Pastor Note #130: The Government of Oklahoma Attempts to Usurp the Church

Effective immediately, all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels, e.g., grades 5 through 12.  This directive is in alignment with the educational standards approved on or about May 2019, with which all districts must comply.[1]

The above is from a memorandum issued on June 27, 2024 by Ryan Walters, State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Oklahoma.  As someone who has pastored theologically evangelical congregation for nearly 40 years, I am horrified.  It is not that the idea of Christian instruction in public schools is new to me.  I’ve known many, some in my own congregations, who have spoken longingly of a “return” of Christian teaching to the public schools.  But none that I’ve known has thought carefully about how such a thing might actually be implemented.  Well, here we have it from Oklahoma.  And it should horrify all Christians.  Let’s think this through.

Mr. Walter’s memorandum orders that this project should commence immediately.  He says, “Immediate and strict compliance is expected.”  It’s convenient, maybe, that schools are not currently in session (though what summer school teachers are to do with this is hard to imagine), because while his memorandum requires that the project begin at once, it gives only general guidance as to the content of the teaching.  It promises that fuller details on content and process will follow.  But, of course, it’s in those details that the devil will make his appearance.  And have no doubt, the devil is certainly involved in all of this.

What will the content of this Christian Bible instruction look like?  Will it look like what is taught in liberal, mainline Sunday school classes or like what Southern Baptist churches teach in theirs?  Who will decide?  Well, Mr. Walters makes it quite clear who will decide.  The government of Oklahoma, of which he is a representative, will decide what the public schools will teach the children of Oklahoma about what the Bible says and means.  Are the pastors of Oklahoma comfortable with that?

As I’ve pointed out already, I pastored churches for nearly 40 years.  In order to serve as a pastor in my denomination, I have affirmed the following:

All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life.  The infallible Word of God, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God’s redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.[2]

Let it not be said that I undervalue the Bible.  And it is because I value the Bible and the importance of teaching it faithfully, that I cannot imagine a situation in which I would think it a good thing that a person appointed by the government should be teaching a version of the Bible defined by the government to the children of my congregation.  And yet that is exactly what Ryan Walters, superintendent of public education for the state of Oklahoma is proposing to do.

As a pastor, I would not want the government teaching my children what the Bible says.  I would not trust the government to do that.  And what about the public school teachers who will be required to teach this government-approved version of the Bible?  In order to teach math or history or French, they have to demonstrate in some way that they are competent in their subject in order to get a teaching certificate.  Will they now also have to demonstrate their competence to teach the government-approved version of the Bible?  Will they have to prove to the government’s satisfaction that they are Christians before they will be granted teaching certificates?  Or will the government allow non-believers to teach the Bible as long as they agree to teach that government-approved version of the Bible even though such teachers might not actually believe a word of what they are teaching about the Bible?

The mind boggles.  And let me be clear.  All of this appalls me precisely because I am a Bible-believing Christian.  I cannot understand how any Bible-believing Christian could possibly think that it is a good thing to grant the government the power to decide what the Bible says and how it ought to be taught to our children.  If this idea is put in place, it will be disastrous for the Church and its mission in America.  Wake up American Christians, we must not allow the government to meddle in our business.

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[1] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24780673-immediate-implementation-of-foundational-texts-in-curriculum , accessed 6/28/2024.

[2] https://epc.org/about/beliefs/, accessed 6/28/2024.

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