Why Christian Education?

The reasons are as numerous as the number of families in a school. All parents must choose for themselves the best educational opportunities for their children. Here, we offer you eight reasons—both Biblical and practical—in favor of Christian education.

1. You are accountable to God for what your children are taught—whether at home, at school, or at church. Deuteronomy 11:18-19 commands parents:

   “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

   Clearly, God did not intend to relegate His word and His teachings to a short lesson on Sundays or even to a daily devotional time. He wants to be the center of our world, on our minds at every moment…even when we’re in school studying algebra, art or astronomy. Only a school that incorporates God’s truth as revealed in the Bible and integrates it into all other subject matters can truly fulfill the command in Deuteronomy. In reality, only a Christian school can teach the whole child, the whole truth, the whole time. Only a Christian education has the liberty to address the whole child—intellectual, social, emotional, physical and spiritual—the same way Jesus was taught in his day. And only a Christian school partners with you to ensure that your children learn the same values in the classroom as they do at home and at church.
2. Only God-centered education gives true wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” When education excludes the words of the very Creator of learning itself, we can’t expect much understanding or wisdom to develop. Because a Christian education uses the Bible as the starting point for all learning, students go beyond facts and figures to true wisdom and understanding. It’s not unlike the parable that Jesus told of the man who builds a house on the sand and another who builds a house on the rock. Building an education on man’s teaching alone is like building a house on the sand; susceptible to collapse according to whichever way the winds blow. An education built on God, our rock, and His unwavering truth will stand the test time.
3. Your children will grow up to be like their teachers. Luke 6:40 reveals that, “…everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” When your children are adults, they will likely forget the details of scientific formulas or algebraic equations, but they will remember who taught them. They will recall their teachers’ love and concern for them, the way they prayed for them or encouraged them with Scripture, and how they modeled a Christian life. While there are superb Christian teachers in other school settings, only in a Christian school can you be guaranteed a Christian role model and a supportive environment that allows the teacher to freely share his or her faith.
4. Your children should learn in a positive, supportive environment—an environment that reinforces the truth you are teaching your children at home. Some parents believe that a secular environment will strengthen their children by forcing them to defend their beliefs. But the Bible says otherwise. The Bible doesn’t say, “Spend years teaching a child in the way he should not go, and he will be stronger for it.” Rather, Proverbs 22:6 instructs parents, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Even a quality, secular education cannot instruct a child the way God desires him to go, because God is not allowed to be a part of the equation. Rather, teaching that is contrary to the Bible (evolution, sex education, humanism, moral relativism, etc.) and a sin-filled environment may instead callous them to view sin as normal, harden them to care less about God, and desensitize them to God’s calling in their lives.
5. Christian schooling is the best hope for transforming society. Jesus wants us to change the world, making disciples for Him. He says in Matthew 5: 13-14, “You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world.” If we expect our children to mature into world-changing Christians, we must properly equip them. Ultimately, education is all about learning to think, work, solve problems and relate to others. In order to be world-changing Christians, we must teach our children to do all these things as Christ would—a much different paradigm than the world’s standards. Christian parents sometimes say they want their children to be “salt” and “light” in secular schools. Consider the life of the apostle Paul. Even after his stunning transformation from Christ’s enemy to Christ’s follower on the road to Damascus, Paul was not ready to begin his missionary life of being “salt” and “light” to other nations. Before leaving on his missionary journeys, Paul spent nearly 10 years learning about and serving this Jesus whom he now worshipped. Paul was an adult and a learned man of the Jewish faith upon his conversion, yet still needed time to study and train. Would you expect our children to need less?
6. Your children need positive peer pressure. 1 Corinthians 15:33 teaches that, “Bad company corrupts good character.” Don’t be mistaken, children will be exposed to some “bad company” no matter what school they attend. But in a Christian school, they’ll be less likely to be surrounded by destructive influences. They’ll be more likely to develop Godly friendships with students who share similar values.
7. Your students can excel academically. Both nationally and locally, students at Christian schools consistently outperform their public school counterparts on standardized test scores and preparedness for college (see enclosed “Achieving Academic Success”). There are several reasons for this success, including Waterloo Christian School’s small class sizes with an average ratio of one teacher to every 12 students. This means your students will receive individualized instruction specific to their needs and learning styles, allowing them to maximize their God-given abilities.
8. Your children should be safe at school. The reality is that school safety tops the list of parental concerns year after year in national polls. While not devoid of problems, Christian schools provide a safer environment where problem behaviors are met with firm disciplinary action. Beyond physical safety, Christian schools also offer better emotional and spiritual safety—from verbal insults, foul language, sexualized conduct, and other direct assaults on your children’s well-being.