At its recent annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention rejected a resolution calling on its members to pull children from public schools in favor of homeschooling or private Christian schools.

The proposal, offered by Roger Moran of Troy, Mo., and Texas author Bruce Shortt, came as many of the nation's 16.2 million Southern Baptists are concerned about how classrooms are handling subjects such as homosexuality and "intelligent design."

Instead of putting the exit strategy before delegates to the SBC's annual meeting, the denomination's resolutions committee called on members to "engage the culture of our public school systems" by exerting "godly influence," including standing for election to local school boards.

Because Baptists decide matters of doctrine and practice at the congregational level, such a resolution would have only served as a recommendation rather than a mandate, but the denomination's priorities would be clear. I, for one, am pleased that the nation's largest Protestant denomination refuses to withdraw from the public schools and a larger public discussion of values.

I've had many Christian friends who greatly benefitted from homeschooling or private religious schools, but I also think there are enormous advantages to learning how to be a Christian in a non-Christian context like the public schools. Especially as people who are called to spread the gospel, Christians need to know how to engage thoughtfully and lovingly with others who disagree with them. By condemning the public schools, we often underestimate the influence of parents to teach and counteract values with which they disagree, and the ability of students to hold fast to their beliefs. Besides, if a Christian's faith crumbles when exposed to adversity, perhaps we have bigger problems than public education.