Nice, Revisited. {God is Truth. Satan Lies.}

"I don't want my kids to be nice."  So says Lori at Everyday Truth in her new series, No More Nice Kids.  Before you start thinking bad things of her...it's not what you think!  She's a Christian mom striving to raise Godly kids.  But God is teaching her that "nice" isn't all its cracked up to be.  Go read her posts.  They are really, really good.

As I've read her posts this week, her words have really resonated with me.  Although her posts on the subject are much more in-depth, I've posted some similar thoughts here previously. I thought I would pull some of those thoughts today as part of the {God is Truth. Satan Lies.} series.  "Be nice," is one of those lies Satan tells, and it's one that well-meaning parents often pass on to their children.

Here are some thoughts I've posted on this in the past, interspersed with some current thoughts: 

"The ethics of Jesus cannot be obeyed or even understood until the life of God has come to the heart of a man or woman in the miracle of the new birth. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk in the Spirit. Christ lives again in His redeemed followers the life He lived in Judea, for righteousness can never be divorced from its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself!"

 ~ A. W. Tozer

The truth expressed in this quote is one that I have become more and more convicted about in recent years.  "Righteousness can never be divorced from its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself!"   It's been a bit of a backward lesson for me...one that originally started as a conviction about raising my children, and then morphed into the realization that the best way to raise my children that way is to live it myself.

That conviction was that my goal must not be to raise "nice" children, or "well-behaved" children, or "good" children...but that my goal must be to raise children who are seeking after Him with all their hearts...children who are totally sold out to following Him.   That has been reinforced so many times in the last few years.

 Being "nice" and "good" and "well-behaved"  can all be good things...for children and adults.  But if we...or our children...stop there, we have stopped in dangerous territory. 

"Being good" is not the same thing as being righteous.  And only when we are made righteous through the blood of Christ are we truly saved.  Only when we have His righteousness in us are we able to obey and follow Him as He commands.  Only through our relationship with Him, seeking Him with all our hearts daily, are we able to then live out a life that reflects Christ.  

Romans 3:10 tells us that "There is none righteous, no, not one."

We are told in Isaiah 64:6 that *our* righteousness is as filthy rags.  If we try to "live like Jesus" or "be good" on our own...the end result is filthy rags.  

Just this week I ran across this quote by C. S. Lewis (posted on Facebook by Randy Alcorn)...

C.S. Lewis: "'Niceness'—wholesome, integrated personality—is an excellent thing. …But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world—and might even be more difficult to save."

In other words, we (and our children) can become so comfortable in our "niceness" that we completely miss the true goal.  "Niceness" is not the goal...for us as adults, for our children, for our neighbors.  The goal is transformation that can only come about by the Holy Spirit in us.  Then we will demonstrate His goodness...and all the things that come with it...through His righteousness in us...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

~Galatians 5:22-23

My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically...although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public...although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public! :) My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude...although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.

My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He...and I...want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and "successful" they appear to be...if they haven't given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught. 

What are your goals for your children?  For yourself?   I'd love to hear about them in the comments.  

{God is Truth. Satan Lies.} is a new series on Ponderings of an Elect Exile.  You can read more about it here.   


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Welcome Home, Darcy!

Puppy Owners. Yep...that's us. For those who know me well and who *haven't* been in on this escapade...pick yourselves up off the floor and dust yourselves off while I explain. :) Billy is a dog person. I am...well, not exactly a dog person. I have nothing against dogs, really, I am just perfectly content to live life without one. When we were first married, I brought a puppy home for Billy. Mattie was a *wonderful* dog. She was well-behaved, cute, fun...and she ate popsicles.:-D When she got out and was hit by a car one July 4th, we were devastated.

We have talked about getting a dog for a long time. Billy wanted one, the kids wanted one, I...really didn't think it was time for a dog yet. When we get more done to the house, when the kids are older, when things settle down...just not right now.

Then a lady in our homeschool group posted on the loop...free puppies, 1/2 dachshound, 1/2 beagle. Now. Billy has always wanted a beagle. I have always wanted a basset hound or...a dachshound. I was tempted. But no...life is too chaotic now. We did *not* need a puppy now on top of everything else we have going on.

