Reformed Reflections

The Need for Christian Schools!

What type of education do you desire for your child? Do you desire a Christian education or a secular education? I do believe that these two systems are poles apart. The public school is a government regulated school. This is basically wrong. The government has no right to act on behalf of educational systems, because such systems must be "neutral." However, there is no "neutrality" in life.

The educational philosophy which is at the basis of the public school is non-Christian. There are parents who say, "The Bible is read in some Public schools. The Lords Prayer is taught. Is that not Christian?' I would give a "NO" for an answer. Bible reading will not make the public school Christian any more than the reading of occasional passages of the Koran would make one a Moslem. In our educational system, the principle is that the beginning of all wisdom is not the fear of the Lord but the respect for the changing environment to which the child must adapt itself. Secularism is the basis for the so-called neutrality and this philosophy of life has found many followers, even among the confessors of the Gospel.

What is neutrality? Neutrality is the view that man can live without taking God's word into account. It is thought that a school can be run exclusively by making technical decisions which have no relation to one's ultimate perspectives on the "basic issues." No man can be neutral. You are either for something or against something. You are either for Christ or against Him. The spirit of modern education in the public school is on all I levels the secular, pragmatic spirit.

In the public school, man is portrayed as an individual who can take care of himself by adjusting to. society. As a result of all of this, the morality of the public school is one without Christianity. Everyone is geared by principles based on a particular Philosophy of life, whether it be Christian or secular.

Christian parents should not agree with what is given to them by the government. Christian parents have the sacred duty to provide free Christian schools for their children, because only there can they expect them to receive a positive, God centered training.

The orthodox Christians in our Anglo-Saxon world have not always realized that the service to God includes all areas of life. Life in the Anglo-Saxon culture is split in two realms: the private and the public. In this particular culture it is thought that religion must go no farther than the home and the church. Religion is a personal matter and should concern itself only with the eternal welfare of the soul. This is certainly not the Scriptural point of view.

The task of the Christian school is to give the pupils a view of life, and an attitude to life, which is prepared to seek the responses for any of life's challenges in the Word of God. The pupil who leaves the Christian school with the knowledge in his mind and heart that the Bible has a vital message for today and tomorrow and for all men in all situations is well equipped for life's journey. Thus, the Christian school makes Jesus Christ the centre of all thinking.

There are those who violently object to the idea of Christian schools because they fear that such institutions will disrupt the unity of the nation. Is the diversity of religious views the sole malefactor for Canada's disunion? The dissension in our country is not produced by religious variances but by political strife. The partisan politics of our leaders are to blame. Should we therefore turn to a one party state in order to achieve the desired union and brotherhood?

No one in our democratic land would desire that situation! The goal of the supporters of the Christian school is not to spell isolationism, a fenced in Christendom. The goal is not to split the nation nor to create feelings of animosity. Our idea is not to divide but to unite. If there must be isolationism, it must be on the basis of this principle, we stand united in our recognition of Christ's Lordship overall. We don't want to destroy but rather to extend the offer of salvation. The faith of the Christian parents and their Biblical formed view of life must mould the minds of their children. Only when life becomes religion can morality have meaning. Only God's revelation provides an absolute message of hope in this pragmatic world. Only God’s Word provides a basis for any Christian scholarly endeavor. Christ has been given ALL power in heaven and on earth, and we acknowledge His kingship. We try to serve Him not just on Sundays and in private but in all areas of life.

Johan D. Tangelder
1967