TGC’s Jen Wilkin Twists Scripture To Argue Against Homeschooling Your Children
Jen Wilkin is the Executive Director of The Village Church’s Next Generation Ministries, as well as an author, blogger, and prolific conference speaker.
A frequent contributor to TGC, she outwardly claims to be a complementarian, though over the years has made many comments which suggest she’s squishier on the subject than she publicly professes. Preaching a message a few years back comparing a women’s period to blood of Christ certainly didn’t engender her to her critics.
During a recent ‘Good Faith Debate’ on whether or not Christian Parents should send their children to public schools, verses homeschooling, Wilkin took the affirmative position, at one point explaining:
I mean, so I think one of the things I would love to have entered into this conversation is, that while I cannot tell you to put your children in public school, and certainly never would because there are so many factors that are at play, that it is important for us to understand that our decision regarding this and even our demeanor toward this has an impact on our community.
It doesn’t just impact our family. The most common phrase I hear thrown out in these conversations is ‘well, I just need to do what’s best for my family’.
And I think that’s something that as Christians, we have to push back on. Philippians tells us each of you should look not just to your own interests, but to the interests of others. And there’s no such thing as a decision that’s made just for our families. In fact, even having the gift of the decision at all, means that you’re a person with more choices than some people. And those who don’t have a choice of where they will educate their children will be impacted by your presence, your adult parent presence not being in the public schools because you’ve chosen to go somewhere else.
We can look back in not too recent history on this and see the impact of when a large number of Christian parents decide to opt out of the system and how it impacts those who are left behind. And so I do think it’s very important for us to understand that while yes, we do what is best for our families, we don’t do so in a vacuum. We understand that what we do for our family always impacts the community around us and that we should look to the welfare of the city in which we live.
Writer Chris Hohholz summarizes her position and then offers this insightful critique, showing where the scripture twisting occurs.
Wilkin also argues that children and parental involvement in public school is directly related to “loving our neighbors.” Parents cannot simply make a choice that is “best for my family” because there is no such thing as “best for my family.” She states our decisions are not made in a vacuum and will always impact others. That, if parents opt-out of public school, it will negatively impact others who don’t have the same option. And that our having an option is something others don’t always have (echoes of “privilege” arguments here).
It is here that Wilkin points to Philippians 2:4 about looking not only to our own interests but the interests of others. What she does not say is that passage is about the Christian conforming himself to Christ who humbled Himself and took on humanity and was obedient to the Father even to the point of death. Christians are called to live likewise in humble obedience to God and doing the work He set before us to glorify His name (including putting the needs of others first). There is nothing in this passage that calls us to sacrifice our educational choices for a perceived benefit to the community.
Wilkin also argues that if we opt-out, we are to find ways to support the public school system, to “bring life into a system that does serve the last and the least.” She ties this to the biblical call to serve the widow and fatherless. Yet, in passages that address this (see James 1:27 and Matt. 25:31-40) this often refers to the immediate needs not holding up an educational system.
Wilkin’s monologue places an undue burden on families choosing to educate their kids. If you don’t public school, you are neglecting the needs of community and society. So, if you homeschool, you should put energy into maintaining the public school system for others. She ties this to biblical passages about caring for others. There is no warrant in doing so but this implies Christians have a biblical duty to do it. Wilkin is wrong in her presentation. She may not require you to public school but she expects you to find a way to maintain the system.
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Unfortunately, as a taxpayer I already support public education, while paying my homeschool expenses out of pocket.
Stop calling them “public” schools.
They aren’t open to the public.
They aren’t accountable to the public.
They are run by the government.
They are regulated by the government.
They are funded by the government.
They are compelled by the government.
They are government schools.
Furthermore, I consider women in any leadership role (such as Executive Director of Next Generation Ministries) to be a disgrace and signal that there is a bad combination of rebellious women and weak men in that situation.
Imagine forcing inmates to pay for their own brainwashing.
And even those that have no involvement in the education system at all being forced to pay for propaganda
What a great country
What hole in the ground do these people crawl out of? Oh yeah, the pit of Hell.
I don’t have kids of school age anymore but if I did, homeschool would be the only way. Putting your kids in the public school system, K-12 anywhere, is handing them over to the Devil.
Jen is too busy stealing away the hearts of other guys’ wives to educate and disciple her own kids.
Well, looking out for the spiritual (and emotional & physical) well-being of my children is as biblical as it gets there Jen. And watching over my children by making the many sacrifices necessary to homeschool (or to send to a Christian academy) most certainly IS putting the needs of others above my own. If we sent our children to public school, and became a typical 2 income home like the wordly, we would have tons of extra money to live high on the hog in the life of worldliness that Jen loves so much. By the way Rin-Tin-Jen, Christians do NOT have an obligation to make the world a better place for wordly God-haters to have a better life experience. Actually, NOT sending my children to the equivalent of a satanic temple in which they would receive a thorough education in moral bankruptcy is the only Biblical choice for those that actually care. Maybe Jen just doesn’t understand Scripture.