Then Billy saw the email. I could tell he *really* wanted one of these puppies. I was determined to hold my ground. Except...I had been praying for something I could do to bless my husband. You see...in all the chaos that has been going on lately, he is the one who has really borne the brunt of things. He has kept the house and the kids going when I have had to be gone dealing with my grandfather and my mom. He has brought me treats, encouraged me to get out when I've needed to just *get away*, and just generally kept me going. So...I had been praying for a way to do something for him that would make him really happy.

But *surely* this wasn't the answer. *Surely* this wasn't what God meant. *Surely* God knew I didn't need a dog right now.

Then my friend K and I were discussing the dog via IM. She has wanted us to get a dog ever since *they* got a dog a year or so ago. Finally, in the midst of all her good-natured ribbing about how much we needed a dog, she said, "No, seriously, I know the last thing you need right now is a dog." *Whew* Confirmation. No dog for us. Then she had to follow it up with this..."Unfortunately, I think your husband *does* need a dog." Oh man. Ouch. Ack. Arrgghh.

I am pretty sure that she did *not* mean for me to take it the way that I did...but it was as though God was saying "And that's what marriage is all about...putting the other's needs above your own."

So...today we picked up Darcy. She is *really* cute and super-sweet, and *so far* really well-behaved (of course, that could be from the extreme culture shock she's experienced today!) The kids keep saying, "I can't believe we have a dog of our very own." And Billy...well, he has started spoiling the little thing already. As for me...well, I'm getting pretty fond of her myself. Stay tuned for more reports on the puppy front...

The goal of parenthood...

Julie posted these quotes this morning from Grace Gems:

"The goal of the godly mother, is that her children in the flesh—may be God's children in the spirit. A mother should be more careful of her children's pious breeding—than she should be fearful of her children's worldly bearing."

(emphasis mine)

"You let out your efforts to make them great—lift up your prayers to make them godly; that before you die from them—you may see Christ live in them. While these twigs are green and tender—they should be bowed towards God."

~

It's uncanny how often Julie's posts go right along with what God is teaching me at the moment. Through a variety of circumstances, several conversations with friends, and various reading material God has brought across my path recently, I've been re-assessing not only the goals of our homeschooling, but God's goals for me as a mother. (I've also been planning a blog post...which is still to come.:)) The above quotes sum up so well what God has been teaching me.

.

My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically...although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public...although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public! :) My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude...although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.

.

My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He...and I...want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and "successful" they appear to be...if they haven't given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught.

Nice. (Or IOW Tuesday, on Thursday :))

I guess I need a big ole' blushing Smiley face here...since I said 7 days ago that I was going to try to post every day this month and I've only managed to post 3 times since then.  <*blush*>  We'll see how the rest of the month goes.   I keep thinking I'm going to get posts typed up ahead and scheduled...that just seems so neat and tidy and organized <*grin*>...but I can't seem to get to one a day, much less post ahead!

Anyway, this is the In Other Words post I had planned to post on Tuesday...I'm determined to get it in, even if it's late. :)

This week's In Other Words is hosted by Sunflower Faith.  She chose today's quote, by A.W. Tozer:

"The ethics of Jesus cannot be obeyed or even understood until the life of God has come to the heart of a man or woman in the miracle of the new birth. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk in the Spirit. Christ lives again in His redeemed followers the life He lived in Judea, for righteousness can never be divorced from its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself!"

 ~ A. W. Tozer

The truth expressed in this quote is one that I have become more and more convicted about in recent years.  "Righteousness can never be divorced from its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself!"   It's been a bit of a backward lesson for me...one that originally started as a conviction about raising my children, and then morphed into the realization that the best way to raise my children that way is to live it myself.

That conviction was that my goal must not be to raise "nice" children, or "well-behaved" children, or "good" children...but that my goal must be to raise children who are seeking after Him with all their hearts...children who are totally sold out to following Him.   That has been reinforced so many times in the last few years...I've actually been planning a blog series on that topic, so I suppose this could be the "prequel" to that series. :)

Being "nice" and "good" and "well-behaved" are all good things...for children and adults.   But if we...or our children...stop there, we have stopped in dangerous territory.  "Being good" is not the same thing as being righteous.  And only when we are made righteous through the blood of Christ are we truly saved.  Only when we have His righteousness in us are we able to obey and follow Him as He commands.  Only through our relationship with Him, seeking Him with all our hearts daily, are we able to then live out a life that reflects Christ.  

