5 Lessons I Learned From Christian Schools That Prepared Me for Life Today

I attended Christian schools until I was basically a teenager.

My family moved a lot when I was younger, so I went to three Christian schools in three American states.

I didn’t leave for public school until junior high. And to be honest, I was more than ready to go by then.

That’s not to say my experience was a bad one though. It was a good time in my life that still benefits me today—which is why I wrote this post.

I’ve also seen a lot of misinformation about Christian schools lately, and I thought it would be a good idea to share some firsthand details instead.

So without further ado, let’s get to it.

Here are five lessons I learned from Christian schools that prepared me for life today.

#1 Sunday Sermons Aren’t Enough

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

Most people are biblically illiterate.

No, that doesn’t mean they can’t recite popular verses. What it means is that they can’t “rightly handle the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15 ESV).

They stockpile tweetable verses that encourage them, but they don’t understand how the verses fit in their context, how the original audience would have responded, or how the passage relates to the Bible’s larger message.

It takes time to learn all that—much more than what’s available on Sundays.

Even if you attend a church with sound teaching—which isn’t a given these days—there’s more to learn than what can fit in your pastor’s sermon.

This is why I’m so grateful for my time at Christian schools. I wasn’t old enough back then to understand the harder doctrines and mature lessons, but even so, I kept “growing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10 NIV).

I had to memorize and recite verses, I read about everything Jesus did in the Gospels, and I saw how God used even the lowest of people to accomplish His purposes.

One school also taught me how to memorize the books of the Bible in order. And that trick still comes in handy today.

But the best part about all this was that I built an amazing foundation. I knew the basics of the faith as a child, and this allowed me to separate truth from error later on.

My experience was so helpful that I’d say attending Christian schools when you’re young is better than attending Bible college when you’re older (if you had to choose between the two). You can always read books and search the web for stuff taught at a Bible college, but you only get one shot at a good foundation.

It’s like the difference between a native Spanish speaker and a person who learned it as a second language. Yes, both speakers have the knowledge, but the former has a natural feel the other can’t reproduce.

This advantage isn’t reason for pride though. It’s a tool that should be used for God’s glory in the service of others.

God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4). So those of us with an advantage have to help others come to that saving knowledge.

Ninety percent of Christianity is education—that’s why God gave us such a huge Book (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Feelings and experience have their place in the faith, but that place is always behind knowledge.

Biblical signs and miracles were meant to confirm the truth of messages anyway (see John 20:30-31, Acts 14:3 NIV). They weren’t meant to be a daily occurrence or proof that someone’s a Christian (1 Cor. 12:29 NASB).

Jesus Himself chastised those who sought signs for their own sake (Matt. 16:4). He also encouraged belief based on knowledge alone (John 4:48, John 20:29).

The Bible clearly says that the only way to gain spiritual life is to believe a specific and intelligible message. That’s why Paul wrote that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17 NASB, emphasis added).

The Bible stresses truth and doctrine more than anything else. So we should value biblical education much more.

#2 Respect Is a Shield

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8 ESV)

Show respect and be respectable.

That was my last school’s unspoken motto.

You had to stand when visitors entered the room, address adults with “yes sir” or “yes ma’am”, and your clothes had to be tidy, modest, and free of holes.

There was a huge emphasis on respecting yourself and others—no matter who they were. And that emphasis stuck with me long after I left.

My public school teachers marveled at the way I carried myself later, but to me, that was just normal.

What I didn’t understand as a kid though, was that this emphasis had a strong biblical basis. 

As believers, we’re told to “honor all people” (1 Pet. 2:17) and “value others above [ourselves]” (Phil. 2:3 NIV). Not because we fear them, but because we love them and want to bear witness to our message.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:14-15).

Respect is a great defense. When you show regard for others, they’re more willing to accept your words. And when you act with dignity, it makes “haters” look bad by comparison (1 Pet. 3:16).

This is why the Bible is so serious about setting an example and being “above reproach”—especially among unbelievers (see 1 Tim. 3:2 ESV, Titus 1:7 ESV).

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1:19-20 NIV)

That’s why grace, discipline, and restraint are so important.

#3 Christian Isn’t Always Christian

My dad used to say it all the time:

“Everyone at a Christian school isn’t a Christian.” 

And he couldn’t have been more right.

If you think kids go wild once they leave for college, wait till you see them leave a Christian school.

There were plenty of kids at my schools who completely changed later on. Yes, we were young back then and no one stays the same from grade school to adulthood, but some of those kids went full on degenerate—despite having a loving family and a good home.

I remember one girl in particular—I’ll call her Jamie—who was one of the nicest people I met. She was a blonde with long hair and pale skin, and I’ll admit I had a bit of a crush on her. But anyway, we became pretty good friends before we both left the school.

I thought of her out of the blue one day years later. So I did some stalking to see what she was up to, and I was shocked by what I saw.

