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SBC Pastor: Biased Mission Board Ignores Public Schools' Reverse Evangelism

by Jim Brown
December 22, 2005

(AgapePress) - - A Southern Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board (NAMB) is demonstrating a strong bias against private Christian schools and home-schooling families.

At issue is a section on the website of the NAMB called "Choosing a School for Your Children." The site provides a list of advantages and disadvantages to public and private schools and home schooling; but Grady Arnold, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Woodville, Texas, and head of the group "GettheKidsOut.org," believes NAMB shows decided preference in favor of public schools. In fact, he contends the mission agency shows "not only that but, I would say, an anti-home school stance and an anti-private school stance."

The NAMB website suggests private school students are more likely to have the disadvantage of being isolated from children "who are different from them but could contribute to their broader education" and these home-educated students also may suffer from a want of discipline and adult contact.

Additionally, the website says home-schooled students are more likely to exhibit "lack of socialization." But while the NAMB site observes that "public schools have produced leaders in every arena of public life," its Internet pages do not go on to make the same positive observation about private schools and home schooling.

See cached version of this page on the NAMB website

The NAMB's apparent bias is not surprising, Grady asserts, especially "seeing as oftentimes the Southern Baptist Convention in the past has been pro-public school." However, he adds, "I think that tide is changing."

One reason Pastor Arnold is concerned, he asserts, is because the NAMB holds to the mistaken notion that most Christian students are functioning as "salt and light" in public schools. However, he believes Christian parents and educators frequently make this claim but fail to "look at the other side of that coin" -- that is, the schools' negative influence on students.

In 2002, for instance, Arnold says the Family Life Research Council found that after students graduated from public high school, "some 88 percent of their kids were leaving the church and not returning." Public school supporters missed that, he says, so "they feel like they're evangelizing, but actually what's going on is reverse evangelism -- but they don't realize it."
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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Brother as you know this has been an area of great conecern to me and an area that I have had a lot of experience in.

The only "lack of socialization" that takes place is a worldly influence. Most home-schooled children are much more able to handle worldly social life without it influencing them to join along. Of course there are exceptions as there is in anything but I am talking for the majority here.

The same can be said for the influence provided by the school itself. I must agree with the author of this article. Children that are homeschooled or schooled in a good private Christian school are more likely to stay in the Church and to uphold the values that they have been taught.

As for children "functioning as "salt and light" in public schools", this is not normally the case but rather the exception. Most children tend to fold to peer pressure and in order to do so learn to do things behind their parents back.

This would not be the case if God, the Bible and prayer with the moral teachings of such were still in our schools. However we know that this is not the case in fact the total opposite is the fact in our public schools with the teachings that homosexuality, abortion and many other such things being taught as being ok to do.

It grieves me to hear that Christians sanction this sort of things.

Hello Pastor Roger,

I think this serves as a reminder for Christian parents that having children requires a lot of care, concern, and prayer. Our duty is to raise them in the things of the LORD, and GOD will help and guide us if we ask and pray often. This world is a difficult place to raise a child in, and we simply can't do it without the help of GOD.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 11:6 NASB  And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Amen!