At Cross Purposes : Christian Parents and the Postmodern Culture

BreakPoint ^ | 19 Aug 03 | Mark Earley

[Mr. Silverback]

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.

Ever feel like you're on dangerous ground? I do. With two of my six children in public universities and four on the way up, I'm very aware of the battle for the minds and hearts of our kids. We do our best to teach them about the Christian faith, and we pray it's enough to protect them against all the pressures of the outside world. But it probably won't be if we don't intentionally teach our children a biblical worldview and give them confidence that their faith is intellectually credible. If we neglect discipling their minds, we send them out as lambs for the slaughter.

Most kids in most churches go to public schools. They're tough places to navigate. Only too often hot-button topics of the day -- teen sex, homosexuality, abortion, the origins of life, and ethics -- come from only one point of view. It's no wonder that Christian parents in growing numbers are homeschooling their children or sending them to Christian schools with a solid biblical worldview emphasis.

But wherever they go to school, when they come home in the afternoon, kids watch television, listen to the radio, or surf the web. They are confronted by images that promote everything from materialism to the abuse of women and children to extramarital sex. Just a few days ago, basketball star Kobe Bryant made a splash as the most popular male athlete at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards, in spite of being not only an accused rapist, but also an admitted adulterer.

The cultural voices seem to be saying different things, but the same message underlies them all: There is no ultimate truth, no moral code by which to live our lives.

The message: that God is totally irrelevant if He exists at all. Life is what we make it. We choose. It's an attractive message because it eliminates accountability, and it's coming at our kids from all sides.

The most dangerous thing kids can do is to handle this by "compartmentalizing" the sacred and the secular in their minds. This is a split-level faith. God lives on the top floor; I live in the basement, with no connecting staircase. Instead, we have to help them understand that the Christian faith is relevant to everything in their lives. Jesus knocks on the door of our life and wants to occupy all of our life.

And so one of the most important things we can teach our kids is how to see all of life, not just their home life or the time they spend at church, from a Christian point of view. No matter how hard we try to guard them, they'll hear conflicting messages. We must help them put intellectual muscle behind their faith.

In the Old Testament, God provided the Israelites with a model for passing down His truths to their children. In Deuteronomy 6, He tells them -- and, I believe, us -- to "impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." In other words, no matter what the culture tells us, it's our responsibility in the routine of life to teach our kids that truth exists, that we can know it, that we can live it, and that, in the final analysis, it's all about God. In my next commentary, I'll talk about practical ways to do this.

[Mr. Silverback]

BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[ibheath]

Put me on your ping list please. I need to read his next article.
Thanks,
ibheath

[EdReform]

Bump & Ping

[FourPeas]

Bump.

[Millie]

Please add me to your ping list.

txs,

[joesnuffy]

budump bump

[txzman]

This message is pretty basic. What is more important is that parents walk the talk daily with their children.

Kids do not listen to the Word as much as internalize what they see in action around them. Barna Research reported on studies that watched kids who got older and looked at the nature of their households.

Of the parents who were Christians and lived their lives as best they could in accordance with those principles - praying as a family, acting and interacting with others in a Christian way, using money accordingly, etc - more than 85% of the kids ended up living the same Christian life as adults.

[LiteKeeper]

His commentaries are available as a daily email newsletter. Go to his web site to subscribe for free.

[CommerceComet]

You're right on the track with the materials you posted. Children are quick to spot inconsistency. I personally believe this is why Paul listed obedient children as a requirement for an elder. If a man leads one style of life in public and another at home, the children will be sickened by the hypocrisy and will rebel.

Christian parents (and particularly fathers who are ultimately responsible for the health of their families) must be on guard constantly. The threats that can compromise a child's spiritual development can come from almost any direction. Even if the parents place their children in a Christian school, constant diligence is still needed. And above all, Christian parents should be in constant prayer for their children since even our greatest diligence is insufficient and we need supernatural help.

[Mr. Silverback]

Excellent point. Surprising how adhering to the Bible makes for better Christianity, eh? :-)

[Mr. Silverback]

Good point, LiteKeeper. The reason I post these here each day is to the forum thing with them, and also to expose freepers who aren't aware of him to Colson's views, which I usually agree with. Still, I'll put you on the list, heath, and you can come by to our little daily Colson coffee klatch.

[Mr. Silverback]

You are added!