Sometimes, when I attempt to persuade parents to be fully responsible for the education of their children, the response is that it’s not practical. Many parents think that the only way for them to assume that responsibility is to homeschool. That’s not true. Parents have a responsibility to feed their children, but not all parents should be farmers. Parents are to put a roof over their kids’ heads, but they don’t have to build the house. Parents have a part to play in providing a place for their children to live. They will have the responsibility of calling the plumber and the electrician, they will have to clean, and provide general upkeep of the home but they don’t have to build it. The parent doesn’t have to do everything. This demonstrates an important biblical principle.
Genesis 4:2 says that “Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Cain and Abel had different jobs. This the principle of the division of labor. Later in Genesis, we read of people who herded cattle, who made organs and harps, and worked with brass and iron. The Apostle Paul speaks of the diversity of gifts that God gives to His church.
God creates each person uniquely. You are different from every other person on the earth. With that diversity there is a unity in that we are all made in God’s image and we are all commanded to take dominion over the earth. This means that God commands all of us to innovate and build. The bird has built its nest the exact same way for thousands of years, but we are able to develop better ways of building our homes as is plainly seen in the new housing developments in town.
Some people are great musicians and painters. Some are gifted to be doctors, plumbers, electricians, and lawyers. Some are gifted to teach. There is a division of labor and that division of labor improves the standards of living for everyone. Each person must work out their own calling from the Lord and do the work they are best suited to do. We work to have dominion in one area and trade our specialized goods and services for other’s specialized goods and services so that all of our lives may be improved.
This division of labor also occurs in education. I am a musician, but I can’t paint anything more than stick figures. Would it be immoral for me to hire an art instructor for my children? No. Would it be immoral to hire an art teacher for all of my kids? No. What if a friend from Church asks if he can help share the costs of the teacher and send his kids too? If you said that this is acceptable, you have said bye-bye to the principle of homeschooling. You can’t say that homeschooling is the only way.
The Christian School is just an expanded version of the neighborhood art teacher using teachers that have various areas of expertise. It takes advantage of the division of labor. Many families send their children to one centralized convenient location for instruction by teachers specialized in their area of study. This is great for efficiency and productivity. It’s also a great solution for poorer people to take advantage of having a good Christian education for their child. They can pool their funds together. The more families that contribute to the fund, the less individual families have to pay.
I’m not saying that homeschool is bad per se. Many students have done well graduating from homeschool. But, generally speaking, homeschooling will be more difficult as students require more specialized teaching as they get older. Unless the parents are able to teach Latin and Algebra II at a high level, they are at a disadvantage compared to the Christian school. If your child is getting older and you’re concerned that you won’t be able to teach well at home. The burden can be lifted. You don’t have to compromise Godly standards by sending your kids to public school. Take advantage of the division of labor. If you want to know more about our Christian school, Christ Church Academy, please send me an email at scott@wearechristchurch.com or visit our website www.christchurchacademy.org.
