We Christians are concerned that our children and others for whom we care know the truth, starting with the truth of Christ, of course, but beyond that as well. Look, if "you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" is true and we love people, why wouldn't we want them to know the truth?
Here's the problem. For many it's too late.
What do I mean? Well, we live in a fallen world with sin-sick minds (Rom 1:28) that need transformation (Rom 12:2). All humans start out as blinded (2 Cor 4:4) people with lying hearts (Jer 17:9). All of this can be overcome by Christ, but it doesn't generally happen if you're not aware of the problem. So, here we are, frogs sitting in a pot of water that is getting hotter slowly so we don't notice it and we think it's all perfectly normal. That is, the deck is stacked against the truth and we aren't even fully aware of the problem.
Take marriage, for instance. This whole concept has been so distorted for so long that if you present the actual, biblical view, genuine, Bible-believing Christians will take you to task for your foolishness ... at best. The Bible, for instance, does not consider arranged marriages the ultimate evil. On the other hand, Scripture is radically opposed to divorce. We don't know husbands' roles, wives' roles, parents' roles, or children's roles in all this. We are unclear on the concept of "one flesh" and think "we marry for love" and "out of love" is probably a sufficient reason to terminate it. The basic definition of "one man and one woman united for the purpose of supporting one another and raising godly offspring" is an offense to many Christians. Marriage is sacred, given and defined by God. In it He included purpose, gender roles, mutual support, mission -- it's all in there. But we believers are largely missing it. Factor in the truth that God intended marriage as a picture of the relationship of Christ to His Church, and we're completely lost. Ask yourself. If God's version of marriage is the image of Christ's relationship with the Church, how good of an image of that do our marriages portray? I think you'll agree that we're far too superficial in our view. The problem with "same-sex marriage" is not that they have a different view of marriage from us. It's that both sides are operating on the same basic view of marriage ... and it's not the biblical one. So, you want your kids to learn the truth, but, as it turns out, you're using the world's definition of marriage rather than the biblical one. How are they going to learn the truth?
Take sin, for instance. All of us Christians know what sin is, right? It's doing bad things -- things God forbids -- or failing to do good things -- things that God commands. See? We're smart enough to know about sins of omission and sins of commission. Except this doesn't even begin to cover the issue. Yes, it's what the world sees and, thus, we do, too. Sin is not the simple failure to obey. It is far, far worse. It is the subverting of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). It is the affront to the character of God. It is the open rebellion to the Creator. We don't have a Catholic school nun God who will whack our knuckles for infractions of the rules. We have the Sovereign Master of the Universe whose very nature is offended by our "I will be like the Most High." And it is from birth. "Doing bad things"? Not really close. Those "bad things" (whether omission or commission) are a product of a sinful heart and the remedy is not "do better." The remedy is either eternal death or "die with Christ."
Those are merely two examples. They are everywhere. So very much of our world has seeped into our perspectives that we don't even realize it. You will generally see it when you pick up your Bible and read and say, "Hey, wait, that's not right!" Because "'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isa 55:8-9). Because the minute we mistakenly think He's just like us in His views and values, we diminish Him. And if we're not aware of the distance between our world's thinking (and, consequently, often our own) and His, it is already too late to teach our kids and loved ones the truth.
2 comments:
Sin actions are just the symptoms of the creature. a skunk is not a skunk simply because he smells bad, he simply smells bad because he is a skunk... we often think that salvation is merely a correction in our behavior, or thinking. and although our behavior and thinking does matter, it too is just symptomatic of the creature. we sin because our true nature is dead in sin. we would never see a charm school for zombies. no matter how much they may change their behavior and their clothes and make-up. THEY ARE STILL ZOMBIES... yes we are zombies too. and unless a new life is instilled in us, we are just dead people walking around. if it's already too late its because we are born this way. ok enough with the zombies, perhaps vampires have a better chance, after all they usually have better clothing and a witty sense of humor.
and what about Wolf man, at least his hair is Perfect..
My concern is that former zombies with new lives continue to think that "zombie thinking" is normal because, hey, everyone is doing it.
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