The doctrine of the covenant teaches us that life long bonds of friendship and fellowship are an essential aspect of life in the church. What role do our “good Christian schools” play in developing such relationships?
Good Christian schools play a huge part with who our children become friends. By doing this, our children make friends of God’s covenant people, and not those people of the world. They spend all their day with elect children of God, instead of wicked, reprobate people of the world.
First off, if we send our children to a public school, they become influenced by the children they see everyday of their lives. They would be spending around 35 hours a week in the presence of unbelieving children, not to mention extra curricular activities, sports, and anything else school-related our child is engaged in. It would almost be impossible for our child not to make friends in his school. If he spends this much time with them, then he will probably befriend some of the kids at his school. If we punish our child for doing this, then we really should punish ourselves also. We put them in that public school, causing temptation to come all around him. All his friends are doing something on Friday night, and he wants to go too. But we say no. He wants to go over to a kid from school’s house, but we say no. It is good that we are saying no, but, our child is going to grow up a lonely, young man. He won’t know what the word “friend” really means. He will have no true friendships. Sure, he has classmates who talk to him during the school day, but no one to be with after school, who he can really call a friend.
Sending our children to a public high school is even more risky than an elementary school. When children become teenagers, they tend not to always listen. If their parents say “No, don’t go over to his house,” then that gives the rebellious teenager a reason to go! Teens give into peer pressure a lot easier than a child in elementary school would give into it. Also, when we become teenagers, we start looking for a mate; and where would be a great place to look for a mate? In the schools, of course. At a public school would be the worst place for our son or daughter to find a mate. I’m not saying there are absolutely none of God’s people in public school, but there are many with the name “Christian.” They are so-called Christians. They are Christians outwardly, but not inwardly. Our child may be confused by this, and start “falling for them.” Before you know it, they get serious and end up marrying a wicked person of this world. But what did we expect when we sent him to a public school? Did we think he wouldn’t talk to anyone at his school? He didn’t know any Protestant Reformed kids his age. Sure, he went to church with them, but no one knew who he was, and he didn’t know who they were. I’m not justifying the sin of this young person, but it just comes to show the importance of a Christian school.
We want our children to be influenced by these kinds of people, not the people at public schools. If our children spend 35+ hours a week with these kids, then we have something to rejoice in. Children in our Christian schools will make friends with other children in the school. They can learn from one another, and talk about matters together. They believe in the same God. That is the most important thing they can have in common. Also, teenagers now can start looking for mates in their schools. We want our children to look for their future husband or wife in our Christian schools. It is always a great blessing when parents know their son or daughter is dating someone of the same faith.
Some important texts I found in Scripture that show the warning of making friends of this world are:
1) James 4:4 “…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” This is teaching us that if we become friends of the world, then we become enemies of God. The words are very clear to us. We must not make friends of this world, if we want to be friends of God.
2) II Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
This text is teaching us that we don’t believe with the people of this world. We have nothing in common. We are light; they are darkness—complete opposites.
3) Isaiah 8:20 “…if they speak not, according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Once again, the wicked people of this world have no light in them. They have complete darkness. We can not mix our light with their darkness.
4) Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Some important texts I found in Scripture that show the blessedness of making friends of God’s Covenant people are:
1) I John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
If we walk in the light, we can be assured that Jesus Christ has washed us from all our sins.
2) Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”
God tells us to walk as children of the light. We do this by walking with other children of God in home, church, and school.
Christian school should be very important to the true child of God. They are an important part of our godly walk with other. I, myself, went to a Christian school, not a Protestant Reformed school, but a Christian school. There is no Protestant School is Kalamazoo so my parents decided to send me to another Christian school. There were two Protestant Reformed teachers there though. I was very thankful for that. My school was a great school. I was around my Protestant Reformed friends from church, and I also made a very good friend who was United Reformed. I “knew her by her fruits” and could tell she was a child of God. Without my Christian school, I would not have all these great, godly friends that I have today. My boyfriend did go to the Protestant Reformed school in Grand Rapids. I know he is very thankful for that too. I am too. He got a great education by godly teachers. Through his school, I went to various school functions that Covenant had, and I got to know many other Protestant Reformed young people. The Christian school is a great place to walk as children of the light with other children of the light.