In the two years that I have been privileged to serve on the School Board at Perry Hall Christian Schoool, God has blessed our efforts to make His school the very best that it can be.  We have experienced consecutive years with significant increases in enrollment, while private schools, in general, have seen a decline.  New facilities are approved for construction, academic enhancements in place and updated textbooks purchased.  It occurs to me, however, that the greatest enhancement has been experienced through the hard work of our personnel, who have excited our students and encouraged them to strive for excellence, to care about each other and to seek a closer relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

There will, of course, always be new challenges to be faced, but I have confidence that if we continue to look to God to lead us in the right direction, the educational product that we offer will increasingly reflect His glory and His love for His children.

Alumni Chapel & Crowning of the King and Queen, 1:15-2:15 PM

Dessert Mixer, 7 – 8 PM

Alumni & Student Basketball Game, 8 – 10 PM

Can you imagine walking through the hallways of a public school and hearing music that praises our Lord?  See 2, 3 or more people praying in the hallway for anything God has put on their heart right at that moment?  I am so thankful for a school where these things are the normal, everyday activities and not the exception to the rule.  I am thankful that my daughter can learn in an environment where she will be loved and nurtured not just as a student but as a child of Christ.

If you are on the fence about sending your child to PHCS, or any Christian school for that matter, I challenge you to walk the halls of our school one day and not be amazed and moved by the many things that you likely want your child to be a part of. 

Come and see that the Lord is good.  Psalm 34:8

          I was particularly intrigued because it had been written by a former student who had attended PHCS for four years.  The review started with the words “I hated the school” and that was the high point.  It got progressively worse, from criticisms about classmates’ abilities and teacher competence, to too much homework and then on to what holidays were or were not celebrated.  As I continued to read I couldn’t believe that this child had not had one decent experience at PHCS.  On second thought, it might have been that the negative experiences were so overwhelming that they overshadowed any positive experiences that might have occurred.

          I had already started thinking about what I might write in a review to counter some of this negativity when I stumbled upon the last two sentences.  The student had written “However, if you want your child to attend a school in a very Christian environment, then PHCS is great for that.  Other than that, this school gets NO stars from me.”

          OTHER THAN THAT?   That is why PHCS exists.  Of course, I want teachers to be competent in their areas of expertise.  Of course I want students to succeed academically.  And I definitely want students to have a generally positive experience.  What we want, to quote Alister Begg, are “sanctified scholars with the best minds given to the best of studies with the best of effort.”  However, if their education is not based on a foundation of Biblical wisdom, we might as well not be bothered. 

          So, I’m sorry that our former student had such a negative experience and I will work as hard as I can to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.  However, if at the end of the day, PHCS has the reputation as being the place to send your child if you want them to be in a very Christian environment, I’ll take that.

Speaking with conviction on the importance of Christian education is all too easily misinterpreted as an attack on parents who have chosen government schooling for their young lambs. I bear more than a few bumps and bruises from impassioned discussions I’ve had with other Christian families regarding what I feel is a clear mandate from scripture: that we are to speak of the things of God with our children when we get up, when we lie down, and as we walk along the road – in other words, in every context of each and every day. This is the point that Doug was making below regarding the sheer number of hours our children spend behind a desk at school (16,000+ through 12th Grade!) and the impact that this tsunami of time has on their worldview over the course of their education.

So let my bias be clear: I am an unabashed supporter of Christian education. I take it as my highest calling on earth to train my children up in the way they should go – namely to do everything I can to encourage them to submit to the loving Lordship of our Savior. I see the goal of government schools to have little to nothing in common with my “Prime Directive.” More on that another time, perhaps, but I mention all this as a lead in to the question: “What are some of the most common objections that Christians have to investing in Christian education?”

There definitely are limited situations where families should legitimately turn to the undeniable resources represented by Public Schools, but one of the faulty lines of reasoning I find that keeps popping up deals with this concept of Salt and Light. The argument begins at an unquestionably legitimate starting point, the words of Jesus:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)

Certainly, Chris, you don’t want us to hide ‘this gospel light of mine’ under a bushel? Do you?

To which I would answer – is your young, fragile gospel light ready for the relentless gale force winds of secular humanism and an agnostic worldview served up by the schools we fund with our taxes? Is your young person is ready for such a battle, after years of Biblical training? Do they show a growing maturity in Christ marked by an increasing bounty of the undeniable fruit of the Holy Spirit. If so, then you have a tough decision to make. Your child may be ready to do battle with the hollow and deceptive philosophies of this world. (Col 2:8)

What I want to tell you today is that my children aren’t quite ready. If I may be so bold, I doubt yours are either. I dare to paint with a broad brush not based on my (highly limited) insight, but on the Word:

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
(1 Cor 15:33)

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Prov 22:15)

We see a related principle repeatedly in the Old Testament, particularly in Joshua 23, where Joshua exhorts Israel to keep its guard on the influence of other nations. The rest of the story of the nation of Israel revolves around how the world was much more successful at influencing God’s people than vice versa.

What does your experience as a child tell you? How salty and bright were you as a child? This is Frederick C. Foote’s memory:

Speaking for ourselves, we know we were not salt and light in our elementary schools. We were fools (Solomon’s appraisal of children in Proverbs 22:15, and we thoroughly agree). As such, we paid close attention to the other fools in our class — how they acted, what they said, what they wore, and what they valued. We teased those whom it was safe to tease, rebelled just enough to be considered cool, and tried to be well-liked. By most worldly measures we were successes both academically and socially. But unlike Jesus (who did not regard the opinions of men), we monitored the opinions of our peers constantly.

As for influence, we learned more about evil from the group than the group learned about righteousness from us. We didn’t preserve anything of godliness in our class. And we didn’t shed as much light as was snuffed out by the company of immature friends. They impacted us more than vice versa. Guaranteed.

In short, we spent time with our young and foolish friends, but we were not salt and light. We fit in.

Are we commanded to be salt and light? Undoubtedly. But we are also to be concerned about the consequences of salt losing its saltiness (Mark 9:50) Just as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52) – we are not to be blind to the maturing process of our young fruit trees. I encourage you to consider the sanctuary of a Christian education setting as a spiritual incubator for these young souls. My wife and I are so thankful for how Perry Hall Christian School has come along side our family to help us grow our children into sources of salt and light in a decaying and blind world.