….and how to possibly save them.

I’m going to keep this as brief as I can.

I am a former principal of a Christian school writing under a pseudonym, and I dearly wish what I am writing is not true. I write this because I believe there is a possibility the schools can be saved but it won’t be easy. It started decades ago, but for sake of brevity, I go back 2 years.

In 2021 in Australia, governments decided that teachers and other staff at schools had to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to keep their jobs and ministry. Many refused due to the mRNA shots modified mRNA which they claimed was worse than a tattoo (forbidden in Leviticus 19:28). Some refused due to the use of aborted human fetal cell lines in all vaccines available in Australia. And still some refused as they saw it as too close to the Mark of the Beast, or some other reason. These reasons are irrelevant.

Christian school boards and Principals responded to a greater or lesser extent in the following ways:

1. They agreed (via their actions) with government that public health trumped religious beliefs and obligations and refused to allow Christians with religious objections to keep their jobs and ministries.
2. They lied, slandered, mocked, or misrepresented, to the school communities the character, motivations and faith of the staff they were firing. Many even denied they fired anyone. Many schools even refused to allow staff to collect their personal effects. Some schools even scrubbed their social media accounts of unvaccinated staff.
3. They refused to stand with their brothers and sisters and reject the attempt by government to decide who and who was not qualified for ministering the gospel to children.
4. They refused to appeal to government for exemptions, or even apply the exemptions that were permitted.
5. They refused to pray for them, for God’s provisioning, protection and guidance, and even stopped others from doing this in staff meetings.
6. They did not offer, even a cup of cold water or food, to help with the effect of losing their jobs.
7. They hired non-Christians to replace them.
8. They did not offer to hire them back – especially if they held positions of authority such as Principal, deputy, head of department, etc, when mandates ended.
9. They refused to provide references to help a person get a new job.
10. They claimed they were the real victims of government, not the persecutors.

In essence, Christian schools agreed with government of its right to decide which religious beliefs are, and which are not, requirements for ministry in schools.

I predict, Christian schools will be forced to drop lifestyle agreements for employees, enrol openly gay and trans students, hire non Christians. It is inevitable and it will all be from the precedent of agreeing with the government to fire those who would not bow the knee to Caesar, regardless of the sincerity of their religious beliefs, or the utility of the public health orders

Why the response of Christian Schools, boards and Principals is wrong.

1 Corinthians 12:24-26

Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the less honourable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Did you suffer with us when government wanted to force us against our conscience? No. However reluctantly, you joined the government in persecuting people trying to be faithful to God. Not that it would have justified it: you did not even require the threat of loss of funding or registration before you joined government to destroy us.

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

Without concerning ourselves over whether the vaccine is good or bad, you denied Christians ministry and careers, and livelihood, based on unprecedented government whim. You did not even hold their positions for them. You became an arm of government to force people to violate their conscience. God condemns that to do this inadvertently means you are sinning against Christ, how much worse is threatening to remove their livelihood and ministry unless they violate the conscience and bow to Caesar?

Instead of siding with government against your fellow believers, you ought to have sided with your brothers in telling authorities that neither they nor you have the authority to compel people against their conscience. You ought to have echoed Paul and aslo refused to be part of a system that could cause your brother or sister to fall and sin against their conscience because they need money for food.

Matthew 25:37-40

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

When you erased us from the school, and refused to pray for us, you did not follow the principle of Matthew 25, but instead followed the principle of saying “go, keep warm and well fed” and refused to lift a finger or voice a complaint to government to support us.

Revelation 21:8 condemns cowards first of all, before condemning murderers and the sexually immoral.

Submit to government and other rationalisations

The primary reason given for forcing staff to bow the knee to Caesar, regardless of conscience: Christians must obey government. What was foolishly left unsaid, was any limiting principle.

There is no valid argument to defend the position of the schools. Not that it would justify it, you had not even been threatened with loss of registration or funding.

While attempts to argue that love your neighbour was the principle here, love does not compel people against their conscience (2 Corinthians 9:7; Philemon 1:14; Galatians 2:14) because we know that there is judgement against those who cause others to sin (Matthew 18:6-9; Luke 17:1-4; Romans 14:1-23; 2 Corinthians 6:3).

Peter did not want Jesus to go to the cross. He wanted Jesus to continue his ministry:

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter was working against the whole purpose of Christ’s ministry. Likewise, school boards who thought about their funding, and their registration and their reputation of the school, kicked people out of the ministry for seeking to obey God.

It cannot be reasonably argued that Schools prioritised the ministry. Why? Because the entire community witnessed that they fired staff who had done no wrong, and then slandered or criticised staff to justify it, implying the staff member was in the wrong, rather than holding them as examples of faith. Schools then hired many non-Christian staff to replace the faithful. And in the process watered down, if not obliterated, the integrity of the gospel message. And gave government the precedent to force Christian schools to act against their religious precepts.

The argument that we must obey those in authority has no foundation, else the justification for the holocaust is that “we were just obeying the leaders you gave us, Lord.” We are called to submit, not to obey. The difference is that if authority asks us to go against the laws and commands in Scripture, we cannot submit. If it requires that we become a tool of government to oppress Christians who believe the government is requiring them to violate their faith, we must refuse, and stand with them. We accept the punishment or consequences without complaint, like Jesus going to the cross. That might mean that schools would be shut down, but it is highly unlikely since they account for 40% of students in Australia.

Solution

Unfortunately, most Christians have moved on. Mandates are gone (mostly). But the legacy of the actions of Christian school leaders is still there and these need to be dealt with in order to move forward with the blessing of God.

Christian schools need to repent to fired staff. Today, thousands of Christians have lost their homes and careers and still suffering terribly because of your actions. If you want God to hear your ministry, you need to repent. Your brothers and sisters are suffering today because of you, not because of the government. Can you in good conscience stand and sing in church next to the brother or sister you wronged, without repentance, and bearing fruit of repentance?

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

School boards profoundly lacked discernment and need to stand down. Almost every Christian teacher I know is refusing to go back to a Christian school because they have zero trust in the school leadership to do the right thing.

A public apology/statement on how the schools did not follow the commands and principles in Scripture is essential. Without this, Government will still be able to use your cowardly precedent against you. You must acknowledge what you did was wrong.

Rehire staff back into positions they were fired from. This may not be possible for an individual school, but when filling vacant positions schools should give preference to those fired. To right this wrong, means we need to restore them to their former positions. It may not be possible in the same school, especially if relationships are damaged, but a solid recommendation/reference, to a new school, may help with that. Commend your staff member for willing to take up their cross. Hiring them back, demonstrates to government the sincerity of your apology.

Terminate non-Christian staff, or even semi-Christian staff, as soon as possible. While you continue to have non-Christian staff, you cannot claim that Christianity is an essential part of your ministry.

A final parting word. Christian school leaders, you are not the heroes of this story. You are the villain. When governments force you to drop lifestyle requirements or enrol openly trans students, you are going to claim persecution. You are wrong. It is merely the fruit of the choices you made when you sided with government over the religious beliefs of your fellow Christians. You did not save the school ministry. You didn’t save it from loss of funding or registration (as though that was was even threatened or even a likely outcome) then, and instead opened the gates of hell into Christian schools. You were not a shepherd to the weak and vulnerable, you threw them outside, without a cup of water or even a prayer, to be left to their own wits. You lied about the reasons for their departure and lied about the content of their character. You have sinned against your brothers and sisters and against Christ. You need to make this right. Now.