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Public schools in the United States of America need the support of Christians. Support needed includes prayer, presence and participation. If Christians support taxpayer funded public schools, churches will fill up and more money will become available to finance winning souls to Jesus Christ.
Many Christians have abandoned public schools in favor of private schools because 1) prayer is not allowed in schools 2) they are threatened by the teaching of the Theory of Evolution 3) some object to sex education being taught in public schools. These were some of the initial reasons why many Christians abandoned public schools in favor of private schools. Since the beginning of that trend, other problems such as the prevalence of school shootings have begun to plague the public school system.
Although it is most understandable that parents would have the utmost concern for the safety of their children at school, there is absolutely no guarantee that such evils as school shootings will not eventually occur in private and Christian schools. If support such as mentioned above is not given to private and Christian schools, it is just a matter of time before those schools begin to experience the violence that plagues the public school system.
It would be nice if students, teachers and staff in public schools would be allowed to pray at school. However, prayer transcends time and space. It is not necessary for students, teachers and staff to be able to actively pray at for the effects of prayer to be present in public schools. Most churches have Sunday School and/or some form of Bible Study for their congregants. Prayers prayed in Sunday School classes and Bible Study classes for those in the public school systems can be just as effective as any prayer would be if prayed at a school. The difference is in the planning.
What would happen if every Sunday School class would, during its regular class time, include a prayer each Sunday for the students, teachers and staff of the local public schools in their locale? What would happen on the campuses of public schools if the same thing was done in local church Bible Study classes? Local School Boards have absolutely no authority over the prayers prayed in local churches. But the word of God says "…men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). Apostle James wrote the following, "The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). None of these scriptures say anything about where those prayers should be prayed. However, they do say much about the effect of those prayers (see Luke 18:2-8).
Prayer is a spiritual weapon. According to Apostle Paul, the spiritual weapons of Christians are "mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3). What if the spiritual weapon of prayer specifically aimed at local public schools was discharged each week in local Sunday School and Bible Study classes? How much of a change would be availed in those public schools?
Public schools need the presence of Christians. This includes not only students, teachers and staff, but also parents, volunteers and partners. Christians have the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, Who teaches Christians all things (John 14:26) and guides them into all truth (John 16:13). Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, Christians have access to Godly wisdom. Proverbs 4:7-9 says the following concerning wisdom: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her." Public schools need persons who have the wisdom of God operating in their lives. With wisdom comes exaltation. This exaltation can include everything from test scores to the absence of school violence
The presence of Christians in the public school system also means their participation. This includes everything from attending PTO meetings and school games to being partners with individual schools. The presence of Christians in public schools also puts the presence of God there because He dwells in the hearts of Christians. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth….You are the light of the world." The salt and light refers to influence in secular society. If Christians abandon public schools, God will have no one through whom He can manifest His presence within the public school system. That leaves public schools vulnerable to the adversary. No further explanation on this is necessary. The works of the adversary within public schools have been well reported by the news media.
Much money has been spent to create and develop private schools. However, by doing so, schools are being paid for twice. All taxpayers pay for local public schools through property taxes and other taxes from which money is used for public schools. If persons contribute money to fund private and Church schools, that is paying double for schools. That is a waste of money. Some want money allocated for public schools to be used to pay for private schools. That is throwing good money after bad. The more money that is taken away from the public school, the more those schools will deteriorate. Why allow that deterioration when all that is really needed is prayer, presence and participation?
If Christians are concerned about some unscriptural things that are taught in public schools, churches are a great place to address those issues. I am sure that the God Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills has at His disposal a Christian who is qualified to address issues in science such as the Theory of Evolution. It would be very easy for a science teacher who is also a Christian to hold a workshop at a local church to explain to concerned parents the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law. Scientific theories are hypotheses that have not been proven to be true. Scientific laws have been proven to be true. People of faith know that the Theory of Evolution will never be proven because the hypothesis is a lie. However, a good science teacher who also happens to be a Christian can explain to parents the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law. That way, parents will know how to intelligently discuss the matter with their children and instruct them on the proper way to respond in class. (Regurgitate the information for the test. No one has to believe it.) Having such a science teacher address parents at a local church is much cheaper than trying to fund a school. The money that would have been put toward a school could be used to further the preaching of the Gospel for the purpose of winning souls. That seems to be a more intelligent use of money than to double pay for education.
The local church is the proper place to receive instruction in the Word of God. The local church does not have to be the place to be taught science and math. Science and math and other academic subjects can be taught anywhere. The Lord Jesus Christ specifically gave the responsibility of providing instruction in the Word of God to the Church (Matthew 28:19,20). At the Judgment Seat of Christ, will the Church tell Jesus it abandoned the teaching of the Word of God for the sake of teaching Math, Science and English? Who is teaching the Word of God if the Church has abandoned it to teach Math, Science and English? The money that is being spent to build schools could be used to provide more instruction in the Word of God. If the Word of God would be properly taught in the local church, students, teachers and staff who attend such local churches would be well equipped to deal with any adversity that would occur in school, and parents would not have to worry about their children receiving the wrong instruction in public schools. The word of God in the hearts of those children would automatically kick it out.
Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). The word world used in this scripture comes from the Greek word kosmos. It means the "sum total of the material universe, the beauty in it [and] the sum total of persons living in the world".1 That means the world Jesus instructed the Church to go into includes the public school system. That command cannot be fulfilled if Christians keep running away from it.
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