She proudly shot birds in her pictures, she showed a lot more skin than I cared to see, and she even had a mugshot to her name.

It was all so…weird. Jamie was the last person I thought would turn out like that. Heck, I even double-checked the search field to see if typed the right name.

I’m sure she didn’t know or care about my thoughts though. And as I’ve grown, I’ve learned that changes like these aren’t uncommon—even among “Christians”.

Truth is, there’s a difference between professing Christ and knowing Him (Titus 1:16). 

Professors like good appearances, they crave fellowship, and they embrace the faith as a cultural norm. They claim Christianity because it’s what their parents or even their nation claimed, but they don’t believe the message themselves, so they have no fruit or perseverance (see Matt. 7:17).

People like this “turn away” because they were never saved to begin with (1 John 2:19, 1 John 3:9 ESV).

Maybe they asked Jesus into their heart without understanding the gospel. Maybe they thought He was just a teacher or that He came to give them prosperity. But either way, there was no real change. And the fact that they turned just proves who they were all along.

#4 Legalism Doesn’t Work

“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. (Col. 2:21-23 NLT)

The reason I was so happy to leave for public school was legalism.

My last Christian school cared way too much about trivial matters. And it drove both me and my parents mad.

The dress code didn’t allow for creativity or expression, kids had to stay quiet while eating lunch with their friends, and God-forbid you read a Bible translation besides the KJV.

Sure, I get where these rules were coming from: Believers should dress modestly (1 Tim. 2:9-10), we should live life with order (1 Cor. 14:40), and all Bible translations aren’t accurate (Prov. 30: 5-6). But when you enforce rules that are too strict, you distract from Christianity’s defining message of grace (Eph. 2:8-9).

Every other religion is about working your way to god(s) or achieving some god-like status yourself. So if people—especially children—only know rules and commands, they won’t see the difference between “religion” and Christianity (see Gal. 2:21 NLT).

The Bible’s message is about transformation, not rule-following (Titus 3:5). We can’t work our way to God; that’s why He came down to us.

All we have to do is believe (Gal. 2:16). Then we’ll become like Him (2 Cor. 3:18).

When we forget about grace, we lose one of the best features of following Christ: Christian freedom. 

We don’t strive to follow laws anymore. God put His laws in our hearts instead (Heb. 10:15-16).

Now it doesn’t matter what we eat, how we dress, or if we fast. As long as our actions don’t involve sin (Rom. 14:23), hinder our walk with God (1 Cor. 6:12), or cause others to stumble (1 Cor. 8:9), they‘re fine.

Like I said earlier, true faith always leads to good works. But imposing man-made rules to achieve good appearances only adds to religious frustration (see 2 Tim. 3:5 ESV).

#5 Influence Has Real Power

“If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” 

Everyone’s parents asked them that at some point. And if you were honest, you said yes.

We all love to follow the crowd—so much so that we’ll compromise core beliefs if it keeps us from being alone.

Other people can have a profound effect on us. And if we’re not careful about who gets close, our lives will suffer for it.

The good news, however, is that influence works both ways (Prov. 13:20). Yes, “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33 NIV), but “iron sharpens iron” too (Prov. 27:17 ESV).

The Christian schools I attended were full of people who loved God, and their passion for Him rubbed off on me. 

No, everyone around wasn’t sincere, but fakes were the exception, not the norm.

Unlike their public school counterparts, my teachers loved explaining the Bible and telling it’s stories to eager children. They found joy in helping us remember verses and showing us how to pray.

To this day, I still regard my third grade teacher as the best I ever had. She was the epitome of a believer who’s “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

She didn’t have a huge public ministry or some crazy theological background (she taught nine-year-olds, remember?). But what she did have was a heart with undeniable care for her students.

She was one of the most gentle and patient people I’ve ever met. And it drove me to tears when she was forced to scold me the one time I acted out that year.

She was great, and she’s one of the reasons I do what I do today.

Look, I’m fully aware that everyone didn’t grow up like me, but if I act the way God wants me to, others will benefit from me like I did from her (Matt. 5:16).

I know words are powerful and that people like me will be judged more strictly (James 3:1), so I do everything I can to use my small influence for good.

Trained For a Purpose

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22:6)

So those are five lessons I learned from my time at Christian schools.

Now that I’m older, I understand that no school is perfect—whether Christian or public—but overall, I’d say my experience was worthwhile.

All of these lessons still affect me today and you can see their influence all over this site. So if you’re a parent wondering if you should send your child to a Christian school, I recommend that you do it—at least while they’re young.

Like I said before, you only get one shot at a good foundation. So why not give an experience that’ll stick with them forever?

Review the financials, check for sound doctrine, and research other practical stuff too. Then once you find a good match, make a decision that’s best for them.

Remember, you can’t force children to make good choices down the road, but if you set them on the right path early, there’s a very good chance they will.

-Drew