Raising children is hard. Parenting might be the most consequential thing we ever do in life because the direct result of it is the formation and transformation of a human heart, soul, and mind that will have effects for 80 years. As someone who has raised six children, I speak from experience, but limited authority, because after all, for Gayle and I to be successful in our parenting, it required a total surrender more than careful planning. Just like all of you, we had our own personal hopes and dreams for our kids. We had preferences for their friend groups, the movies and music they were exposed to, the indoctrination of their minds from the outside world, their athletic teams, their college choices and even their hobbies and how they would spend down time.
But, as we, and our children, got older, we began to realize
that all the efforts we were making were inconsequential without the presence
of God in our home and in the lives of our kids. We could go through the motions of attending church
every Sunday, having them memorize scripture, being involved in youth group, and
even sending them to Christian school, only to see them struggle and fall prey
to sin in their lives. In reality, this should
be no big surprise. They have a sin
nature…and guess who they inherited that from.
If we believe the scriptures to be true (I do), we quickly understand
that all of humanity is desperately lost and wicked in the eyes of a holy
God. So, I shouldn’t ever be shocked if
my children, my wife, or I act on that sin nature. It is what is naturally inside me.
When Jesus came to the world in the form of a man, He experienced
all the same temptations and worldly influences that you and I face each day,
but without sin. Therefore, when He died
on the cross, his sinless sacrifice was the only solution to the daily struggle
my family faced on earth. I can’t stop
sinning. My kids can’t stop
sinning. But, Jesus did become the solution
to that endless problem, and in Him alone my children have hope. But if they ever get to a point where they
feel they can forge their own path and fix their own problems apart from
Christ, they are doomed to live in darkness.
Hickory Christian Academy is far from perfect because it is
filled with imperfect people. The guy
writing this is the best example of this point.
I would be foolish to believe that my children would be rescued from
their sin nature simply by attending this school, or any school. The presence of Christ must be the
difference. Therefore, HCA has been
formed not to be the stand-alone magic formula to overcome a secular life, but
a partnership between parents who invite the Holy Spirit into their homes and a
school who does the same.
Likewise, the partnership between like-minded families has
been priceless. Our kids spent many hours with their school friends in the
classrooms, lunch tables, athletic events, field trips, and even at the homes
of other HCA families. The consistency
of spiritual values in each of those homes was refreshing and encouraging to us. Of course, there were conflicts with others
from time to time, but when a biblical worldview is central to both homes,
there is always an avenue for peace, joy, and trust, and a chance to learn to
handle life situations the right way.
Even as the Head of School, my dad side would never send my
kids here if it didn’t have eternal value for them. For 25 years, we watched our kids struggle with
friendships, get frustrated with homework, win and lose sporting events, and
have bad attitudes about Monday mornings.
Similar things they could get at any school, and honestly things that
garnered a lot of attention at the time.
But, what locked us in was the knowledge that a dedicated pursuit of God’s
Word would be a daily part of their routine, and as a result, the presence of
Christ would permeate their lives far beyond Sunday mornings.
Our kids were raised well and given clear boundaries. Our
priority in placing them in a Christian school was not because we were worried
about them drinking or doing drugs. We
didn’t worry about them using vulgar language or listening to music that
contained it. We didn’t worry about them
questioning their gender or embracing godless ideals. We had some control over those things. What we did worry about was our kids growing
up believing they were self-sufficient apart from a relationship with
Christ. We worried that they would just
become comfortable in a sinful world and not separate themselves from its
subtle draw. We worried they might one
day get married and have children, and not choose to point our grandkids to a
Savior, but to be accepting of other religions, ideals and false
teachings. These are things that, apart
from the daily presence of God are prevalent and powerful, and any young person
will fall prey to them in the wrong environment.
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| Christmas at the Robinson house with six HCA alums and a classically trained son-in-law! |
Again, this school is far from perfect, but the imperfect
teachers and administrators at HCA partnered well with the imperfect parents of
my kids to point them to a perfect Savior, Who is their only hope. That partnership has produced fruit in our
family, but Jesus gets all the credit.
We must point our kids to Christ 24/7 in today’s world or they will bite
the first forbidden fruit offered them, and regardless of how good it tastes in
the moment, the lasting effects will never be worth it. That is why my kids attended HCA, and as I
watch my young adults navigate this crazy world, it was all worthwhile.
