by Rebecca Kocsis
I don’t consider homeschooling to be a calling.
You are probably shocked to hear me say that. Saying it’s a calling makes it sound like it’s only for a select few: like a calling into the ministry or the mission field. We may even think it’s only for the super spiritual or superstar parents. I disagree.
Every Christian has been created to do good works and has been given gifts and abilities in order to carry out those good works. Every Christian has been charged with the Great Commission. So looking at it from this perspective, every Christian has a calling of one kind or another.
Consider this. Every God-fearing parent is definitely called to disciple their children.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut. 6:4-8
Homeschooling, it just so happens, provides the perfect environment to do that. Why? It’s easier to execute this command when your children are with you, rather than at school. You have ample hours to talk about the Lord and His commands as you come and go about your day. So, in some respects you could consider home education an extension of the calling to disciple your children.
Why is the call to disciple our children so important?
We live in a noisy world, and what is the world saying? Conform to popular culture. However, we are not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:12). We are to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We are also told not to be friends with the world; that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). When we disciple our children through homeschooling, the noise of the world can be minimized. Your voice can be the prominent voice.
When you use homeschooling as a means of discipleship, the worldview of the secular school system is replaced by a biblical worldview. The public schools are not neutral to religion. They have done a good job of getting Christianity tossed out, but they still teach the religion of secular humanism. If you are homeschooling, you don’t have to unteach secular humanism and re-teach from a biblical worldview.
Don’t mistake me. I am not saying that homeschooling will ensure your kids are saved. There will always be a battle with the flesh. Your kiddos have a sin nature just like you do. Still, you can minimize the voices calling your kids into conformity with the world. This is most important when they are very young and moldable.
What’s at stake?
It’s agreed that a child’s worldview is largely formed by the age of 13. You have a very brief window of time to be the major influence in your child’s life. Who is shaping your kids’ worldview? Are you capitalizing on the brief window of opportunity that you have?
Considering the brief window you have, how important are out-of-home classes for the very young child? Are they serving to mold your child’s character? Or are they a part of a managed education? Are they in line with your family’s worldview? Could it be that these activities would be better suited when they are in high school?
We’ve heard Dr. Voddie Baucham’s statement from Family Driven Faith, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” Where are you sending your kids? Homeschooling can very easily be seen as an investment in your child’s character that will pay off in a solid Christian worldview as an adult.
Obey in Faith
If homeschooling were a calling, I would have been disqualified from the very beginning. I wasn’t super spiritual. Far from that, I was a new believer just learning what the Bible had to say about marriage and raising a family. No way was I a superstar parent. I was more like a “SHE,” a Sidetracked Home Executive with un-vacuumed floors and a closet full of unfinished projects. If I were to be brutally honest, I was kind of lazy. My flesh was like water, always looking for the path of least resistance. I didn’t do hard things. The only really hard thing I had accomplished in my life was childbirth. In that, I had no choice!
Still, I knew the Lord wanted me to bring my kids home from public school and teach them myself. He made it clear that we were to disciple them through homeschooling. How was a relatively new believer with lazy tendencies and a messy house supposed to do that?
I thought if God wanted me to do this, then He was going to have to enable me. Actually, He more than enabled me. Looking back at our 22 years of homeschooling, I know how faulty my efforts were. It was all Him! He promised me, “All your sons shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 55:13). He carried us through and kept His promise. All of our children came to faith in our homeschool. All of our children have a real relationship with Him.
No, I don’t believe that homeschooling is a calling as if it’s for a select few. I do believe it’s a call to obedience, though, and requires a step of faith.
So take heart, friends. If you are a self-professed “side-tracked home executive” with a closet full of unfinished projects, you can do this! If the Lord wants you to, then obey. It won’t be by your efforts alone. It need not be another unfinished project. God is faithful. He keeps His promises. You won’t be sorry for stepping out in faith. The one who trusts in Him will never be ashamed.