Discussing Public-Schooled Christianity - Interview with Isabella

I recently had the opportunity to interview Isabella from The Public-Schooled Christian. Since I've attended a private school all my life, it was great to get to talk to her about the differences in our experiences.

She posted her part of the interview here. In it, I talk about my experience as a Christian at private school.

I hope you enjoy this transcription of our interview!

What is your biggest challenge in public school and what is your biggest asset?

I think the biggest challenge for me personally has been going through the day just to get through the day. There’s this temptation just keep your faith to yourself—you’re going to go to church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, but not think about Jesus as much during the weekday and just get through the school day. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris is a great book, and there’s this temptation to not do hard things, to slip into a comfortable position and go through the school day without going out of your comfort zone to talk to new people and to share Jesus’ light with people. 

And that’s something that I’ve found myself falling into a lot lately. Because it’s especially hard when you’re tired and going to school and you think, “I don’t want to go out of my way today. I just want to get through the day and go home and eat my snack and go to bed.” So I think that’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in public school. 

The biggest asset, I think, is just that you’re exposed to different worldviews. If I didn’t go to public school I don’t think I would know as well what other people believe, and not only understand different religions, but people who say they are Christian but you don’t see the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. I feel like I have a better understanding of what they believe and why their worldview is the way it is because I’ve gone to public school and because a lot of the people surrounding me aren’t Christians. And I’ve learned how to interact with people who aren’t Christians while also not hiding the fact that I’m a Christian and trying to bring it up in conversation. 

 

Do you find that’s helped you understand that there are normal people who are rational thinkers who also are wrong about their faith?

Yes. Have you ever met someone who is so nice, and you think, “They have to be a Christian”? I meet people like that sometimes at school and they’re not always Christians. It’s helped me to understand that people who aren’t Christians may have very morally right views, they may be very kind, they may be smart, but because they don’t have faith in Jesus, they’re not saved, even though they do have some of the qualities of a believer. They’re the kind of people you meet and are like, “They would make a great Christian.”

 

Yeah. So what is the hardest part about denying yourself and living out the gospel truth in daily life and what is the easiest?

I think that relates to what I said before. Just taking the step forward and doing it. And deciding, “I’m not going to go through the day just to get through it, I’m going to go through the day for Jesus and I’m going to show His love to others.” 

I think a big part of that is, at least for myself, kind of making a plan or goals. Because if I go through the school day without making a plan or goals, then I will go through it just to get through it. But if the night before, I think, “Well, there’s this person I’ve been talking to in my history class and I want to know more about their faith” or something similar, then I’ll make a plan and tell myself, “Okay, I’m going to talk to them, and I’m going to ask them what they're doing this weekend, then I’m going to bring up church. I’ll ask if they go to church, and use that as a segway to talk about Jesus.” 

I would say the easiest part lately has been staying grounded in biblical truth. When I was younger, this was a struggle for me, but I think once you have a firm foundation, you are not swayed as easily. It has not been as hard as other parts of living out my Christian faith because I love to read, so Bible reading and learning about truth has always come more naturally to me. Like, before I go to school in the morning, I’ll read my Bible, when I come back, I’ll read my Bible, and so I think reading my Bible has really helped me stay grounded in biblical truth. 

I can be listening to a teacher and they will say something and I think, “Okay, I’m going to disregard that because it doesn’t align with the Bible.” And sometimes things like that do come up, like evolution in science class or even talking about religion in history class. 

And I think the hardest and easiest part varies for each person personally.  

 

On that note, have you ever had any conflict with teachers over your beliefs in science or history class?

No, I haven’t had any conflict with them, because it’s not like I have been forced to affirm something I didn’t believe or something like that, it was just them teaching us. And on some points teachers have made I’ve just had to tell myself, “No, that’s not true.” 

There are some teachers who are more passionate about their beliefs and what they teach than others. Like I had a teacher last year who was very passionate about evolution and it was very hard being in her class. She was not only passionate about that but about political things that she would talk about sometimes. So I haven't had any personal conflict but it has been difficult sometimes. 

 

Thank you for sharing. So how do you see being public schooled equipping you to serve God’s people either now or in the future?

I think it is equipping me because I get to interact with so many different people daily and because I have opportunities to interact with so many different people. That’s going to help me in the future—just knowing how to start a conversation with different kinds of people. And that’s still something that I’m learning. I really only became very serious about my faith when I was in 7th grade and that year Covid hit, so I didn’t interact with that many people at school then. So in 8th and 9th grade was when I really started pushing myself a lot to talk to people and I’m still learning. 

I think just that experience and the opportunities you have in public school are important. You could be a Christian and go throughout public school and not be equipped to talk to people of different faiths about their faith because you just haven’t taken those opportunities to talk about it or because you’ve found one or two Christian friends at school and hung out around them the whole time. I think a big part of being prepared is taking the opportunities that you have. 

I think that’ll just really help me in the future, like in college, at work, just learning how to own my faith around people who aren’t Christian and learning how to bring faith up in conversation. All of these things I am still working on and still need to get better at. 

 

That’s really good! I like how you said it’s important to take opportunities you have. Something I’ve thought about while reading your blog or just thinking about public school is, “I wish I had that many opportunities to share my faith, I would be so much of a better Christian.” But I think, like you’ve pointed out, it’s more a question of do you take the opportunities you’ve been given? 

So yeah, thank you for saying that. And then last question, so you obviously have a very good understanding of the Bible, like you said you read it regularly. What would you say to parents who are worried that their children would face worldly influences in a public school setting and those children may not have the same understanding of biblical truth as you do?

I think the biggest impact they can make is setting an example for their children. Reading their Bibles, spending time with God, growing their relationship with God, and showing Jesus’ sacrificial love to their children. I think setting that example would make most children want to follow it. 

And also just having conversations about things like—even things like, “What are you learning in class right now?” or just topics that might be a problem their children are facing at public school. Having conversations about those things and answering questions like, “Why is this [worldly thing] wrong?” 

Because you can grow up as a Christian and be taught, “You shouldn’t swear,” you believe that more fully when you know why we shouldn't swear and you have those conversations. You understand it instead of just being told, “Don’t do this; don’t follow along with the crowd.” Our natural instinct is to follow along with the crowd and do what everyone else is doing so what helps a lot is knowing why we don’t do what everyone else is doing.

 

Okay, awesome. And is there anything else you’d like to say about public-schooled Christianity?

Something that I’ve said many times before on my blog and I just think is so important is that you are not alone, and there are many Christians who go to public school. Though they may be few in your school and distributed across the nation, there are a lot of people in the same boat, and I think that that can really give you the strength to live for Jesus in public school—knowing that you’re not the only one doing it. There are also lots of other people who may not be in public school but are living in environments where there aren’t many Christians around them. 

 

Yeah. And you’re never alone, right? Jesus is always with you. That’s all the questions I have, so thank you so much, Isabella.

Of course, thank you so much!