Education and Evangelism

Whatever their pretensions, schools teach children to believe something and not something else. There is no 'secular' neutrality. Christians cannot evade the responsibility which a democratic society gives to every citizen to seek access to the levers of power. (Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian p149)

Schools, whose duty it is to educate children, necessarily deal in the realm of truth. They "teach children to believe something and not something else."

I have observe three general categories of Christian response:

1. Accommodation. Christians simply allow schools to teach their children to believe things that they disbelieve, and to disbelieve things that they hold dear. They assume that 'home' and 'school' are separate spheres, and each ought not to muddle with the other.
2. Argumentation. Christians engage in debate, saying that school ought to change what they teach. The classic example is evolution/creation. They assume that their position, as true, should be accepted and taught by the public schools.
3. Withdrawal. Christians create their own schools (either private schools or homeschools) that teach what is consistent with their own values. Then they don't have to accommodate, or argue with the educational establishment.
   

There are two categories of Christian response that I have rarely seen, but which I believe should have a more prominent place.

1. Evangelism. For those who choose to stay in the public schools, there is an alternative that is neither accommodation nor argumentation; it is evangelism. Evangelism? Yes, evangelism: announcing the good news of God in Christ. A truly evangelistic approach recognizes that beliefs about truth and knowledge are the consequences of faith commitments. The modern scientific world view is committed to the belief that those things that can be known truly are subject to the rules of the scientific method. Claims that cannot be verified by their method belong to the realm of opinion and belief, and therefore are private, and not the content of public education. The Christian is committed to the belief that 'in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' and that faith in Christ is the way to true knowledge. Consequently, He is central in the dialogue.
   
   This is very different from argumentation because it doesn't assume that the Christian position is persuasive or even tenable to those who reject Christ. It confesses that what it holds most dear is foolishness to the world. So it does not attempt to argue about conclusions; instead it announces the foundations, trusting that it is through the heralding of this foolishness that the Holy Spirit will save others and that persuading unregenerate persons that God created the earth in seven days entirely misses the heart of the Gospel.
2. Mission. Since the Gospel is public truth, and not merely true for Christians, it seems natural to me that we would start schools that announce the Good News, and teach all things in the context of the Good News to anyone who wants to matriculate, and not merely to children of parents who will sign a statement of faith. [In this it is distinct from withdrawal, because rather than disengaging from those who disbelieve, it goes to them with the offer of truly excellent education, built on the Gospel.] If it is true that all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, then schools that are built on this through reliance on the Holy Spirit ought to be better schools, and to attract those without any commitment to the Gospel (yet) simply on the basis of outstanding education.

As we're very actively thinking about Elisabeth's formal education these days, and we haven't found a missional school, I think that we're going to need to grow in the grace of evangelism.