Education and God’s Delegated Responsibility

Dr. Derek Carlsen 

The early promoters of state-controlled education in the USA used the slogan, “It costs less money to build schools than jails.” R L Dabney’s answer to this in 1876 was, “But what if it turns out that the State's involvement in schools is one of the things which necessitates the expenditure in jails?” (Discussions, Vol.4, p.195). If we look at American state schools today, we can see how incredibly accurate Dabney's words were. Dabney’s wisdom was due to the fact that he knew the Bible and believed what it said. He saw that the State had no Biblical authority to be involved in the education of children, for this was a parental responsibility. In essence, he was saying, “If you think you are wiser than God and ignore His ordained structures, the consequence will be disastrous.”

The Heart of God’s Way

In Deuteronomy 6:4, Moses presented the principal commandment saying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” This verse expresses the fundamental truth of our faith and the fundamental duty that rests upon this truth. The fundamental truth has to do with the nature of God, namely, that He is One, whereas, the fundamental duty is the response of love that God requires from us. This verse distills the whole of God’s truth in a sentence. Deuteronomy does not merely state God’s will, it also explains and applies it to real-life situations.

How to Love

God reveals how we are to love Him—a love that fills our hearts and being. Moses revealed one of the most fundamental manifestations of love for and worship of God when he said, “You shall teach them (God’s truth) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7). 

God’s Wisdom and Truth

God's instruction is to be the center of every aspect of the child's existence, both inside and outside of the home. This conveys a picture of unrelenting instruction that has God as the foundation and goal of all knowledge. Every moment of the day and in every aspect of life, God’s delegated parental responsibility, is that they provide their children with God-centered and God-glorifying instruction.

Alpha and Omega

The comprehensiveness of this verse is comparable to Jesus saying He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13). Jesus is expressing His absolute Lordship. He is not saying that He is Lord at the beginning and at the end, but not in the middle—this would destroy the plain sense of these verses. Similarly, when God says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He is saying everything is His, and not that the cattle on the thousand and first hill are not His (Psalm 50:10). Likewise, the phrase, “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way when you lie down, and when you rise up” includes every moment of the day and every aspect of life. Moses was telling the nation how to avoid becoming a stiff-necked people and how to preserve and perpetuate, for generations to come, their relationship with God. Moses compressed the whole covenant and its requirements into one sentence when he said, “God is One and we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then he immediately added that the supreme manifestation of this love was imparting comprehensive, God-glorifying instruction to our children (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Parents are Responsible for Education

If we rationalize and explain away the clear meaning of Deuteronomy 6:7, then on what basis are we going to stand when the enemies of the Bible rationalize and explain away the Incarnation, the Deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, justification by faith alone, and the Trinity? The Scriptures are to be the absolute authority in our lives, controlling every facet of our existence (both behavior and belief). The Bible is the standard to which all our thinking and actions are to conform. We are not to manipulate the Bible until it fits into the contemporary mindset. The Bible speaks clearly and with absolute authority.

Rebellion Against God’s Truth

The reason the world is in such a mess is due to man's rebellion against God's truth. But Christians also rebel against what God has said. It is a constant struggle to submit to and live by every Word that proceeds from His mouth (Matthew 4:4). We need to earnestly pray that by the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we would quickly do all that the Lord has said. As John Calvin's coat of arms declared: “My heart for Thy cause I offer Thee, promptly and sincerely.”

The Heart of the Covenant

In the Book that gives us the most explicit picture of the Covenant (Deuteronomy), we find the heart of the Covenant. God is One, we are to love Him with our whole being and we are to perpetuate this Covenantal relationship with Him by ensuring that our children receive God-honoring instruction. This is God's wisdom revealed to us, thus we ought to be bold, for “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Jesus’ Example

Jesus is our great example. When Satan confronted Him, He withstood the temptation because His whole being desired to do God’s will. This is what Adam should have done and it is what we, in the power of the Holy Spirit, ought to do. Jesus swiftly and decisively dealt with the tempter, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan,” and “It is written.” Jesus lived by every Word that proceeded from the mouth of His Father.

