SBC Resolution on Educating Children

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                    Vol. XVIII, No. 6, June/July 2005

You may recall that last year Bruce Shortt and I submitted a resolution on educating children which the Resolutions Committee declined to report to the messengers. When I attempted to amend a resolution they did report to include the essence of our recommendation, the committee chairman opposed it, and it was strongly defeated. That was the bad news.

The good news was that our effort and the Convention’s inaction received an amazing amount of coverage in the secular as well as Baptist media. This year favorable statements by Dr. Rick Scarborough of Texas and Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY, were particularly helpful. Here is one paragraph from Mohler’s article (to read the entire article go to www.albertmohler.com/commentary_archive.php; the article is dated 17 June):

“I believe that now is the time for responsible Southern Baptists to develop an exit strategy from the public schools. This strategy would affirm the basic and ultimate responsibility of Christian parents to take charge of the education of their own children. The strategy would also affirm the responsibility of churches to equip parents, support families, and offer alternatives. At the same time, this strategy must acknowledge that Southern Baptist churches, families, and parents do not yet see the same realities, the same threats, and the same challenges in every context. Sadly, this is almost certainly just a matter of time.”

The resolve clauses of the resolution passed in Nashville read:

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, June 21-22 2005, urge parents and churches to research and monitor the entertainment and educational influences on children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge parents and churches to exercise their rights to investigate diligently the curricula, textbooks, and programs in our community schools and to demand discontinuance of offensive material and programs; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge our churches to assist and support parents as they investigate community schools and as they train and disciple their own children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That as citizen Christians we commit to hold accountable schools, institutions, and industries for their moral influence on our children; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we urge Christian parents to fully embrace their responsibility to make prayerful and informed decisions regarding where and how they educate their children, whether they choose public, private, or home schooling, to ensure their physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual well-being, with a goal of raising godly men and women who are thoroughly equipped to live as fully devoted followers of Christ.

This resolution is a giant step forward, though the issue has not yet been clearly set before the majority of Southern Baptists. The issue is not that we are familiar and therefore comfortable with government schooling. Neither is the basic issue that to home school or private school our children would cost time and/or money and so require us to live more frugally. Nor is the issue those folks in our churches whom we know and like who work in government schools as teachers or staff and the prospect that they may be offended and stop giving. Finally, neither is the real issue that particularly inane (or naive) statement that “We want our children to be in the government schools to be salt and light”. These are merely pragmatic or propagandistic objections.

The real issue is, “What does God command in the Bible about educating our children?” For the true Christian God’s Word trumps any pragmatic argument offered on this or any other topic. Read the Bible. Search His guidance. You will find that God very clearly assigns responsibility for educating children to the father and instructs him to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, NOT in the nurture and admonition of the government!

By law and concept government schools are and must be secular; that is, they must omit God. Yet God is the only source of true wisdom in any subject: in history and philosophy, yes; but also and equally in chemistry, physics, mathematics. Two and two equal four only because God is a God of order, has so ordained, and sustains mathematics, every atom of the physical realm, and life itself every moment.

To give over our innocent children to a system which ignores God and His central role in every topic is flagrant sin. We Southern Baptists must come to grips with this crucial issue. We are losing our children to secularism by the millions. Worse, most of them will spend eternity in hell because we took the easy road and let them be indoctrinated to believe God is not important.

As noted above, the resolution passed this year is a big step in the right direction. But no journey is completed with just one step. Please educate yourself, your church family. Work to establish a truly Christian school. Encourage home schooling and the establishment of home school support groups. Be prepared to support godly schooling in your church, association, state convention, and the SBC.

God commands. If we are true Christians, we will obey.