|
Whereas,
the Bible commands that
fathers are to bring up their children in the training and admonition
of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), and all parents have an obligation
to strive by all means to bring up their children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord, and
Whereas,
all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus, and He
has commanded us to make disciples of our children and teach them
to observe everything He has commanded (Mt.
28:19-20), and
Whereas,
teaching our children everything that Jesus commanded involves
their learning to think biblically about all the spheres of human
thought, activity, and life (Dt. 6:4-9) so that they take every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2
Cor. 10:5), and
Whereas,
our thinking is not to be conformed to this world's way of thinking,
but our minds are to be renewed and sanctified by the truth of
God's Word (Rom. 12:2; Jn. 17:17), and
Whereas,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pr. 1:7) and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge (Col. 2:3),
any instruction that does not begin with the fear of the Lord,
teaching the centrality of Jesus Christ for understanding all
of life cannot properly be said to impart wisdom or knowledge
to children, and
Whereas,
Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he
who does not gather with Me scatters" (Lk.11:23),
the government school system that claims to be "neutral"
with regard to Christ is actually anti-Christian, so that children
taught in the government schools are receiving an anti-Christian
education, and
Whereas,
the government schools are by their own confession humanistic
and secular in their instruction, the education offered by the
government schools is officially Godless, and
Whereas, the government schools
are adopting curricula and policies teaching that the homosexual
lifestyle is acceptable, and
Whereas,
homosexual organizations are present as approved student "clubs"
in thousands of government schools and are spreading rapidly,
and
Whereas,
the Bible says, children
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior (Ps.
127:3-5), we must understand that children are weapons (arrows)
to be aimed for the greatest impact in the kingdom of God. Just
as it would be foolish for the warrior to give his arrows to his
enemies, it is foolish for Christians to give their children to
be trained in schools run by the enemies of God, and
Whereas,
training to be a faithful witness should be a vital part of a
Christian child's education, and
Whereas,
hundreds of thousands of parents who are members of churches associated
with the Southern Baptist Convention send their children to the
government schools, and
|
Whereas,
the children of those parents are receiving a Godless, anti-Christian
education, and
Whereas,
the millions of children in government schools spend 7 hours a
day, 180 days a year being taught that God is irrelevant to every
area of life, and
Whereas,
many Christian children in government schools are converted to
an anti-Christian worldview rather than evangelizing their schoolmates,
and
Whereas,
the Nehemiah Institute has discovered through its extensive surveys
of student attitudes and beliefs that acceptance of a secular
humanist worldview by Christian children attending government
schools has increased dramatically over the last fifteen years,
and
Whereas,
the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported to the 2002
Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention that 88 percent
of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the
age of 18, never to return; and
Whereas,
it is anti-intellectual to artificially divorce God from his creation,
and many excellent curricula are available that demonstrate the
beauty and working of God throughout His creation, and experience
has proven the superior intellectual accomplishments of children
educated in such curricula, and
Whereas, the Bible teaches that the companion of fools will be destroyed (Pr. 13:20), and that people are prone to
be deceived into thinking that evil company will not corrupt them
(1 Cor. 15:33),
it is incumbent upon ministers of the gospel to warn God's people
that their children are being corrupted by spending half of their
waking hours instructed by teachers who are required by law to
inculcate a Godless education, and
Whereas,
many adult members of our congregations teach in government schools,
this resolution should not be construed to discourage adult believers
who labor as missionaries to unbelieving colleagues and students;
rather, they should be commended and encouraged to be salt and
light in a dark and decaying government school system:
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the 2004 Annual Meeting
of the Southern Baptist Convention encourages all officers and
members of the Southern Baptist Convention and the churches associated
with it to remove their children from the government schools and
see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education,
for the glory of God, the good of Christ's church, and the strength
of their own commitment to Jesus, and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2004 Annual Meeting of
the Southern Baptist Convention encourages all churches associated
with the Southern Baptist Convention to work energetically to
counsel parents regarding their obligation to provide their children
with a Christian education, and
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2004 Annual Meeting of
the Southern Baptist Convention encourages all churches associated
with the Southern Baptist Convention to provide all of their children
with Christian alternatives to government school education, either
through home schooling or thoroughly Christian private schools.
|
