Should We Send Our Kids To Public School So We Can Reach The World?

In John 17:15, Jesus doesn’t pray for us to be taken out of the world, but to be protected in the world.  Then in John 17:18 Christ says that He has sent us into the world to reach the world for Christ.  While we are not to become worldly, God does not want us to hide or escape from the world. Instead, He wants us to live on mission in the world.  We are to be in the world, but not of the world.

Some argue that this is why Christian parents shouldn’t remove their kids from public school.  Instead, we should send our kids into the public school system to reach the world for Christ.  I totally disagree, and here's why:  

1. When God sends us into the world, He accompanies us.  When you send your kids to public school, you don’t stay with them all day.
2. The purpose of sending your child to school is to educate your children, not to reach other lost kids.  There are many other ways that your kids can reach their friends without them being immersed in a secular, humanist, ungodly indoctrination center for seven hours a day.   
3. When you send your kids to reach their school for Christ, remember that the purpose of the school is to reach your kids for the world.
4. When you look at the stats, it is clear that the public schools are much better at reaching our kids than our kids are at reaching their schools.
5. Before God sends us on a mission, He equips us.  It is very difficult to truly equip children for the daily deluge of ungodly influences, temptations, pressures, and ideas they will be exposed to in the public school system.  We’re lucky if we can prepare them to reach the world by the time they graduate high school, much less kindergarten.  
6. It is God’s job to send your kids into the world, not yours.  Your job is to disciple your kids for Christ.  
7. The command to reach the world must be balanced with the command to avoid conforming to the world (Rm 12:2).  It is hard enough for adults to strike this balance, and almost impossible for children.  That’s why God places them under the care and protection of parents.  
8. While it would be unwise to attempt to shelter your kids from all interaction with the world, it would be equally unwise to expose them to worldly environments that they are unable to handle.  The public school system is one of those environments.

This is not a condemnation of Christian parents who have their kids in public school.  It is an argument for taking your kids out of public school if possible.  It is also a corrective: Do not send your kids to public school for the purpose of reaching the world; it is more likely that the world will reach them.  This is also a warning to parents:  If your kids are in public school, the odds are against you for raising them to love the Lord.  Raising kids to follow Christ in this evil world is hard enough.  Public school makes it almost impossible.