Does School Matter?

From the time a child enters kindergarten and graduates high school he/she will spend approximately 16,000 hours in school. During that same span a child will spend approximately 1600 hours in church.

Does school matter?

The answer to that question lies in whether or not you believe 1,600 hours in church is enough to counteract the 16,000 hours of instruction from a secular worldview. Is 16,000 hours enough time for Satan to convince your child that Jesus Christ is irrelevant? Is 1,600 hours enough time for your church’s children and youth ministries to equip your child to understand that God is the creator and Redeemer of all the world through Jesus Christ and one’s duty is to God first, then to others and to self last? So, does school matter?

YES!!!!

Consider the following statistics discovered by Christian Worldview Researcher George Barna:
· What a child believes at age 13 he will likely die believing.
· 70% of born again parents do no mention leading their child to faith in Christ as a critical outcome of their parenting, but
- Almost 40% listed getting a good education as a critical outcome
· 9% of adults and 5% of youth have a biblical worldview
- A person with a biblical worldview is:
- 31 times less likely to cohabitate
- 18 times less likely to endorse drunkenness
- 15 times less likely to condone gay sex
- 11 times less likely to condone adultery.
· 52% of teens believe Jesus was a sinner
· 60% think good deeds can earn eternal life

Is it possible that the rapid decline of morality in our culture is a result of 16,000 hours of secular education and only 1,600 hours of church attendance? I believe that there is not coincidence that the parents who were first affected by the removal of prayer from school and God from the public square are the parents of youth and young adults who are growing increasingly morally bankrupt. When God became irrelevant to the educational process, he became irrelevant to what goes on outside of educational institutions.

Dr. James Dobson stated that we are in a civil war. This is not a war fought with guns and missiles, but a war fought with the mind. The battle ground is America’s schools and to the victor goes our children. Does this matter to you? It should!

Psalm 127:3 states that children are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. God blesses parents with children because He recognizes that they are the means to advance His kingdom until the return of Jesus. It has been stated that if one of the largest Christian denominations in America were to just evangelize their own children the denomination would triple over the next 20 years. That doesn’t include actually evangelizing the lost outside the church.

Does school matter? Take a long hard look at your life and ask God to reveal to you where you have placed Him in the prioritization of rearing your children. Now consider the way that you show this practically in your daily actions. Perhaps where you choose to allow your child to be educated could be a major step towards answering the question - Does God matter?

Glenn Getchell,
UCS Headmaster