“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

A homeschool mom recently shared with me an interesting conversation she had with a confused friend about Proverbs 22:6. Her friend’s distorted reasoning can be summed up as follows: since we, as sinful parents cannot save our sinful kids, why should we try to follow the guideline/command given in Proverbs 22:6?

First off, anyone who believes they can save their child's soul needs to re-read the Bible, especially Ephesians 2:1-10. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Now that we cleared that up, let's quickly look at what Proverbs 22:6 is really teaching parents. First, notice that the Bible says that we should "train up a child" not train up an adult. Why a child? Our gracious Lord is teaching us to train children because these are their most impressionable learning years. Do you think it is any coincidence that the public schools and their like-mined socialists are working on getting our children younger and younger?

If you are among many who think that public schools are neutral and that there is no underlying agenda, please read the following quotes by just a few liberal educationalists and secular-humanists/socialists who understand the importance of capturing little minds.

"We do not need any more preaching about right or wrong. The old ‘thou shall nots’ simply are not relevant. Values clarification is a method for teachers to change the values of children without getting caught." -- Dr. Sidney Simon, Lecturer, Secularist & Educator

"Having found the present generation composed of materials almost unmalleable, I am about transferring my efforts to the next. Men are cast-iron; but children are wax. Strength expended upon the latter may be effectual, which would make no impression upon the former."  –Horace Mann founder of public schools

"Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our founding fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It is up to you as teachers to make all of these sick children well -- by creating the international child of the future." -- Dr. Chester M. Pierce, Professor of Education at Harvard (1972)

" I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being … The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and new. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing the classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool day care or large state universities." John Dunphy  (The Humanist magazine, Jan/Feb 1983)

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." —Adolf Hitler

"Give me your 4-year-olds, and in a generation I will build a socialist state." —Vladimir Lenin

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day  program of humanistic teaching?" - Charles F.  Potter, Signer of the Humanist Manifesto

"There is no God and there is no soul. Hence, there are no needs for the props of traditional religion. With dogma and creed excluded, then immutable truth is also dead and buried. There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes." --John Dewey, co-author, signer of the Humanist Manifesto and founder of today's public schools

The public school model and its curriculum is working on the kids young so they can indoctrinate them to think like secular-humanists/socialists. Period.

By the way they (the Liberals) are having a tremendous amount of success. Makes you wonder why the Church (Shepherds and sheep alike) do not make this a topic of utmost importance, huh?

So going back to Proverbs 22:6, why should we train up our children in the way they should go if we cannot save them? How about because we love our Lord and want to obey Him? Let us obey our Lord and let God be God. "If ye love me, keep my commandments" John 14:15.

Listen to the wisdom of Matthew Henry, a former homeschooling father of nine kids who was homeschooled himself and was considered by the likes of Spurgeon and Whitefield to be a superb and gifted Bible commentator: "Train up children in that age of vanity, to keep them from the sins and snares of it, in that learning age, to prepare them for what they are designed for. Catechise [instruct] them; initiate them; keep them under discipline. Train them as soldiers, who are taught to handle their arms, keep rank, and observe the word of command. Train them up, not in the way they would go (the bias of their corrupt hearts would draw them aside), but in the way they should go, the way in which, if you love them, you would have them go."

God clearly tells us to train up our children in the way they should go. If we don't or only make a half-hearted attempt to train them up, their sinful nature will take them on completely different path in life. We need to start when they are young because if we don't, we will make our labor all the more difficult. Again, quoting Matthew Henry, "The branch is easily bent when it is tender."

Let me put it as simply as possible. Children would naturally follow their corrupt hearts if parents did not train them up as they should. This makes them easy prey in the hands of the public school gurus. Therein lies the reason we should follow Proverbs 22:6. Either we train them, or someone else will.

—David d'Escoto is a teaching elder, the co-author of "The Little Book of Big Reasons to Homeschool" and its companion Bible study, he also co-hosted the former radio program "Homeschooling for Life." He and his wife, Kim, have homeschooled their five children for over 10 years. Visit their website to sign-up for their free webinars and newsletters at http://dexios.info.

Comments

Jun. 17, 2009 - thanks for the reminder

Posted by hymnstudies

Gena,
I don't have time to read a lot of blogs, but scrolling down through the home page of homeschoolblogger today I came across this article from David d'Escoto that you posted and appreciate it. I have greatly benefitted from David and Kim's work.
The point I often make is that, yes, parents cannot save their children--only God can save, but as parents we have a responsibility to "train" our children so that their hearts will be prepared to accept God's grace by faith rather than to reject Him. And you, David, and I all know that it is so much easier to do when you do not have to fight the error and ungodliness into which they are immersed in the public schools.
Thanks to you and David for the good reminder. I do miss being volunteer coordinator for TOS, but I still enjoy the magazine!
Wayne S. Walker

- Home Where They Belong

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