We are told in Isaiah 64:6 that *our* righteousness is as filthy rags.  If we try to "live like Jesus" or "be good" on our own...the end result is filthy rags.  

Just this week I ran across this quote by C. S. Lewis (posted on Facebook by Randy Alcorn)...

C.S. Lewis: "'Niceness'—wholesome, integrated personality—is an excellent thing. …But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world—and might even be more difficult to save."

That pretty much sums it up.  "Niceness" is not the goal...for us as adults, for our children, for our neighbors.  The goal is transformation that can only come about by the Holy Spirit in us.  Then we will demonstrate His goodness...and all the things that come with it...through His righteousness in us...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

~Galatians 5:22-23

Please visit Sunflower Faith to see how others interpreted this quote this week, or to join in by sharing your own thoughts!  

Related Posts:  

Authenticity Revisited

Lessons from a Big Dumb Dog

In Other Words...The Holy Spirit

30 Years: A Homeschool Journey ~ The Beginning

It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years this year since I first heard about homeschooling. It was an odd concept at first for a family who had been quite content with public schools. The summer after my ninth grade year, however, we met a homeschooling family, and my parents were intrigued. They were stunned when my brother started kindergarten that fall and they realized how much public schools had changed since I started 10 years before.

By spring, they had decided to homeschool my brother the following year. As plans were made, curriculum was ordered, and excitement mounted, I approached my parents with a question: Why couldn’t I be homeschooled, too?

It was the mid-1980s. The modern homeschooling movement was just picking up steam. Homeschooling a first grader was one thing; homeschooling a high schooler was quite another. College was looming; scholarships were at stake. We had no idea how one graduated from a home school or how homeschoolers got into college. It was a radical choice in those days.  But my parents and I were sure of one thing: God was calling us to home school.

I am thankful for the gift of Godly parents: parents who weren’t perfect, but who sought to model a genuine walk with Christ in our home and who demonstrated to me the meaning of unconditional love; parents who sacrificed much for their children in every area; parents who were anything but risk-takers, but who in spite of many uncertainties stepped out in faith to homeschool their children in a time when those were very uncharted (and unpopular!) waters.

A step of faith it was, but one for which I’m forever grateful. Despite our early concerns, I received numerous full scholarship offers. By then I knew that I wanted to homeschool my children.  Homeschooling became my college research emphasis and one of my life passions.

Billy had never heard of homeschooling when we met, but it didn’t take long for him to get on board with the idea. We began planning to homeschool before we were married.  I had lofty expectations — after all, I had been immersed in homeschooling books, magazines, and curriculum for years. This was going to be a piece of cake!

Then life happened.  It’s one thing to lay out the perfect homeschooling plan while you are still childless; it’s quite another to carry out those plans when life is going crazy all around you. A six-week NICU stay for our youngest (a 30-week preemie), my dad’s seriously declining health and death, violent crime that rocked our family, unexpected health issues of our own — these were just a few of the bumps in our road as a homeschooling family.

Not only did “life” happen, but in the midst of it all, I discovered that the much-loved curriculum  I’d always planned to use simply didn’t work for us. It seemed that homeschooling multiple children close in age (four in six years) was a completely different proposition than one-on-one teaching with an “almost-only” child. Imagine that!

Our homeschooling journey has been nothing like what we expected, but we’ve been blessed abundantly. Homeschooling is no longer seen as “radical”; it’s almost a mainstream choice these days. We are thankful for those who’ve worked to improve our homeschool laws over the years, and  we’ve been blessed with a wonderful homeschool group.

The greatest blessings, however, have come through the work God has done in our family through this adventure of homeschooling. We are not where I had planned to be in our schooling at this point, and yet I know that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tell us that we are to teach His words diligently to our children. I will be the first to say that I fail daily in this. But God continues to teach and work in Billy and I as we strive to train and nurture our children in His ways. And He has continually shown us that home is exactly where our children needed to be during the unexpected trials we’ve faced. Academics and extra-curricular activities may not have happened at all as we had planned, but God knew that there were things He needed to teach all of us that we couldn’t have learned in any other way.

