Tennessee Baptists Enter Debate on Secular vs. Christian Education
by Jim Brown
November 18, 2004
(AgapePress) - Southern Baptists in Tennessee remain divided over the issue of "Kingdom education" versus public education.At its recent annual meeting, the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC) dumped a resolution promoting Christian schools and home schooling. Despite that setback, Brownsville pastor Larry Reagan -- who authored the "Kingdom Education" measure -- says he will continue promoting the denomination's LifeWay curriculum in those educational settings. He maintains the Kingdom education movement will continue to grow.
"The main question that each parent needs to be asking really isn't where they educate their children -- but they do need to take a good, hard look at why and how they're educating their children and what their children are being taught," Reagan suggests. "If they examine what their children are being taught -- and if they find that it's destructive information -- then they should make a change to that. And in many places in America, I know that is happening."
In most cases, the pastor says, it is wise for parents to put their children in a quality Christian school.
"I think there's a lot of pressure that comes when a pastor or a Christian leader decides to take a stand on this issue," he offers. "The truth is today, when you take a stand on this issue, you're probably going to be ostracized. You're going to be labeled as somebody who's anti-public education [or] somebody who doesn't go along with the system."
Outgoing TBC president Mike Boyd says he too supports Kingdom education -- but acknowledges it is not always the best choice.
"I believe that one of the things that we need to think about is that Christ has called us to be 'salt' and 'light' in the world," the Knoxville pastor says, "and if we remove Christianity from the public sector, then we're going to find ourselves not able to make an impact."
Boyd argues that Baptists must be careful not to remove their Christian influence from the culture.
