handle disobedience and disrespect. Do you know what your children are being taught at school?
   
3. And lastly, life skills. Most kids will find it difficult to find someone other than their parents to educate them in cooking, auto care, mending, balancing a checkbook, fixing a broken faucet, mowing a lawn, or even good interviewing techniques. Where are they supposed to learn that? Mom and Dad, you need to take responsibility for your kids’ education. You may have to learn some new life skills along the way, but it will be worth it.

Don’t forget to click the link in the description for our episode notes.And join us next time as we answer the question, “Should You Consider Sending Your Kids to a Public School this Fall?”

The question of who’s educating our kids and what they’re educating them in will likely decide the future successes of our children, both secular and spiritual.
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See you next time.