Using Resources That Conflict With Your Worldview

As Christians living in a world that is becoming more and more anti-God and hostile to a Christian worldview, it’s important to know how to handle situations that teach an opposition to a biblical way of thinking.

Guarding our children’s hearts when they are young and impressionable is important, but it’s equally important for them to understand what the world believes to be true so they can learn how to defend their faith.

In my fourteen years of homeschooling I have used many curricula, some of which scheduled in living books and encyclopedias for additional reading or as a spine. Often times I have stumbled upon statements or sections that teach evolution as fact, when it is actually a theory. Some books may mention that the earth is billions of years old, when in fact we are young-earth Creationists and do not believe that.

Do I toss the book aside as if it was on fire, or do I use this as an opportunity to teach my child what the Word of God has to say about it instead?

I do the latter. Although, I would not use a science book that wove the theory of evolution throughout it, I am not opposed to using a resource that mentions it – and here’s the reason. 

I have taught my children about the Creation of the world since they were babies. We have read the Creation story, our Bible, completed “Seven Days of Creation” activities, and studied about what the Lord made on each day. 

They believe this to be absolute truth. They think the idea that we came from goo is just down right silly. They know what the world believes about evolution, but quite frankly they just roll their eyes and move on. 

If my children were not solid in what they believed regarding the Creation of the world, then I might be a little more hesitant to allow them to freely use materials that mention the fact we evolved from nothing or that our ancestors were monkeys. 

Children will hear theories taught as truths at some point, it’s better for them to be aware of what the world teaches and for you to have discussions about it so they are equipped to defend their beliefs.

Here’s another example of two worlds colliding:

When Common Core was first introduced, some homeschoolers went berserk and became completely opposed to using anything Common Core related. Now Common Core math, I totally get it.

I don’t agree with the Common Core State Standards, but if there is something that I want to use in my homeschool that happens to be aligned to the CC, I am not going to avoid it just because of the label. I really couldn’t care less if it is aligned or not if it’s useful for me in our homeschool (and is not that ridiculous Common Core math!).

Some curriculum was not changed to comply with these new standards, yet it was deemed to be aligned and suddenly it became completely unacceptable to use it. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

You take what you want to use, and just simply don’t use what you don’t want to teach. 

God gave you discernment for a reason. This world is pretty crazy and becoming more and more depraved every day. We need to teach our children to think critically and train them to know the truth from fantasy, fact from fiction, and right from wrong. 

Do you avoid places that clash with your beliefs?

The public library is another source of disdain for some. Libraries are very pro-everything and promote standards and ideas that go against our Christian faith. Would I take my child to a story-time led by a transgender? Absolutely not. Do I think it’s okay to still check out books – yes!

I have my own library issues, but I am not opposed to using the public library. 

If you were to boycott every place of business that didn’t agree with a Christian worldview you would be left with what? Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby??

I am not saying that having discernment when using materials that include teachings in conflict with your worldview is wrong. You absolutely should have discernment and I encourage you to make educated decisions that work for YOUR family. That’s the beauty of homeschooling, we have the freedom to choose what we use based on what we believe and want our children to learn. 

When you are rooted and grounded in the Word of God the world is not such a scary place. You know what you believe and what you don’t believe and you just press on.