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By Dennis Rowan He
said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God
what is God's." It seems like a
no-brainer to me. The Scripture is clear, if it belongs to Caesar, let
him have it. But, if it belongs to God, give it to him. Most Christians
are likely aware of the Scripture quote seen above, but I often wonder
how many people look past the coin with Caesar's image. Do we really
get it? Jesus was talking to some high priests and scribes who got a bit uncomfortable that Jesus was speaking with such authority. Wishing to get rid of Jesus they asked the trick question as to whether God's people should pay taxes. If Jesus said we shouldn't pay taxes then hopefully the political authorities would arrest him. So what does all this mean to you and me two thousand years later? The key for me is the part "and to God (give) what is God's." An obvious question is, "What all belongs to God? I have no desire to make an exhaustive list, but rather wish to focus on a very, very important belonging of God's; our children and grandchildren. In particular I ask that you concentrate on "giving to God" those young people who are in their formative years, those years when they are so dependent upon others to teach them. Allow me to abruptly make my main point; school-aged children in Christian families in America should either be taught at home or in Christian schools. Caesar does not own and should not teach our children,....... period! Now that I have made my main point, is there more ? Absolutely! Let us begin by asking why the majority of church going parents have their children in state controlled schools? Let me answer in an indirect way. Ironically, the chief religious leaders of this day fail to provide needed leadership. A very small minority of Christian leaders are committed to Christian education (other than Sunday a.m. and Wed. p.m.) enough to encourage and give help to parents to home school, or committed enough to start or otherwise support formal Christian schooling. If it weren't so vital to the cause of Christ an analysis of what Christian leaders do with their energy would be humerous. There are many programs to evangelize, nurture and sometimes disciple. We have outreach, foreign missions, crusades, special events at Christmas and Easter, and many of these are excellent manifestations of man's commitment to serve our Lord. I ask you, "Do you think our church programs effectively counter the five days a week when children are in public schools?" In addition to the many Church activities that deal with nurturing the flock, there have been tremendous efforts to affect the decisions of our political leaders. I get countless pieces of mail throughout the year from ministries that are fighting issues such as homosexuality in our culture, godless teaching in our schools, and removing references of God from public places. The central theme of these efforts is to force through coercion the secular political crowd to fit a Christian mold. I appreciate Christian activists, but I just happen to think that's a minor skirmish in a gigantic war. You will never train a wolf to guard your lambs. Things have gotten so out of hand that most wolves no longer try to hide in sheep's clothing. For example public schools and political leaders openly reject anything Christian. It is a rare occassion when a high profile Christian such as Jerry Falwell or James Kennedy activiely promotes Chrisitan schooling, yet both of these men are constantly trying to change the culture through petitions to lawmakers and others. I applaud their efforts, but I believe these methods are inferior to promoting Christian schooling. James Dobson is the only high profile Christian who has gotten close to saying we should pull the kids out of public schools. (He did say California schools were that bad). Get this, I am not making this up: at 62 years of age I can honestly say I have never heard a sermon preached with specific emphasis on Christian schooling. Why not? Probably too many other "programs" in the church congregations. Let's be real and check some facts. Although Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, public schooling is only about 150 years old. Most all Christian leaders today were trained in public schools. Frankly, I think Christian leaders have difficulty making the paradigm shift. I might say, tongue in cheek, that many cannot think outside the church building box. They can't visualize home schooling or Christian schooling as a top priority option because they don't have any experience. They prefer to attempt to change public schools rather than start a Christian school and/or make agressive efforts to promote homeschooling . And, (my personal biased opinion) I think many just cannot grasp the simple truths in the Scriptures that say "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" , or "train up a child in the way he should go". Part of the problem in American culture is the desire for quick results. Pastors and other Christian leaders don't like 30 to 50-year plans. Focusing on evangelism of our young children and subsequent discipleship within the family to carry down to two or more generations doesn't have much appeal. I have heard more that one pastor lament that Christian schools are too expensive. "Having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim, 3:5) is a Scripture that comes to my mind. In other words, a man may preach that God provides salvation, deliverance, and healing, but that same man doesn't believe God has the power to help us give proper schooling to our children! Please, sirs give me a break! We Christians go on and on about how rotten the cultural influences like movies, ungodly music, the NEA and bureaucratically controlled schools are adversely affecting our children. We want new petitions, new policies, new laws, new school board members, new legislators, new congressmen, new judges, and then top it all off with a God-fearing man in the White House. It's an effort to train wolves to care for the sheep. While it has some benefit, it is clearly secondary to having a child spend his waking hours learning from his parents. Who will make the claim that our children belong to the state rather than to God? Answer this: "Who is brave enough to explain to God why our kids should spend more waking hours in Caesar's palace than in the classrooms of Christ centered schools and/or homes? Let's get our priorities straight; some things should be given to Caesar, but it positively does not include our children.
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