my experience

I attended public school from kindergarten through eighth grade. A lot of my classmates went to church, but we never talked about God or Jesus, because it didn’t seem to be the place for such discussions. The teachers didn’t talk about God, so we didn’t either. The only time I remember hearing about God (besides in the pledge) was in history class. It was as if God and the church were merely part of history.      I would like to say that I tried to be a good witness, but I generally behaved according to the same standards as my unbelieving friends. I cannot remember telling them about Jesus, and I didn’t really know how. I’m not sure that any of them even knew that I was a Christian.      I didn’t notice a clear problem until sixth grade when one of my classmates laughed that some people believe that we evolved from animals. At that moment, the teacher said emphatically, “Yes, that’s true.” Most of the class came from Christian backgrounds, and we didn’t believe in evolution, but the authority in the room put an end to any possible discussion. We were to accept it as a fact.      Over the next couple of years, we faced other issues of faith and morality through a secular viewpoint. I found myself trying to figure out answers to questions that I was not equipped to deal with.      In ninth grade, my parents decided to send me to a Christian school. I was surprised by the answers the teachers had for questions I had struggled with. A new world of ideas opened up to me along with the freedom to talk about creation and evolution. My classmates and I felt comfortable talking about God and spiritual things. In science class, the teacher said that the public schools “used to” teach horse evolution, but he didn’t think they still taught it. I had been taught it as fact just the year before; the eohippus evolved into the mesohippus, which evolved into the modern horse. I realized that there was no real scientific basis for it. It was conjecture taught as fact.      Secular education affected me in ways I didn’t realize. It created a sense in me that I was living in a primarily secular world, and it made me hesitant to talk about God. It taught me that many places are exempt from God’s reign.      I’m grateful to my parents for making sacrifices to send me and my brothers to Christian schools. Christian education made me aware that Jesus gives us a faith for all of life, not to be confined to private places. It made me aware of how the Christian worldview applies to every issue, and it gave me discernment. It prepared me to take on the teachings of the World.