sotzo
Puritan Board Sophomore
After hearing the recent news (The Columbus Dispatch : Heritage Christian School senior risks suspension for going to prom) I felt compelled to write.
Dear Mr. England:
It is with the same spirit of gentleness (II Tim 2:24, 25) you are encouraging your school families to use that I come to you. I have read your response to the media on your website and I certainly understand that families sign an agreement that they should live by, like it or not, to remain in good standing with HCS. I do believe, however, that what you are doing as a school is quite damaging to the heart of the Gospel, by your confusing it with works. The Gospel is by faith through grace alone from first to last (Romans 1:17) to such an extent that Paul confronts Peter (Galatians 2:11) on even the hint of what could be perceived as works being added to Christ's imputed righteousness. Furthermore, Paul is clear that even apparently good works (faithfulness to the Old Testament covenant as signified in circumcision) should be abandoned if the Gospel is at stake (Galatians 5:2). He is not saying that you are saved and then you can go on living as you please. Rather all of New Testament is "Christ has freed you from the penalty, therefore go and live to the glory of God out of thankfulness". What does a watching world see on the HCS website home page when the statistics of certain behaviors are put before them (ie, no pregnancies, no alcohol, etc)? Do they see Jesus' good news of grace for sinners, or do they see a school that beats their chest like the Pharisee in the parable of Luke 18 who said "boy am I glad I'm not a sinner like these people". Jesus said the publican in that parable goes home justified.
I am not speaking of antinomianism and license here. There are real actions and behaviors that we need to call each other on as believers. This is always to be done reminding each other that "when we were yet sinners Christ died for us". Otherwise, it becomes a check in the box of my own record presented before God which can never stand regardless of how religious it looks.
More imortantly, what do the students at HCS think the Gospel is? I attended a very similar school and I can tell you that very few students left there understanding the genuine truths of the faith and have since abandoned the church completely. As long as we stayed out of the backseats of cars with our girlfriends, didn't drink or smoke, we were seen as model Christian students. Anyone promoting that as the Gospel or even perhaps unintentionally hinting toward it as your home page does is covering up the message of Gospel of grace to sinners. In Galatians 1 Paul says let such people be "eternally condemned". I plead with you to consider whether you are covering up the Gospel. These students may ironically end up worse off then the pregnant public school girl who, through repentance, comes to Christ. This is because your students will constantly attempt to hold back confession of sin since lack of sin is seen as the badge of Christian membership...meanwhile the pregnant pubilc school girl has an incredible opportunity to see her own sin, hear the good news of Christ death and resurrection and accept the gift of salvation. And the church (of which HCS claims it is a ministry) has an incredible opportunity to show the watching the world the gospel by touting how many pregnant school girls they have loved and shown Christ to, rather than been fortunate enough to have evaded.
Mr. England, there is sin within the hearts of you and your students just like it is within mine. There is no sense in covering things up with nonsense that somehow you have found a magic bullet and all statistics point to you being "cancer free". You can put all the long dresses on the girls you want, glue down the bottle caps on the Budweiser, but Jesus' exegesis of the law is alot bigger than yours "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matt 5:28). I don't think it takes a public school prom to violate God's law so why are you holding up that prom as the "gold standard" of Christian behavior? What would be much more convincing to the watching world is if you confessed your sin one to another and rejoiced that God sent his son for wretched people like us...people that like to put their statistics of good behavior beside the dark deeds of sinners and pound our chests in triumph.
I have agnostic / atheist friends who will see the recent events at HCS and be even more confused the Gospel because what gets discussed is not Jesus' atonement for sin, but HCS' rules and regulations as typical "organized religion". I urge your school leadership to search the Scriptures to see if what you have required of this young man is Biblical or if you have added to the Bible. I've seen your use of Joseph and Potiphar as a legitimate text for not allowing this boy to go to the public school prom. Can this passage be legitimately used to encourage "flee from lust"? Absolutely. Can it be used to dictate which prom actually encites lust over others? Absolutely not unless you can show that to be the correct exegesis of that text. I will stand corrected if that can be shown. Furthermore, if you hold the Old Testament figures up as role models, you will be sorely disappointed. Noah got drunk, David had an affair and had his mistress' husband killed, Jacob lied to his father to steal Essau's birthright, and Abraham told everyone his wife was really his sister (he did this twice) in order to save his own hide. The point of all of this was that God is working his plan of redemption through broken, messed up people...the point is not to hold up Old Testament figures (or the Bible in general) as a source of moral guidelines. All of the Scriptures point to Jesus, whose righteousness saves those who know they are sinners and repent. Have you taught your students the entire Bible and shown them all of the events of these men's lives to point them to the only one who can save? Or do they see the Bible primarily as a moral handbook? One view of the Bible brings life, the other brings death.
I really do seek humble dialogue though I realize you are probably swamped with addressing these issues to the media and others. I do however, in the name of Christ, urge you once again to search the Scriptures and see if the Gospel is being fully communciated to the watching world and your students or if what you are proclaiming after all is really "no Gospel at all". (Galatians 1:7).
