Should the Truth be Sacrificed for Feelings

So I was kind of excited last night. I got my new text books in for next semesters classes. I am taking another youth ministry class and I am excited to see what I will be learning this semester. So I open the box and this one book stands out to me, it’s called Almost Christian and it’s a book based off the results of the National Study of Youth and Religion. So of course I grab this book first and decide I am going to start reading early to prepare for my class. Well I made it all the way to page 15 before I decided it was time to put the book down and start putting my thoughts down on paper. So here we go.

I am going to throw out a very long and confusing name and then I am going to explain it a little. Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. I mean look at that, it just looks like a big bunch of mumbo jumbo. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that there is someone that actually comes up with words like this, but that is for another day. What this long word actually is talking about is the following believe system that is currently being adopted by our younger generations.

1.     A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.

2.     God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and other world religions.

3.     The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4.     God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.

5.     Good people go to heaven when they die.

Am I the only one who is bothered by this? I read about this and then notice that the author’s are not saying that the youth is to blame for this thought process rather that the congregations themselves are. So that begs me to ask; what exactly are we teaching our children/students today to where this kind of thought about God is even entertained.

What the authors or facilitators of the National Study of Youth and Religion are saying is that a noticeable trend has been to sacrifice and soften the truth of the Gospel in an effort to bring more students/children into the church. I ask you this if you are one who is willing to do this; are you still the church if you soften and/or sacrifice the truth of the Gospel for numbers?

A little while back my pastor presented a message on the salt of the earth. In his message he actually used props in order to present the message and it wasn’t until just now how much I realized that message applied to us. Human nature tells us we don’t enjoy pain and that the truth is indeed painful, therefore we should do everything we can to not present the truth to people so we don’t hurt their feelings. WHAT.

Have we actually gotten to the point nowadays were we are so desperate to tell people about Jesus that we compromise the message. I mean I look at it like this if we are softening or diluting the Gospel in an effort to reach the lost, aren’t we in fact helping them come closer to hell. Not to mention, by diluting the truth of the Gospel how are we glorifying our God? I mean there are just too many variables out there to play with in this realm and subject matter.

I for one will not compromise the truth of the Gospel when I am preaching or teaching to those who need to hear God’s Word. I am not afraid of the truth of the Gospel and what it represents. I will ensure that my students/children understand the truth of the Gospel because I love and respect them that much. I owe that to them. Don’t you?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1:16-17)

 

Greg

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Growing Pains

What can we do to continually impress upon our children/students that doing what is right by God is not just what is right but it is what is necessary? I mean I understand growing pains, believe me I do. But at what point and time do we stop contributing their behavior to our children/students trying to figure out who they are and what boundaries that they can cross.

See for me with what I have learned through my experience in the military is that people, whether kids or adults, will always test you. It is up to the person being tested to put a stop to it and until they do they will never stop being tested. This right now is becoming a reality in my own household with my youngest son, and let me tell you it is driving me insane.

I am not sure where he has learned it but my youngest son has come to the decision that being disrespectful is the cool thing to do. When he first started this months ago we approached the situation as it being just a phase. I mean everyone does it right. We are a good Christian family who have all accepted Christ and been baptized. So each time he would act out I would make sure to point it out to him that he doing things that displease God. I would get angry (because the one thing I cannot stand is disrespect) and treat my children in a way that wasn’t glorifying God; this in turn would upset my wife and make her resent me.

Well one thing that I have learned throughout this process is that my son has no fear of punishment. What I mean by this is that he is not afraid of getting punished for anything because as of late he has not been disciplined when he has done something wrong. This was due to a conscious decision by his mother and me to try and let him work through whatever it was in his little world that was wrong on his own. Let me tell you this much, that was not the right direction to go.

All this came to a head yesterday. He came home and was so happy that he had gotten all A’s from last week’s grades that he was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Now keep in mind he got grounded last week for having bad grades and was grounded until this Friday. Well while I was outside doing his chores, he approached his mother and asked if he could go out and play, and upon being told no he decided that would be the opportune time to show his mother his conduct slip that he received from school. He has been misbehaving and disrespecting his teacher for the last week. Almost to the point to where he gets sent to the principal to get paddled. Well safe to say, last night momma and I took back the power. There is hopefully a little fear back in his heart of consequences for his actions.

I think that we are so busy nowadays trying to make sure that our children/students like us that we forget that we are the adults and that we are not here to be their friends. Instead of getting into that mode where we all of a sudden believe our children/student might think that they know what is good for them, maybe we should just continue to be the adult and make the tough decisions that we sometimes don’t want to make for their well being.

