Riding the fence!

What do you call someone who does one thing privately and yet says something totally different in public? I can think of a several different terms, one in particular is politician! But that’s not really what I was looking for. Some other words that came to my mind were: hypocrite, charlatan, impostor, fake, fraud, swindler… anyway, you get the picture!

What caused me to think in this direction was a recent article on Christian education posted by Robert Parham. Mr Parham is the executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics. Now I am not necessarily a fan of the Baptist Center for Ethics because I think they are a very liberal organization. But Mr. Parham does seem to give fair coverage to both sides of the Christian/Public education debate issue, so I do occasionally read his articles.

Anyway, in his most recent posting, entitled “Where Do Southern Baptist Leaders Go to School?”, Mr. Parham listed several prominent SBC leaders and their private educational choices. He listed pastors, missionaries, seminary professors, and denominational leaders who either homeschool their children or send them to a private Christian school. And many of these Christian schools are even directly supported as an extension of the ministry of the church where they serve.

Now this article could be taken in a couple of different ways, and I’m not trying to judge Mr. Parham, or his reasoning behind posting this article. But on the surface like anything else, what you take away from this article would depend highly on where you stand on Christian education.

For me as an example, I am a homeschool parent. I am one by conviction. I homeschool because I think this is what God intended, and as I study scripture, I can not justify sending my children to a “Pagan Seminary” as Mr. Bruce Shortt calls it in his book “The Harsh Truth about Public Schools.” So as I read the article, and in light of the controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention regarding the public school systems, I couldn’t help but think how hypocritical these men were for homeschooling their children or for sending their children to a Christian school, yet not having the backbone, as a SBC leader, to take a stand and say “Now is the time to get your children out of public schools!”

However, if I were a supporter of the public education system, and I were to read this article, I might have a different prospective. I might think, “Look at these hypocrites!” They seem to support public education because they do not take a stand against it, but privately they have removed their children from it. What kind of leadership is this?

So either way you look at it you still see: hypocrite, charlatan, impostor, fake, fraud, swindler… anyway, you get the picture! SBC Leaders, It’s time to get off the fence! Pick a side and get on it, publicly and privately! At least then, we’ll know what you stand for.

Here is a link to Mr. Parham’s article on Ethics Daily.com: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=7406


Soli Deo Gloria!
Dave Scarbrough