NANANGO CHRISTIAN FAITH CENTRE INC.
(An Independent, Reformed, and Baptistic Church)
Echoing the faith of the Reformers:-
"Salvation by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, in Christ Alone, for the glory of God Alone,
according to Scripture Alone!"
P.O. Box 297, NANANGO. 4615, Qld., Australia.
Minister:- Trevor Sullivan - Phone. 0741 637161
8 March 2005
Comment on:
“Education Laws for the Future – Consultation paper October 2004”
I believe there are fundamental principles at stake, which are more important than the “nuts and bolts” issues, and these are the things with which I am most concerned.
I speak therefore as a Minister of a local Christian Church, representing the people of the congregation, also as a spiritual leader in the wider community, and perhaps even more importantly, as an advocate of the Word of God, which is binding on all creation and to which we all, including government, must give account at the “last day”.
The Introduction mentions “the compulsory obligation of parents to ensure their child enrols and attends school.” While it may be the government has good intentions in making the education of all children compulsory, it needs to be remembered that the role of the education of children has, from the beginning, been given to parents, not to civil authorities, and obedience to this rule has the potential to make nations great: –
“Behold I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons and thy sons’ sons.” (Deuteronomy 4:5-9)
One of the great concerns of Bible believing people is that civil government continually usurps the role of parents. There are many disastrous examples of the proof of this particular pudding in the actions of “Family Services” over the years, and I might add, that the equally disastrous examples of the abuse of children by “Church” institutions which, similarly, alter the God-given order that can only be found in God-fearing families. When good things are institutionalized in a humanistic way they bring a curse rather than a blessing. We know the State often tries to help but giving the wrong sort of “help” only multiplies the grief and stands squarely in the way of genuine attempts to help in a godly way. Education is one of the areas in which much grief has be experienced, such as families (the lawful, God-appointed guardians of children) being treated as criminals if they don’t comply with some of the petty particulars of government regulations.
As I stated at the beginning, my role is to point out the underlying principles and foundation stones of society, not so much to deal with the finer details of education. But my great concern is that it is these very fundamental principles which are at stake and which are under attack from the governing authorities. If we just get the foundational rules right, the details should be easy, but the question is, Are our governing authorities willing to do so, or do they have such a high opinion of themselves and such a low opinion of ordinary God-fearing parents (albeit unintentionally) that they simply cannot take the “risk” of doing it the right way? - or, to put it another way, the “risk” of allowing the people to have their God-given liberties? When God-given liberties are seen as a risk by the government, then it is clear that something is awfully wrong with the mindset of that government.
I will give one example to show just what I mean by these principles. Over the years I have seen children that would have been far better off to be channelled into an apprenticeship at the age of 14, when they are no longer babies and quite capable of beginning to learn a trade in the practical school of experience, lose some of their best years finding their way in life because the system required them to stay in school for another three years. This they did under sufferance and became a hindrance to the education of others and to the teachers’ trying to do a job. Some such, I have seen destroyed completely by drugs and suicide.
It is a sad fact that needs to be faced by government that it is utterly futile to expect to administer a good education system for children while at the same time legalizing sodomy, prostitution, witchcraft and various other destructive and evil forces in society.
Our society and government (the Westminster System) has traditionally been governed indirectly by the wisdom of the Christian Church. Sadly in recent times the Church has failed also, and now we have a great degree of confusion prevailing. The answer is not to abandon a system that has worked so well, not to cut off the roots of the tree in an effort to cure its disease, but to return to the underlying principles which did, in times past, make British society lead the world, just as the scripture above promises to any nation which will honour the Lord. In practical terms this means that the government must be ready to hear the Word of God and acknowledge its wisdom at least, even if in its unbelief it can’t acknowledge its authority.
My plea is therefore that, for the sake of all Australians (especially for the children we are raising), this wisdom be seriously considered, not classified as a certain viewpoint only. To put this plea in more graphic terms, let me say that a nation which ignores the people of God within it, turning them into slaves by its totalitarian systems and criminalizing good people by the multiplication of its man-made laws, will find that in the end, the Lord will come to the rescue of His people as He did in ancient Egypt, when He not only delivered them from the cruel bondage of Pharoah but also destroyed Pharoah and his armies in the process. May the Lord deliver our people of Australia from such distastrous consequences, but by God’s grace let the Exodus come, whatever form it must take!
Trevor W Sullivan
Minister, Nanango Christian Faith Centre Inc.