Part of the series Root of The Problem
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2016-01-11.
We often mistakenly judge and condemn people when missing the point that our enemy is not made of flesh and blood.
We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. Please understand that while it is our responsibility to tell the truth, we must never lose sight of the fact that our enemy is not made of flesh and blood and that we ultimately have the choice to conform and compromise or to stand on principle. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)
Bible Reference: Eph. 6:12
There is a reason for what has been presented thus far in this year’s blog series. All of it has been to prepare my audience for what is coming, not only for where the blog is going but just as much for where home education is headed if current trends continue. We are all aware of the fact that things don’t seem to stay the same. We are pretty well all convinced that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but most everything else is dynamic rather than static. It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes but even here, death is unpredictable and taxes are always … increasing! There is perhaps one other place where things don’t seem to change. It seems there is always something going on that defies the goodness of God and that should goodness be applied, the reward is usually persecution!
If God does not change and we know Him to be the author of all good things, then it should make sense that the one responsible for evil and the persecution of good works would not be God, but the devil. However simple this sounds, the age old battle between good and evil would not exist if it were not for us and free will, meaning that the flesh can be tempted to sin, which is to choose evil over good.
Even though the apostle Paul tells us, in his letter to the Ephesians, that our struggles are not ultimately with flesh and blood, all of us are tempted by evil all the time. Given free will, one would expect everyone to follow God, but the devil is sly and makes the alternative to good works seem very attractive. Without a solid understanding of biblical directives and a principled life of obedience to God, sin takes over.
This means one thing. When we see sin, error, failures or we observe Christians behaving in ways that contradict scripture and sound reason, we need not condemn, but understand that the author of everything leading us away from the truth and God is none other than the devil himself. This is not to excuse bad behaviour, for ultimately we do have a choice of whom we will follow and obey. Jesus clearly stated that the choice we had was either to be for Him or against Him. This is not a part time, ever changing or relative choice. It is right or wrong, good or bad, serving God or… serving ourselves, which is really to be serving satan. This simple for-or-against becomes the test of our motivation or ultimate reason for doing things. Does it carry eternal goals or temporal ones? Is it helping those in need or using them to advance our own purpose? Are we giving or taking? Serving God or man? Free choice gives us the option of focussing on Him or on ourselves.
The next few weeks will see some rather strong statements and may appear to be judgemental or negative. However, the best way to suffocate is to have our heads stuck in the sand. With the new ideological approach to problem solving often being to ignore it, and the new Christian virtue seemingly being to elevate tolerance over judgement of sin and error, things that should not be named among us have crept in largely unnoticed. If reaping what we sow has any merit, home (Christian) education in Alberta is definitely in big trouble.
I have spent my entire life in education. In fact this is my fortieth year of experience as a professional educator. That makes me both old enough to quit and concerned enough to continue. I cannot help but do everything I can to help in the training and teaching of children, no matter where I am. You may call me committed or focussed or even driven but you cannot accuse me of being uncaring. I am passionate about educational freedom and willing to take risks to advance and defend it. That is why I am doing what I am doing. It has been stated that “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:5-6). I believe it far easier to defend what we have than to reclaim what we have lost. My intention in discussing what I see as taking place in this province is not meant to claim perfection on my part, but to expose what may ultimately lead to the loss of the right to freely home educate within a Christian context in the Province of Alberta.