The Baptist Pillar © Brandon Bible Baptist Church 1992-Present www.baptistpillar.com
"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
The Silent Witness
Robert J. Billings
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses...who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection...of whom the world was not worthy...” (Hebrews 12:1, 11:33-35, 38a).
“Why not leave our children in public school where they can be a silent witness?”
is a question often asked by good and honest parents. The simple answer is “how can
one be silent and be a witness?” The same logic could be used in speaking of an “honest
thief” or a sober drunkard” or a “truthful liar”. The witnesses in Hebrews 11 were
not silent!
The philosophy of leaving children in the public school to be a silent witness is
erroneous and false. The child from the Christian home needs the Christian school.
There are at least three reasons why the child should be in the Christian school.
First, it is scripturally right to bring up your children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Such upbringing is not possible where God is forsaken and where godliness
is treated lightly. The question often arises, does not the Christian school become
a hothouse and weaken the child? The answer to this is an emphatic NO! The late Dr
Mark Fakkema writes in The Hothouse Argument, “We place young plants in a hothouse
in order to make them strong enough to weather the elements outside. We do not put
young plants in hothouses to make them weak; we put them there because they are weak,
too weak for outdoor exposure.”
Some feel that exposure to the public school will train Christian soldiers how to
fight the enemy. If this is a good philosophy, why not take American young men and
send them to Vietnam to be trained and them bring them back to let them fight? That
is foolish! They wouldn’t fight the enemy if they were trained by the enemy. But
that is exactly what people are doing with their children. Young folks are sent to
unbelievers to be trained. No wonder then that many children from Christian homes
are found to be on the wrong side.
Second, Christian children in the public schools do not become spiritually strong
and vigorous; on the contrary, they often lose whatever spirituality they may have,
and are frequently frustrated. There is security in knowing what is right and acceptable
or what is wrong and unacceptable. The Christian child, under the influence of an
ungodly teacher, will have many inner conflicts and no longer will feel secure.
Keeping children in public school to become silent witnesses leads to a compromising position. The story of Lot in Sodom is a familiar one. Lot was a just man we are told, but a silent witness. Lot did not gain strength by living in Sodom, but rather was influenced by the Sodomites.
Third, the Christian school helps develop a philosophy that gives the child a right
perspective of life and his place in the world. The great emphasis today is upon
youth, yet for over 1900 years the church had no youth department. Because of our
overemphasis upon youth, it has given young people an exaggerated idea of their own
importance. The truth of the matter is youth does not contribute to youth. How many
young people have built great churches or schools? How many young people have performed
any outstanding work of any nature in any age?
The Christian school says to the young person, “You are a part of this culture. You
are not a separate entity. You are not the only part but you are a part.” The Christian
school develops the philosophy that laws should be respected, parents obeyed. The
Christian school stresses the importance of patriotism, discipline and morals. Above
all, the Christian school says that the greatest importance of life is the proper
relationship with God.
Students asked to enter a Christian school often remark, “I’ll have to give up my
friends.” Teachers, when presented with the challenge of teaching in the Christian
school, reply, “I’ll lose my teacher tenure, my teacher retirement, and there a great
loss of income.” Parents, when asked to support the Christian school, feel that it
is a waste of time and money. Yet the witnesses described in Hebrews 11 gave up not
merely a job, not simply money. nor even tenures or friends, they gave up their lives
for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Are Christian schools sheltering Christian young people? NO! NO! A thousand times
NO! Children in public schools are sheltered. They are not exposed to God. Christian
parents owe it to themselves, their children and to God to see that their child receives
a Christian education. God is looking for those who witness, not whine; those with
backbone, not wishbone. The Christian school builds character and conviction while
striving to remove cowardice compromise.
A silent witness? No, indeed!