Sola gratia,
Joel Batts
Dear Mr. England:
It is with the same spirit of gentleness (II Tim 2:24, 25) you are encouraging your school families to use that I come to you. I have read your response to the media on your website and I certainly understand that families sign an agreement that they should live by, like it or not, to remain in good standing with HCS. I do believe, however, that what you are doing as a school is quite damaging to the heart of the Gospel, by your confusing it with works. The Gospel is by faith through grace alone from first to last (Romans 1:17) to such an extent that Paul confronts Peter (Galatians 2:11) on even the hint of what could be perceived as works being added to Christ's imputed righteousness. Furthermore, Paul is clear that even apparently good works (faithfulness to the Old Testament covenant as signified in circumcision) should be abandoned if the Gospel is at stake (Galatians 5:2). He is not saying that you are saved and then you can go on living as you please. Rather all of New Testament is "Christ has freed you from the penalty, therefore go and live to the glory of God out of thankfulness". What does a watching world see on the HCS website home page when the statistics of certain behaviors are put before them (ie, no pregnancies, no alcohol, etc)? Do they see Jesus' good news of grace for sinners, or do they see a school that beats their chest like the Pharisee in the parable of Luke 18 who said "boy am I glad I'm not a sinner like these people". Jesus said the publican in that parable goes home justified.
I am not speaking of antinomianism and license here. There are real actions and behaviors that we need to call each other on as believers. This is always to be done reminding each other that "when we were yet sinners Christ died for us". Otherwise, it becomes a check in the box of my own record presented before God which can never stand regardless of how religious it looks.
More imortantly, what do the students at HCS think the Gospel is? I attended a very similar school and I can tell you that very few students left there understanding the genuine truths of the faith and have since abandoned the church completely. As long as we stayed out of the backseats of cars with our girlfriends, didn't drink or smoke, we were seen as model Christian students. Anyone promoting that as the Gospel or even perhaps unintentionally hinting toward it as your home page does is covering up the message of Gospel of grace to sinners. In Galatians 1 Paul says let such people be "eternally condemned". I plead with you to consider whether you are covering up the Gospel. These students may ironically end up worse off then the pregnant public school girl who, through repentance, comes to Christ. This is because your students will constantly attempt to hold back confession of sin since lack of sin is seen as the badge of Christian membership...meanwhile the pregnant pubilc school girl has an incredible opportunity to see her own sin, hear the good news of Christ death and resurrection and accept the gift of salvation. And the church (of which HCS claims it is a ministry) has an incredible opportunity to show the watching the world the gospel by touting how many pregnant school girls they have loved and shown Christ to, rather than been fortunate enough to have evaded.
Mr. England, there is sin within the hearts of you and your students just like it is within mine. There is no sense in covering things up with nonsense that somehow you have found a magic bullet and all statistics point to you being "cancer free". You can put all the long dresses on the girls you want, glue down the bottle caps on the Budweiser, but Jesus' exegesis of the law is alot bigger than yours "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matt 5:28). I don't think it takes a public school prom to violate God's law so why are you holding up that prom as the "gold standard" of Christian behavior? What would be much more convincing to the watching world is if you confessed your sin one to another and rejoiced that God sent his son for wretched people like us...people that like to put their statistics of good behavior beside the dark deeds of sinners and pound our chests in triumph.
I have agnostic / atheist friends who will see the recent events at HCS and be even more confused the Gospel because what gets discussed is not Jesus' atonement for sin, but HCS' rules and regulations as typical "organized religion". I urge your school leadership to search the Scriptures to see if what you have required of this young man is Biblical or if you have added to the Bible. I've seen your use of Joseph and Potiphar as a legitimate text for not allowing this boy to go to the public school prom. Can this passage be legitimately used to encourage "flee from lust"? Absolutely. Can it be used to dictate which prom actually encites lust over others? Absolutely not unless you can show that to be the correct exegesis of that text. I will stand corrected if that can be shown. Furthermore, if you hold the Old Testament figures up as role models, you will be sorely disappointed. Noah got drunk, David had an affair and had his mistress' husband killed, Jacob lied to his father to steal Essau's birthright, and Abraham told everyone his wife was really his sister (he did this twice) in order to save his own hide. The point of all of this was that God is working his plan of redemption through broken, messed up people...the point is not to hold up Old Testament figures (or the Bible in general) as a source of moral guidelines. All of the Scriptures point to Jesus, whose righteousness saves those who know they are sinners and repent. Have you taught your students the entire Bible and shown them all of the events of these men's lives to point them to the only one who can save? Or do they see the Bible primarily as a moral handbook? One view of the Bible brings life, the other brings death.
I really do seek humble dialogue though I realize you are probably swamped with addressing these issues to the media and others. I do however, in the name of Christ, urge you once again to search the Scriptures and see if the Gospel is being fully communciated to the watching world and your students or if what you are proclaiming after all is really "no Gospel at all". (Galatians 1:7).
Sola gratia,
Joel Batts
