Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!
The thinking that was the genesis of this article started as the result of yet another conversation with a fellow believer about the crazy world we live in with lots of seemingly crazy people. This dear brother was expressing the frustration that we all have when we deal with a non-believer (and sometimes a believer) who apparently does not understand that they are making decisions that are clearly detrimental to those that they are supposed to be helping. We find these situations every day in the workplace, our government- practically everywhere where there are people.
My response when I am in one of those conversations with a frustrated believer is to simply remind them that their expectations have been poorly calibrated and that the root cause of the problem is sin in the world. And their response to my comment? Maybe a brief hesitation before the conversation continues, but the conversation does continue, and it does not include a discussion about sin and the effects on our world. This topic doesn’t seem to get much traction among Christians. Yes, we all know that Adam and Eve sinned, and we are all sinners, blah, blah, blah, but I believe that most Christians don’t live their lives with a full orbed understanding of the implications of a sinful, fallen world, and how that should inform their thinking and actions as they walk daily with the Lord.
Creating and walking in an unreal world is the business of the non-believer. They refuse to acknowledge God, so they suppress the truth and create a god of their own liking, typically based on the things that the one true God has created. They must worship something or someone because God has hardwired every human being to be social and that includes an ability to have a relationship with Him. And it’s not just one god, it is many gods that they must continue to love and pursue so they can bury any possible thought that they should repent and love the God of the Bible. They have no fear of God in their hearts. They love this world and never want to see the return of Jesus.
And what are the sinful effects that I am talking about? The Bible describes man as wicked and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart are only evil continually. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. The person who rejects Christ delights in doing wrong and rejoices in the perverseness of evil. He is rotten to the core and out of his heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. In other words, God says that the man who does not worship God is an idiot- a crazy person. These descriptions are not of people only in Biblical times, but of all people for all times.
So, when we experience or interact with people who believe it is a good thing to kill babies, should we be surprised? When we encounter people who think that we are being hateful and unloving when we challenge the idea of changing the sex of a five year old, should we be frustrated? When the company that we work for makes policy changes that are clearly the opposite of God’s revealed will for His creatures, should we be confused? No, these things are not the exceptions to what happens in a fallen world, they are the expected.
Unfortunately, believers have also created an unreality. No, not because they hate God, but because they too have many loves in this world. This is especially true in our blessed country where God has enabled us to have access to so much in terms of wealth and health that we have become more focused on this world than the next. We love our cars and homes, our vacations, our sports or celebrity heroes, and the multitude of ways that we can entertain ourselves. We plan and work hard to make sure that we get our share of these temporal things, but we forget, or don’t fully understand, that this is not the world that we should be preparing for and that all of our efforts in life should have both our present home and our future home in mind every day.
So, what does this mean for Ephesians 6:4- to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord? Well, I think it is a big deal. Far too often, parents refuse to talk about anything negative or sinful that goes on in the world with their children. There are reasons for this, but I think they are flawed. For example, some parents just want to create a world of enjoyment for their children. They might say, “let’s just let them live a kid’s life.” On the surface, it sounds kind and loving, but once again, it is not reality. So, when the neighborhood bully whacks your child in the mouth, you are not doing your child a favor to simply handle it by telling the child that they won’t play with that kid anymore. No, that is an opportunity to talk about the perverseness of sin in people, even the neighborhood 8 year old.
Running headlong into the effects of a sinful, fallen world are not isolated incidents. No matter how much a parent tries to shield a child, the child will experience the sins of others at school, in any job, and even church, and for the person who has not been taught what to expect in this fallen world, it will be a source of frustration, disillusionment, and confusion.
What does this look like in practical terms? Well, here is what it is not: I am not saying that parents should load their children’s minds with the woes of the world. I am also not saying that any one woe of the world is appropriate for a child to hear and process regardless of his age. What I am saying is that parents should work within the framework of discussing the effects of a fallen world as the Lord providentially brings people and situations into the life of your child. Using the example of the neighborhood bully, the child should be taught what the Bible says about the fallen and sinful heart of the bully and what the Bible would instruct the family to do next.
There are at least three wonderful things that can come out of weaving the realities of a sinful world into your child’s mind through Biblical parenting discussions:
- To create a sense in your child’s mind that there is something greater than living in this world and it’s not Disneyworld, Marvel fantasy movies (which I love)- it’s heaven with God. This will help create a Christian worldview of his life.
- The opportunity for you to talk about your own heart and life experiences before and after you came to know Christ. Remember what Paul wrote: you were once just like those non-believers in all of their wicked actions and sinful desires.
- The possibility that your child may begin to see that he needs the Savior to save him from his own sinful heart and from this evil world.
All of this brings us once again to the heart and mind of the parent. Sadly, I believe that we don’t pray for Jesus to return because we are happy right where we are now. We are not longing to escape the muck that we live in because we are immersed up to our eyeballs and can’t see it. Things are pretty good but guess what? They aren’t. Prayers for the return of Christ should be part of our daily petitions before the Lord. Lord willing, if we start praying that way, the Lord will light the fire for His return in us.
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Last modified: May 26, 2023
