An Open Letter to Homeschool Families

Dear Homeschool Family,

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward" (Psalm 127:3). When children come into our homes by birth or adoption, they are never truly ours. Each child has a God-given soul which God desires to have return to Him. Most homeschool families are aware of the Old Testament injunction to teach them diligently (Deuteronomy 6:7), and the New Testament command to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). To put it simply, God is commanding parents to teach and train their children in such a manner that they may become God's sons and daughters.

Many parents are homeschooling their children because they believe these truths. But Satan steadfastly resists this work because he also wants your children. He has already been very successful though the state secular education system. God has graciously provided so that parents in many parts of the world now have the legal privilege to teach and train their own children in their own homes. This privilege was gained through suffering on the part of many early homeschool families. Local authorities and school superintendents tried to intimidate them. Every conceivable method was used to keep families from homeschooling, including truancy laws and in some cases threats and imprisonment. Finally the state relented—or did they?

When pressure from the top down did not work, the state very cleverly moved to Plan B. They began offering to the homeschool families "candy"—free computers, free books, free courses (such as music lessons and phys ed), and sometimes free funding were and are offered to homeschool families to get those families reattached to the secular anti-God state system. But there is nothing really "free" which is offered by the state system. What has been offered as "free" finally comes with state control.

This has been amply illustrated in the state of Alaska with the IDEA distance education program. In the beginning homeschool families were offered computers and money and the freedom to buy the curriculum of their choice—with apparently no strings attached. That lasted about two years; but then, after the homeschool families were suckered in, they were informed by the state education system that they could no longer have any curriculum that mentioned God or the Bible. Many of them loved the "candy" and were no longer willing to make the sacrifice to give their children a biblical Christian education.

That program was so successful that many states are following their example in one form or another. They use the "candy" approach to once again gain control of your children for Satan. We should never forget that state control always follow state money. If we choose to accept "free" stuff from the state, the homeschool movement will finally come under the control of the state. The freedoms won through suffering will be sold out for a "mess of pottage" (Hebrews 12:16).

What can we do to maintain the freedom to train our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? If each homeschool family steadfastly resists the temptation to accept the encroachments of the state system through their freebies, homeschool freedoms can be maintained. If you are already enrolled in a government program, please withdraw as soon as possible. Freedoms are always won through the willingness of someone to suffer. Our freedom in Christ was won by His willingness to suffer at the hands of sinful men. The freedoms of our children will by won by our willingness to take up our cross and follow His example. Don't sell out!

—Silas Martin