“For God loved the world in this way; He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

See God has already made the tough decisions for us. He has also left His word so we know how to care for our children and ourselves. He has left us directions on what we need to do to teach our children about Him and how to glorify and honor Him. That is what we should be focusing on as adults/parents, setting the proper example for our younger generation to follow. Make the hard choice, God did.

Greg

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Giants

What giants do we face today in our everyday walk with the Lord? Throughout history people have continuously ran into obstacles in their walks that could be classified as giants. In the Bible there are specific instances of giants being in the path of some of our most notable biblical heroes. Take a look at the story of the spies sent into Canaan by Moses. They went into Canaan and saw that it was a fabulous land filled with milk and honey, they even brought out huge grapes that took two grown men to carry. No matter what they saw that was wonderful though, ten of them came out talking about giants who were so large that they made them feel like grasshoppers.

So as adults we have the giants that we look at each and every day in our walks with Christ. To some of us that could be what is going on with our government, the way this country is being de Christianized, the glorification of such things as abortion, sex, and homosexuality on television. I mean as adults we have enough giants in our path to keep us gainfully engaged in spiritual warfare for many years to come. The question to ask is; what giants do our children/students face each and every day?

 For any of us who have children who are in school between the grades of 4^th grade on it is a safe assumption that our children/students are dealing with some of the following giant sized issues each day and we do not even know about it.

·         Drugs

·         Sex

·         Pornography

·         Suicide

·         Violence

·         Homosexuality

·         Bias

·         Racism

This is just a short list that I have heard my own children mention and I have kids in school from the 3^rd grade all the way up to a senior in high school. I guess the problem I see is why this is even an issue at their ages. I mean to start off with no child in the 4^th grade or elementary school period should be talking about half these subjects and if they are caught doing it should be disciplined immediately for it buy their teachers and their parents. The reality is that it doesn’t happen at either level and only fosters the feeling that these things are ok.

The truth is that we should love our children enough to address these tough and uncomfortable issues before they become a problem. That is our job in this world, to guide and protect our children from evil and unnecessary influence. We are not commanded to stand by and watch it happen to our children either. We should take the proactive stance to reach out and prepare our children/students for the giants that they will face in this world.

What we find is that the things we find to be miniscule in importance to us is one of these giants in our children/students lives. Let’s take a look at a scenario that could be one of these situations.

Billy is a ten year old boy who lives in a Christian family and loves sports. Billy has played soccer every since he was old enough to run straight without falling down. Well this year while at VBS Billy was filled with the Holy Spirit and met this dude Jesus and fell in love with Him, so now Billy is a child of God.

Well a couple months go by and soccer season comes around. Well Billy has been a good boy and has been attending church every Sunday and Wednesday and has been putting God first in his life. But now he is faced with a pretty tough decision, his soccer practices this year are going to be held on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This presents a small problem to Billy because now he has to make a decision between something he loves doing and someone he loves. Does he forgo church to play soccer, or does he take the stand and tell his coach and parents that God comes first.

This is one of those situations that can seem to be so miniscule right. I mean it’s just a sport and you are only missing Wednesday service a few months a year. But let’s see how this could turn into a giant in our students/children’s lives.

Billy is now 16 years old and a junior in high school. He has kept his grades up and has excelled at soccer. As a matter of fact he is so good that he is considered to be in the top 50 youth players in the country. In addition he plays on a year round traveling team going all over the state. I mean that sounds awesome right.

Well here is where it gets a little touchy; Billy (who voluntarily gave his life to Christ) has not been to church on a consistent basis in about a year now. I mean he is there at least one Sunday a month (because he has tournaments at least 2 times a month), but is rarely there on Wednesdays.  He has been so consumed with school, soccer, and friends that he hasn’t read his bible in about 5 months. Because he now has practice every single day for 2-3 hours after school, when he gets home he is so tired he cannot even pray. So now this miniscule issue from when he was 10 years old has now turned into a gigantic stumbling block in Billy’s relationship with the Lord.

See Billy has forgotten what that Spirit felt like because he was allowed to place something before God. To him at the age of 10 it was just a sport to keep him busy. His parents could have and should have stepped in and set the ground rules and limitations. It was their responsibility to guide their child/student in the correct spiritual path.

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who love Me and keep My commands. (Exodus 20:4-6)

We as parents and adults need to constantly be on the lookout for what is considered to be a “giant” in our young people’s lives. We cannot and must not focus solely on ourselves when we have children involved. It is imperative that we also take into consideration what is important to them and what is affecting them in their lives.

Greg

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