Community Education: How to Impact Your Town with Christian Education

Dr. Gary North once stated, “Protestant fundamentalist Christians have their eyes on the sky, their heads in the clouds, their hearts in Egypt, and their children in government schools.”

While this statement is not universally true for all Christians, it does depict the majority of those professing the Christian faith. Many Christians talk of the culture war as if it is a television reality series where they can sit back uninvolved and watch the outcome, while flipping channels and eating popcorn from their easy chairs. Needless to say, this posture is a radical departure from the glorious commission given by Christ for an expressly Christian victory. Today’s “professing religionist” tends to be well satisfied with a nominal degree of doctrinal knowledge, but when it comes to marketplace, real-life action, anything other than possibly handing out a gospel tract here and there is rarely pursued.

We Don’t Know How to Execute

It is painfully obvious that both our Christian liberties and our civil liberties are under severe attack by anti-Christian forces, including many elements of rabid secularism within our own government. Our nation, at every level (local, state, and national), is under the clear and intensive judgment of God. This divine judgment is the direct result of the blatant denial of the sovereignty of Christ and the abusive rebellion against the law of God by both church and state. And among the community of the faithful, the problem of ecclesiastic and civil apostasy also looms large.

What is odd, however, is that we live in an age with an abundance of information available concerning the problem of Christian dominion. Consider the myriad of faithful Christian books, magazines, newsletters, websites, podcasts, blogs, Christian universities, seminaries, and homeschooling curriculums. While aiding to identify the problem and equip the Christian community with tools to address it, many of these resources feature a disparity between the knowledge of the cultural problem and the actual implementation of Biblical solutions. It seems that while our brethren are being equipped with doctrinal answers, many remain unaware of exactly how to strategically implement, and systematically apply, concrete methods for achieving results in the modern world.

The very idea of implementing a theonomically based Christian Reconstruction plan is an idea not readily embraced even in the mainstream of most Reformed churches, let alone those of an Arminian, premillennial persuasion. While the precepts of Scripture are foundational, they remain entirely void of power without being executed in real life.

The Systematic and Unashamed Application of God’s Law

To state that an explicitly Christian education is the key to advancing the Kingdom of Christ and overcoming the onslaught of wickedness is an understatement. Profitable education must be solely based upon Scripture and not upon some form of “modern Christianity.” The only Biblically and historically valid education, which is able to bring about righteous change in any culture, is education based upon the revelation and authority of Scripture. All nations—including ours—are in dire need of the Christian Reconstruction of their depraved social order.

Throughout Scripture, the Lord commands and directs His people to educate their children in the law of God. It is that law that sets forth the plan of victory for those faithfully using it. The commandment to educate includes not merely learning, understanding, and loving God’s law, but also its systematic and comprehensive application to every area of life. The right application of God’s holy law to the societal order is what insures a Biblical, God-honoring culture—as it advances the claims of the crown rights of Christ within that culture. An education based upon the presuppositions of holy Scripture, as it is to be applied and executed in society, is an absolute necessity for every single Christian household (Exod. 18:20, 24:12; Lev. 10:11; Deut. 4:1, 10, 14; Deut. 5:31, 6:1, 11:19; Jude 3:2; Ps. 34:11, 51:13; Ps. 78; Jer. 32:33; Matt. 9:35, 28:20; Acts 28:31, etc.).

As long as the majority of professing Christians insist upon schooling their children according to the philosophies of antichrist, both the church and the state will remain under the severe frown of God’s providence. But I am convinced that the faithful must do more than simply remove Christian children from the government school; they must also properly educate those children in a Biblical world and life view. If by some incredible act of God’s mercy a mass exodus from the government schools were to take place tomorrow, parents, along with Christian educators, would be overwhelmed and subsequently fail to accommodate the students with Biblical leadership and scholarship. Proper provisions must first be made before any mass exodus could take place.

While we presently desire a Christian exodus from the government school system (as my dear friend and respected colleague Dr. Rev. E. Ray Moore from Exodus Mandate is laboring to accomplish), faithful Reformation-based Christian support must first be established through churches, Christian schools, institutions, home educators’ co-ops, parental support groups, and colleges. This takes time and energy, not to mention money and commitment.

I believe the reason why God hasn’t brought about a mass exodus yet is because there aren’t enough theonomic, postmillennial ministries established to address the tremendous need produced by the inevitable future exodus from the government schools. The proper educational staging areas must be in place before the exodus occurs. This is why every covenant home, church, and Bible-based institution must be equipped in the science of “applied theonomy” so as to receive and properly equip those students delivered from the statist system.