Several years ago I posted these thoughts on my blog. God continues to convict me of these things daily:

My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically…although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public…although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public!  My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude…although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.  

My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He…and I…want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and “successful” they appear to be, if they haven’t given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught.

Are you struggling with things not going “as planned” in your homeschool? Anxious about being “behind”? Worried that you aren’t measuring up to the standards of others (or even your own)?

Remember that God has planned every one of your days, and the days of your children, from before the foundation of the world. (Psalm 139) Realize that He is teaching you and them in ways that the perfect curriculum never can. Our journey may seem full of unexpected turns and bumps in the road, but He has promised that if we commit our way to Him, He will make our paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email.  (And if you really want to make my day, leave me a comment below, or drop me a note via the email box in the sidebar. :))

Moralistic Therapeutic WHAT? Chilling Words on Young People and the Church

Protection from a False Gospel

Several months before originally writing this article in 2010, I began a series of posts on "Protecting Children".   (Protecting Children, part 1;  Protecting Children, part 2, Child Protection Resources)  That series is by no means finished...in fact, it will probably be ongoing for as long as I am blogging. That series focuses on issues such as child pornography, child trafficking, protection from predators, etc....issues about which I am very passionate.  

However, as important as I think those issues are, and as heavy as they are on my heart, there is another area of "child protection" that is even more important...and that is the spiritual protection of our children's hearts and minds...protection from the dangers of a false gospel.  

When we think of the term "false gospel", we generally tend to think of cults and false religions: Mormonism, Islam, etc.  However, the "false gospel" that seems to be overtaking us now is a different one: one which is much more insidious, much more subtle, and so very, very dangerous.  

I spent several years teaching the youth girls Sunday School class at our former church.  I LOVED teaching this class...I loved the girls, I loved the discussions, I loved everything about it (except the pesky clock that told me my time was up each week...ugh! ;-))  Most of all, I loved the lessons and the things God taught me through them.  At the time of the original writing of this article, we were in 1 and 2 Samuel, learning from the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David.  So much good stuff there!

That particular week, we were in 2 Samuel 6...the account of David's decision to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, and the tragic death of Uzzah as a result of disobedience in transporting the Ark.   There was so much good in this lesson, but the most important point was this:  

We can be totally sincere, our intentions can be wonderful, but if we are not careful to see what God says about what we are doing, and obey Him in that, we may find ourselves in sin and in grave danger.   

The girls and I had an excellent discussion about this that Sunday morning, particularly as it relates to people who say,

 "It doesn't matter what someone believes, or what they call their god, as long as they are sincere."  

We've long heard that philosophy from the world.  However, it is increasingly seeping into the church and the Christian publishing world.  At that time, I had in fact just read a book asserting that very thing which was published by a major Christian publisher and glowingly reviewed all over the blogosphere.

A New American Religion? 
 
In his article "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--The New American Religion", Al Mohler discusses the National Study of Youth and Religion.  As a parent and youth Sunday School teacher, I find the  results of the study, and Mohler's article, quite chilling.

According to Christian Smith and his fellow researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, authors of the study, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism includes the following beliefs:

1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 
2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 
3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 
5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

Sound familiar?  None of these beliefs are new.  They are thoughts we've seen in the "lost" for years. However, this study indicates that they now form the belief system of "most religiously affiliated U.S. teens."

The Mohler article is long, but it is "must" reading as far as I'm concerned, especially for parents, children's/youth workers, and church leadership.  I can't address the entire article here, but there are a couple of things that I feel are worth particular note.

Most Disturbing

Perhaps the most disturbing thing in Mohler's article was this:

"The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?" (emphasis mine)

What does it say, indeed?   I pray that no teen with whom I come into any sort of regular contact...and particularly my own children...would never be able to say such a thing.  This causes me to treasure even more the time carved out in our school schedule for this very thing...not to mention the day-to-day opportunities.  I am strongly convicted to make those times even more of a priority.   