Dr. Cornelius Van Til said, “Jesus did not hesitate, He did not play with the temptation. His whole being was a throb with spontaneous desire to do the Will of God and thus to realize the program that God had set for Him. Anything that would keep Him from realizing that program was immediately cast aside…He slays Satan with the words ‘It is written.’” (Essays on Christian Education p. 152). We, however, are afraid of the giants and therefore refuse to live by every Word from God’s mouth. As the rebellious generations of old, we too refuse to do God's will, despite His clear revelation and His promises to back us up. Our fear and doubt cause us to rationalize our responsibilities in order to sidestep them. However, it is a constant, that if the salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing but to be trodden under the feet of men (Matthew 5:13).

To Whom Much is Given, Much is Required

Believers have eternal life in Christ and partake of and have an inheritance in the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are heirs to all that God has through Jesus (Romans 8:17). To whom much is given, much is expected. Children are God’s blessing to parents, although, in an ultimate sense, they always belong to God, which means parental responsibility is one of stewardship. Parents are stewards looking after someone else's property and they are under covenantal obligations to be faithful in their duty, namely, to instruct and nurture God's possessions (children) in the way He has specified.

“And that servant, which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes ... For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” (Luke 12:47-48).

The False Lord

The civil government today, claims to possess ultimate authority with respect to regulating the education of children. According to them, children belong to the state and parents are to comply with the state-sanctioned standard or curriculum when educating their children. Jesus said children are to be taught His wisdom, but the state says no, children are to be taught what they say. There are only two possible options here—God is Lord or the state is lord, which means this clash has to do with ultimate ownership. Believers cannot serve two masters, and if actions speak louder than words, then they need to show people whom they are serving.

The Myth of Neutrality

When is the myth of neutrality going to be put to rest in the minds of Christians? (see the article, ‘The Myth of Neutrality’). As R L Dabney said, “a non-Christian training is literally an anti-Christian training” (Ibid. p. 238). No part of education is neutral. If it is not promoting God and His truth, it is against Him. It wasn't only Dabney who strongly held to this, so did A. A. Hodge, Gresham Machen, Cornelius Van Til, Herman Dooyeweerd, and Louis Berkhof, just to mention a few. Most Christians in our day refuse to take the Word of God seriously in this area, believing knowledge can be neutral, not realizing that their thinking has been corrupted, just like Adam and Eve in the Garden. Deuteronomy 6 is clear and simple, but if we reject its clear meaning, how can we defend God's sovereign control over all things (e.g. Matthew 10:29)? If what the Bible says has to be determined by the latest trend, then it will no longer be an absolute and trustworthy guide. We can't distort what Deuteronomy 6 is plainly teaching and try to keep other Bible passages authoritative about what they say.

Comprehensive Worldview

“When you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up” is talking of uninterrupted instruction in the ways of the Lord and the next two verses strengthen this even more. “And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes. And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:8,9). This is a comprehensive Biblical world and life view—everything you think, do, and are, including everything that has been given into your stewardship (home and property) is to be governed only by the Word of God.

The Beast: 666

These verses (Deuteronomy 6:8-9) explain what Revelation means when it talks about 666, the beast's number written on people's foreheads and hands. Revelation 14:9 shows how worship and the mark of the beast (obedience to him) go hand in hand. To have the beast's mark means to live according to his ways. Worship and obedience are inseparable concepts. Whom we obey is the one we worship. Christ claims undivided loyalty—that is why we are to live by every word that proceeds from His mouth. It is impossible to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We cannot have both God's Word and 666 on our forehead, or God's Word on our right hand, and 666 on our left hand. The beast wants complete obedience and worship just like God. The beast wants his ways to be what guides our thinking (his mark on our forehead), all that we do (his mark on our hand), and all that we have (his mark on our gate). The Creator of the universe demands this for Himself alone, “And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15).

