markmathis

Listen to this song: christian schoolsDespite a rigorous homeschool experience for most of my academic life, I did go to a christian school. Charlotte,NC is a veritable hotspot for christian education and hosts a myriad of sports  teams aptly named “knights”,”crusaders”,”eagles”, etc…  I attended Charlotte Christian School for my kindergarden and 1st-grade years as did my brother until the school tuition proved too expensive. A personal “favor” allowed my dad to fix the school’s heating and air conditioning in exchange for a reduction in our tuition. I still remember rolling up to the drop off point for elementary school in our blue chevy nova – i was too young to appreciate the incomprehensible majesty of this vehicle. Why couldn’t we just have a minivan? Point is that a christian/private education is too expensive for most people and especially the ones that need it. I had great parents who wanted to give their kids the best education possible, but they just didn’t have the cash. I don’t have a chip on my shoulder personally about this, but I have observed something unsettling over the past decade. Big christian schools keep getting bigger and adding more and more bells and whistles. Consequently they get more and more expensive. The question begs to be asked: “who are these people trying to help?”  Is it the bank executive’s son who doesn’t want to be his dad and smokes a little pot – or, is it the inner city kid who doesn’t have a dad and who’s mom smokes crack?Face it. If you are building million dollar educational facilities on your church property to cater to an upper-class strata instead of “doing unto the least of these” – you are the goats and not the sheep. This is a big deal. That’s why I wrote the song and put it up in an unfinished form. That’s why I walked by a church-school addition yesterday with my wife and started thinking about this.I live in a mix of lower/middle class families and see the need every day. We need integration instead of segregation along class lines – didn’t we take care of that in the 60’s? Historically, the catholic church would go into places that no one else wanted and educate the people – for free and at risk to their lives. Many school administrators will ask – how will they pay for the facility, teacher salaries, books, etc…   I can offer some suggestions, but remind you that this is not the point. stop building new buildingsuse church funds to pay for kid’s tuitionget volunteers Lots of missionaries are doing the same thing today in foreign countries. How can we put peoples pictures on our refrigerators and not support the people in our own communities? Do work.mark