I am also thankful that our family has been blessed with churches in which I believe it would be difficult (if not impossible) for a young adult to go through their childhood and teen years and say such a thing.  I'm thankful that my children (and their parents :)) have had and continue to have the privilege of sitting under preaching each week that is solid "meaty" Biblical truth. 

Colonizing the Church

Another deeply disturbing finding of this study is that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" the church itself today. It "seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions."  

According to the researchers, "...we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."


Whereas we have heard for years that America is becoming a more secular nation, Mohler's article says this: "These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith."


What does that mean for us as Bible-believing Christians?  According to Mohler:

"We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible."

More and more over the past few years, I've been convinced and convicted that as a parent and as a homeschooler, I need to be very careful in my priorities...both on paper, and subconsciously.  As I said in a previous blog post...

"My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically...although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public...although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public! :) My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude...although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.

"My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He...and I...want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and "successful" they appear to be...if they haven't given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught."

• Our children must be firmly grounded in the Word.
• Our children must know the true gospel so that they will be equipped to recognize and reject a false one.
• Our children must know what they believe and why they believe it, but that must go beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge. They must take that as truly their own, and not just what their parents have passed down to them.  

What a challenge to us as parents.  We cannot make the "heart stuff" happen.  There is no formula to produce that in our children.  Our responsibility is to teach them according to God's Word, to diligently pray for them, and most importantly, to truly "live it" ourselves, and to show true repentance and humility when we fail.  Then we have to trust the Holy Spirit to do His work in them, just as He does in us.


What a challenge also to any of us who work with youth or children.  Fellowship is a good thing.  Fun is fine and definitely has its place.   But we must never lose our focus on *why* we are there.   Grounding our children and youth in the truth...and not a watered down version...is crucial.  

What a challenge, really, to any of us who call ourselves Christians.  We need to be sure that we are grounded in truth ourselves.  We need to be sure that we are involved in a solid Bible-teaching church.  We need to support and encourage pastors who are committed to teaching the truth of God's Word.   

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.~2 Peter 2:1

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  ~John 8:31-32

How and where have you encountered the "false gospel" of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism?  Do you agree that it is infiltrating our churches?   How are you living out the command to "teach them diligently" to your children?  

I'd love to hear in the comments, or via the "contact me" box in the sidebar.  


Author's Note: Long-time readers may recognize much of the content of this post.  It was originally written and published in 2010.  In the process of preparing to share it from the archives, I decided to edit and update it a bit and completely republish it instead.  
 

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Thank  you! 

Moralistic Therapeutic...What?

(I started this post days ago, and have really struggled with it.  I think the more important something is to me, the harder time I have sometimes putting my thoughts on paper...or computer screen.  I've finally decided it's time for this one to go "as is"...so my apologies for any awkwardness or lack of clarity in advance.)

Several months ago I began a series of posts on "Protecting Children".   (Protecting Children, part 1;  Protecting Children, part 2)  That series is by no means finished...in fact, it will probably be ongoing for as long as I am blogging.  I have a couple of posts on the topic sketchily planned on the "To Be Blogged" list that I hope to get to very soon, as a matter of fact.   That series focuses on issues such as child pornography, child trafficking, protection from predators, etc....issues about which I am very passionate.  

However, as important as I think those issues are, and as heavy as they are on my heart, there is another area of "child protection" that is even more important...and that is the spiritual protection of our children's hearts and minds...protection from the dangers of a false gospel.  

When we...I...think of the term "false gospel", I...we...tend to think of cults and false religions...Mormonism, Islam, etc.   However, the "false gospel" that I seem to be getting bombarded with lately is a different one, one which is much more insidious, much more subtle, and so very, very dangerous.  

