The Big Question for Homeschoolers:
What About Christianization?

We've all heard it. We tell someone that we're homeschooling our children and that person says, "But what about socialization? Don't you think it's important for kids to be with other kids their own age?" Public school educators often pick up the tune. Faced with irrefutable evidence that homeschoolers do better academically, the educators will say, "But school is not just about academics. Children learn socialization--how to get along with others."

Concerning this matter, a few thoughts:

1. It's important for children to learn how to get along well with others. Jesus called us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16), and we have to be able to connect with others to have this kind of influence. The message of the New Testament is not that Christians are supposed to avoid relationships in the world but that we are to engage people in the world to advance the gospel (see, for example, Colossians 4:5-6). The problem is that children are probably not going to learn how to get along well with others by being in a public school setting that is dominated by their age peers. There they will probably learn jealousy, unkindness, emotional impurity, and other habits that make interpersonal relationships harder, not better. Children learn to get along well in society by having strong, loving parental examples and by relating to people of all ages--in other words, by being in society, not an artificial environment of only peers. These realistic relationships are the very things that homeschooling encourages and enables.

2. Since when did getting along in society become something that Christians should pursue? Paul warned against being conformed to the world, and he urged Christians to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). My highest goal for my children is not that they be socialized. I want them to be able to get along with others; but I want them to transform society, to make the world a better place, and to stand apart from the world when faithfulness to Christ demands it. The people who have had the greatest impact in the world have not been people who were meekly "socialized." Instead, the movers and shakers in the world are people who are willing to be different for a good purpose.

3. People are asking the wrong question. The question to ask about our children is not "What about socialization?" The question to ask is "What about Christianization?" What can I do--what must I do--to make sure that my child knows Jesus, has a strong relationship with Him, becomes like Him, and is His servant in a lost and dying world? This is the question you must address in order for your child to become all that he or she can be in this life and in the world to come. When your goal for your child is Christianization--becoming like Christ--your child will have the greatest impact for good on society: blessing other people, not giving in to what is wrong, and being part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.

This is not to say that only homeschoolers are standing for Jesus and living as they should. But surely no one can fault parents for doing all they can to help their children be more like Jesus. So the next time someone asks you, "But what about socialization?" you might answer (with a big smile), "Oh, we're handling that one just fine. But let me ask you a question: What about Christianization?"