IT'S NOT ABOUT THE CURRICULUM, DUMMY!

So, you're about to send your precious little angels off to school again are you? And you're about to enjoy the peace of mind that has evaded you for the past three months? Ahhh, breathe that long overdue sigh of relief.

But wait! That's right!!! I forgot that I'm sending my innocent children into the wolf den, where they'll be inundated with Critical Race Theory and Diversity and Inclusion propaganda. 

I've seen this scene play out on social media more times than I care to admit. And then comes the "Teachers are America's heroes" crowd ready to pounce on anyone who would even slightly suggest that teachers have some kind of hidden agenda and are looking to proselytize children with their hidden agenda of woke, progressive, and socialist doctrine. 

The Obligatory Disclaimer
In an attempt to avoid significant or unmerited backlash, I feel it is prudent—albeit likely futile—to make the following disclaimer: I come from a family of teachers. I have many close friends who are teachers. I love them and I know they are passionate about teaching. Otherwise, they would have chosen a profession which would pay them a whole lot more for being forced to deal with a whole lot less.

They genuinely cherish the children who are entrusted to their care. They value the responsibility they have been given and certainly don't desire to undermine the parents, who bear the primary responsibility of teaching and raising their children, or to cause them harm or unrepairable damage.

The Truth Lies Somewhere In-Between
However, we all teach towards our biases. It's natural, and it's not just what is in the curriculum that is taught in public schools, that matters. Many of life's most important lessons are not taught or learned from a textbook. They are taught and learned by our worldviews and how we interact, interpret, and engage with the world.

When the choice was made to take God out of schools, it was all but guaranteed that something else would replace him. Education is the process of giving systematic instruction. Knowledge is defined as the facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience and education. 

Children don't go to school to learn how to pass tests, they go to school to gain an understanding about the way the world works—both historically and currently—and to gain the skills and tools they will need to be critically-thinking and productive members of the world in the future. 

When morality and truth become subjective, the objective of education becomes less clear. Children are no longer taught right from wrong, but are instead taught that it is wrong to judge something rightly; based on the objective truth of God's Word. This becomes increasingly problematic in a society which is hellbent on the cultural mandate to call evil good and good evil, to put darkness for light and light for darkness, and to put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20.)

The Slow Drip
Though it is right for parents to have a concern about what their children will be taught in the six hours a day they will be in the hands of the state, the issue is far bigger than the curriculum. In fact, I don't believe the the curriculum is even an issue.

While parents are distracted by words like Critical Race Theory, the education of their children is already well underway. Parents willingly place their children under the watch and care of TikTok, Disney+, Netflix, PBS, and other sources of entertainment so they can jump on social media and rant about the progressive agenda. They send their children out to play with their neighbors—who proudly display their In This House We Believe yard signs—while they head to the monthly school board meetings to squawk at their elected school board members, accuse them of being groomers, and make exasperated demands that books their children will likely never read be removed from the school library.

And all the while, the infusion of worldliness continues to flow through the veins of their children, who have been hooked up to a steady drip of secular entertainment and amusement for the majority of their lives.

It's Not About the Curriculum Dummy
What am I trying to say here? Well, in no uncertain terms, it's not about the curriculum dummy. "It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person" (Matthew 15:11).

Though Christ was specifically talking about food, in this instance, the principle applies to well more than what we eat. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that it doesn't matter what we consume. It most certainly does. Bad fruit is never good for the body. However, when a person is able to rightly judge the difference between good and bad fruit, and when they are aware of the blessings which come from good fruit and the consequences which come from the bad, the the chances of them choosing good fruit instead of bad fruit grow exponentially. 

Parent's have been so concerned with what their children might be exposed to in public schools, that they have failed to see what their children are actually being exposed to in their own homes. They spend so much of their free time worried and concerned with what some teacher might be teaching their children, that they are failing to use their free time to actually teach their own children.

In an effort to make sure their children aren't left behind by the culture's unquenchable lust for acceptance and affluence, parents have ignorantly invited all kinds of influences into their homes while simultaneously failing to guard their children's heart or equip them to be able to discern good from evil within the walls of their own home.

It's Time to Get Offended By Our Own Offenses
Parents, it's time to hold ourselves accountable, with the same zeal we aim to hold others accountable. We are guilty. We deserve criticism, not teachers. They're going to do what they do; namely, teach in accordance with their worldview and experiences. But what about us? Are jealous for our children's time and attention and affections? Do we care about their education or just what someone else is choosing to teach them? And what are we teaching them when we are more offended by what they might learn in school than what they are actually being taught in our own homes?

If you want your children to have a solid Biblical foundation, then build it for them. Get serious about it. Get active in their lives with as much passion as your activism about CRT or cat boxes to accommodate the Furries in your local school district. We certainly need parents who are active in their community and public schools, but it's far more valuable for parents to be active and intentional in teaching their children God's word, right from wrong, and good from evil.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deut. 6:4-7)

​They Are Still Your Children
​Parents, be encouraged. No matter what happens in the public schools, these are still your children. They are yours. Not the school's, not the village's, not the enemy's. They are your kids! Teach them. Take your role and responsibility as a parent seriously. Own it and get involved in their lives. Know what they're doing, who they're doing it with, and what their reason for doing it is. Shape their worldview by saturating their world with God's word and godly examples of how it works day in and day out. Fill their hearts and their minds with so much truth that they can't help but see the lies. Teach them the scriptures, diligently, and talk about Jesus when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way. Remind them of God's promises and why they need to resist the devil. Show them the blessing that come from submission to God's Word, even when it's hard, and remind them that temptation always promises what it can never give and always gives what it never promises.

They are your children and they are counting you to teach them how the world works—both historically and currently—and how to gain the skills and tools they will need to be critically-thinking and productive members of the world of the future. Don't miss the opportunities God has give you to shepherd and shape their hearts, because you are too concerned with how someone else might be attempting to fill the role that only you can.

Your kids are counting on you. And so are we.