As I've mentioned before, I recently began teaching the youth girls Sunday School class at our church.  I LOVE teaching this class...I love the girls, I love the discussions, I love everything about it (except the pesky clock that tells me my time is up and I am "yet again" late letting the girls out every week...*sigh*.  I really *am* working on it and *determined* to make a habit of getting out on time. Eek.)   Most of all, I am loving the lessons and the things God is teaching *me* through them.  We've been in 1 and 2 Samuel, learning from the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David.  *So* much good stuff there (no wonder I have a hard time finishing on time! :))  

This past week, we were in 2 Samuel 6...the account of David's decision to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, and the tragic death of Uzzah as a result of disobedience in transporting the Ark.   I'm planning a whole separate blog post around this lesson, especially all the parts I had to leave out! :)   But one of the main points of the lesson was this:  We can be totally sincere, our intentions can be wonderful, but if we are not careful to see what God says about what we are doing, and obey Him in that, we may find ourselves in sin and in grave danger.   

I'm NOT going to let myself get any further into that post here, although it's tempting :), but the girls and I had some good discussion on this Sunday morning, particularly as it relates to people who say, "It doesn't matter what someone believes, or what they call their god, as long as they are sincere."  



I read a book just this week (published by a major Christian publisher and glowingly reviewed all over the blogosphere) that asserted that very thing.  I've been stunned to see this attitude seeping increasingly into the church and Christian publishing.



In his article "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--The New American Religion", Al Mohler discusses the National Study of Youth and Religion.  As a parent and youth Sunday School teacher, the results of the study, and Mohler's article, are chilling.



According to Christian Smith and his fellow researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, authors of the study, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism includes the following beliefs:

1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 

2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."

4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 

5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

Sound familiar?  None of these beliefs are new.  They are thoughts we've seen in the "lost" for years.  However, this study indicates that they now form the belief system of "most religiously affiliated U.S. teens."



The Mohler article is long...four pages...but "must" reading as far as I'm concerned, especially for parents, children's/youth workers, and church leadership.  I'm not going to repeat it all here.  However, there are a few points that I feel are worth particular note.



Of everything in the article, this may have been the most disturbing thing of all. Mohler says,

"The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?"

What does it say, indeed?   I pray that no teen with whom I come into any sort of regular contact...and particularly my own children...would never be able to say such a thing.  This causes me to treasure even more the time carved out in our school schedule for this very thing...not to mention the day-to-day opportunities.  I am strongly convicted to make those times even more of a priority.   And I am thankful for a church in which I believe it would be difficult for a teen to make it through the children's and youth departments and be able to say such a thing.  I'm also thankful that my children...and their parents...have the privilege of sitting under preaching each week that is solid "meaty" Biblical truth.  As I told the girls in Sunday School last week...the absolute best preparation they could have for attacks on their faith at college is to listen to and take notes on Bro. Kent's preaching every week.

Another deeply disturbing finding of this study...which won't be a great surprise to many...is that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" the church itself today...which "seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions."  According to the researchers, "...we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."






Whereas we have heard for years that America is becoming a more secular nation, Mohler's article says that isn't necessarily the case..."These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith."






What does that mean for us as Bible-believing Christians?  According to Mohler:

"We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible."

More and more over the past few years, I've been convinced and convicted that as a parent and as a homeschooler, I need to be very careful in my priorities...both on paper, and subconsciously.  As I said in a previous blog post...
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"My primary goal is not for my children to excel academically...although I do want them to excel academically. My primary goal is not for my children to be well-behaved in public...although I certainly want them to be well-behaved in public! :) My primary goal is not even first-time obedience with a respectful attitude...although that is a crucial foundation stone and a vital goal.

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"My primary goal is for my children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Only if they truly love Him and have a personal walk with Him as not only Savior, but also Lord of their lives, will they truly be the successes that He...and I...want them to be. No matter what they look like on the outside, no matter how intelligent, polite, and "successful" they appear to be...if they haven't given their hearts to Him completely, it is all for naught."

I've been reminded through many sources lately that a major component of that is making sure that our children are firmly grounded in the Word...that they know the true gospel, so that they will be equipped to recognize and reject a false one...that they know what they believe and why they believe it, but also that that goes beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge...that it is truly "theirs", and not just what their parents have passed down to them.  What a challenge, particularly as we look toward a new school year.  




And what a challenge to any of us who work with youth or children.  Fellowship is a good thing.  Fun is fine and definitely has its place.   But we must never lose our focus on *why* we are there.   Grounding our children and youth in the truth...and not a watered down version...is crucial.