Freedom of Religion

What is freedom of religion? It is the freedom to worship the Creator of the Universe in the way He has told us to. Obedience and worship are inseparable, “if you love Me keep My commandments,” Jesus said (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). He also said, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall thou serve.” (Matthew 4:10). 

Fundamental Christian Doctrine

The heart of Deuteronomy reveals that education is to be God-centered and that is a God-ordained parental responsibility. Thus, when the state refuses to allow this, it declares war on a fundamental Christian doctrine—a fundamental worship requirement, which is to deny the freedom of worship. As Dabney has said, “While the State cannot authorize the theological beliefs of the Christian citizens, neither has it a right to war against them.” (Ibid p.238). If the state will not let us worship God in the way God has said, then they have declared war on freedom of religion and on God. Remember, Pharaoh and his whole nation were destroyed because he refused to let Israel worship God as God had mandated.

Liberty and Education

To quote Machen, “If liberty is not maintained with regard to education, there is no use trying to maintain it in any other sphere. If you give the bureaucrats the children, you might as well give them everything else.” (Education, Christianity and the State, p.114). If we allow the state to control education which is inescapably religious, why not let them control our churches, determine our theology, and prepare our sermons? If we balk at this but not at their control of education, it merely shows how dualistic we have become in our thinking.

Deceiving Yourself

As Van Til said, “The fight between Christ and Satan is just as truly carried on in the field of education as it is in the field of the church. If you still think you are really involved in the struggle between God and Satan for the soul of man, in the church and the home but you are not engaged in it in the school, then you are deceiving yourself.” (Tape, No Neutrality in Education).

The Mindset of the Martyrs

Remember the mindset of the martyrs who were prepared to be eaten by lions or burned alive at the stake rather than go against God’s clear revelation. We cannot be pragmatic when it comes to the question of obedience to fundamental Christian teaching. 

No Middle Ground

There is no middle ground—it is all or nothing. We ought to approach the education question with the mindset that this is a battle unto death, for we cannot compromise here. Dabney said, “The nature of the responsibility is such that there can be no neutrality...He that is not with his God is against Him. He who does not positively comply with the ever-present obligation, does, in fact, violate it... and any training which attempts to be non-Christian...is anti-Christian.” (Ibid p. 221). 

Resisting Unto Blood

“You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin.” (Hebrews 12:4). Education of children is one such area that needs to be resisted unto blood striving against sin. It is better to surrender life, rather than conscience and intellectual independence.

As Luther stood at the Diet of Worms, surrounded by an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, so too must we stand before the powers and philosophies of our days. As Luther defiantly said, “I cannot retract my faith,” so too must we stand. As the martyrs stood and would not deny what God had clearly revealed, so must we—this is unto death. If we will compromise on education, then where will we stand? If we fail to stand on God's Word here, it is pointless to stand anywhere else. It is futile to guard the safe after you have allowed the thieves to take the gold. We need the courage of an Athanasius who stood for his convictions though the whole world was against him. We need such courage in our days.

Godly Education is an Unconditional Necessity

Parents need to strive with unceasing faith, zeal, and courage to do God’s will with respect to educating their children. God-centered education is not something that might be nice if it happened to be possible. It is a critical component of Christian service. Christians of old created the future by forging new paths when necessary. They sacrificed everything in their attempts to obey their Lord, trusting wholeheartedly in His wisdom. They didn't desire the comfort and false security of walking on well-worn paths when God's Word pointed in another direction, rather praying for the character and courage to forge better goals for the glory of God. Difficulties did not hinder or deter them but were challenges that they gladly took on.

Always Standing by Faith

May we continue in this great tradition as we stand by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit upon the only sure rock there is—the unmovable Word of God. May we echo what Luther proclaimed at Worms as he stood against the terrifying power of Papal Rome and said, “my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” Christians are called to stand against the darkness, thus Paul said, “And having done all, to stand!” (Ephesians 6:13).