My first encounter with a homeschooling parent was anything but positive. In the early days of the Internet I ended up in an email discussion with a fellow I met on a Christian newsgroup. He was notable for his commitment to his family. Part of that commitment was through homeschooling his children. But when I asked a question about his commitment to a local church, the force of his vehemence came through the email. ''Show me one place where the church takes precedence over the family!'' he snarled. His attitude was one of ''me and my family against the world.''

Perhaps if I was a little better grounded in the Bible I would have pointed out that Christ didn't die for the family. Christ died for the church, of which the local church is an expression. Or perhaps I would have pointed out how much of the New Testament is devoted to teaching about the church. Of course people usually react for a reason. Maybe my e-friend had been ''burned'' in the past by an abusive church. Or maybe his parents gave their full effort to their church and ignored him while he was growing up. I’m not sure the exact reason, but I sure know the result!

The more I go through life the more value I see in balance. While we should be radical in our obedience to Scripture, we should also be balanced in our approach to life. We homeschool because we have a strong commitment to our families. But we must not fall for an attitude of ''me and my family against the world.'' We have a strong commitment to our families, but we have legitimate responsibilities in our local church. We also have legitimate responsibilities within the workforce and the community. God has ordained each sphere of our lives, and one sphere cannot replace another.

To ignore the full range of our responsibilities or to be unbalanced in some particular manner will not benefit our children. To make an idol of our family life, to ignore our family in favour of the church or to be a workaholic will create problems for our children throughout their lives. Finding a balance is never easy, and it will never seem like we have achieved a balance. We’ll never reach the point where our families, our churches or our jobs will say to us, “I can see you’ve reached a balance, so I won’t ask any more of you.” But seeking that balance will pay lifelong dividends for our children.

In Service,

Shawn