What We Have—What We Need

As a direct result of God’s providential blessing toward this objective, the Reformed community has a wellspring of textbooks, journals, and symposiums dripping with strong doctrine. These tools provide the foundation for victory in the generations to come. However, tools can only profit if used effectively. A Christian engaged in a cultural war must be well equipped in both the application and execution of the tools of warfare—the most notable instrument being the law of God.

Some venues where we may promote hands-on strategies, practical applications, and systematic tactics for cultural reform include local community think tanks, coalitions, or Internet blog sites. Ideas for the application of tactics can then be discussed and easily implemented. Perhaps a committee could be formulated that digests the theonomic principles from the myriad of Reconstruction textbooks and develops them into a “hands-on strategy playbook.”

It has always been my desire to compile an e-book entitled The Christian Strategy Playbook. The content would be derived from the vast resources provided by Reconstructionist scholars over the years. Armed with these methods, the saints can effectively apply them to the benefit of their communities. Only theonomic principles can reverse the trends of a dying culture. The precepts contained in these strategy playbooks will profit society only when they are freed from their pages and used in this world.

Furthermore, there is a great need to galvanize our constituency into a nationwide network. This could easily be done with the Internet. This would provide Christians with a forum for sharing tactics, information, and ideas to work within a community. While we await such a network, allow me to speak specifically to one area that is dear to my heart: Christian education.

Start a School

In the year 2000, with the cooperative efforts of The Institute for Theonomic Reformation (www.hisglory.us) and the Reformed Bible Church in Virginia, a Home Educator’s Academy was formed. This academy, though more refined and targeted in its mission, was patterned after a previous work implemented in New York between the years 1995 and 1998. Its primary goal is to encourage and support homeschooling parents in the education of their children.

Once a week the Reformed Bible Church Home Educator’s Academy hosts approximately fifty-five students, teaching a range of subjects to children aged pre-school through the twelfth grade. A typical course list consists of The Glory of God in Art, The Glory of God in Music, Constitutional Philosophy, Biblical Law, Providential History from the Early Greeks through 1776, topical studies in science and literature, and/or math skills. A typical day begins at 9:45 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.

This project runs smoothly because we have the constant support of the local church body and leadership. Sadly, too many churches oppose the historic principles of the Reformation, as well as the teaching of Christian Reconstruction. But of those churches that do agree, they should be willing to support a project geared toward cultural transformation.

You might begin with your pastor, and the people you already know. Some pastors are friendly toward the homeschool movement. See if he will allow the use of the church for meetings and classes. You can always begin in someone’s home, as we did in 1994, or the local library conference room. Perhaps there are homeschooling families in your church or neighborhood willing to begin a Biblical Worldview Academy. Depending upon the state in which you live and its laws on home education, you may want to place an advertisement in the local newspaper. Hook up with the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) to protect yourself from any conflict with the local school board. You are welcome to call our office, and we will be pleased to assist you.

While it is beneficial to have a church-supported ministry, it is not necessary. Many who desire to engage the culture do not have such support. In that case, they must advance the Kingdom alone, or network with other like-minded saints in their local community.

Write out a mission statement, with Christian scholarship as the goal, and stick to it. Beware that your co-op does not turn into a free-for-all, or degenerate into a social gathering. Be disciplined. Make a schedule that will suit the parents. Try to get them involved whenever it’s possible. Your goal is not to create a “Mom’s Day Out”; it’s to establish the Kingdom. Remember, you are there to encourage, support, and equip the parents by sharing the task of building a generation of Christian leaders. Your greater goal is to prepare for the exodus from the imploding government schools.

Build a Library

Finally, a great way to influence your community via education is by creating a library. Every community should have a Biblical law library filled with great Reformed works, truthful historical books, commentaries, and a multiplicity of reference materials and homeschooling aids. Our fellowship is currently laboring to build such a library, hoping to inspire others to do the same in their community. There is no reason why God’s people cannot pool their resources together so as to establish these places for Christian study and scholarship.

We at the Institute for Theonomic Reformation and the Reformed Bible Church are eager to assist and network with any serious-minded Christian who desires to advance the Kingdom of Christ through Biblical application. You may contact us via email, [email protected], or telephone, 434-352-2667. May God be pleased to advance His cause through His saints on earth in our time and in our history. Deo Vindice! Amen.