How to Spot a Counterfeit Christian School
Mark Stupka
By the grace of God, I recently completed my fortieth year as a Christian educator, and I am thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to be a teacher and to share His Word freely with students over the years. I spent fifteen years as a K-12 Christian school teacher, coach, and principal in Iowa and Minnesota before becoming an instructor at Faith Baptist Bible College in the fall of 1999. Over the past twenty-five years I have visited scores of Christian schools around the country and the world while observing student teachers and practicum students. I have seen many great schools that are shining brightly, bringing honor to the Lord. Yet, sadly, other schools are just going through the motions and failing to impact students’ lives and their communities for God’s glory.
Maybe you are a Christian school leader who is wondering if your school is genuinely accomplishing its mission, or perhaps you are a parent who is looking for a great Christian school for your children. If so, I trust that this article will help you to identify the marks of “counterfeit” Christian schools and make wise decisions in the future.
COUNTERFEIT CLUE #1: LOOK AT ITS PRODUCT
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave His disciples instructions to help them identify false teachers, and these principles can help us identify counterfeit Christian schools as well. In particular, Jesus explained that good trees bring forth good fruit, and corrupt trees bring forth evil fruit (Matt. 7:15–20). To put it simply, we can identify a tree by the fruit it produces. I believe that we can apply this principle to schools as well — we can determine if a school is a genuine Christian school by the fruit it produces.