It is very easy in this day and time to be confused about what is TRUTH. If you do not believe me then turn on your T.V. and tune in to CNN and Fox News to watch how they discuss the same event or topic from two different sides. Before you realize it you will begin to question whether or not they are even discussing the same event; much less are their “facts” the same. And this seems to be the way of the culture right now as anyone with a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and/or “Satan’s spawn” (as we like to call it at our house) Snapchat account and an internet connection can have an opinion and be able to vent and rant on it. And believe me I understand the irony of making that statement!
And so this leads me to ask this question not only to myself as a parent, but also to all you who are parents: Who is filling the role of PARENT in your child’s life today? Who is giving your child truth about right and wrong, sexuality, marriage, what it means to be an American, or most important about God?
I believe that our culture today has given parents the freedom to step away and assume that their kids are just going to figure it out. We as a culture have adopted the idea that instead of engaging our children to teach them we should allow other people, device apps, tv shows etc. to do all of those things for us. Why take the time to teach your child to read when there is an ipad app which will do the same thing? Then we wonder why our children have attention issues when they have never been made to sit through a church service, doctor visit, or even a family dinner without something to entertain them. I believe that our culture of technology has just made this worse and parents that much more lazy. Most parents today it seems would rather bargain, barter, cave-in, distract or even worse medicate to save them from having to take the effort and diligence it takes to shape a young mind with discipline and consistency.
For instance, this weekend I witnessed a man make statements about homeschooling that were so ignorant it proved to me at least that he had believed a lie. The lie is this: there is no other way to educate your child about real life than to turn them over to a government run school system. Now, I am not saying that public school is evil but I am saying that if your children are in public school you have to work that much harder to be the major influence in their lives. Our culture is telling parents to let schools and other people be the major educator and influence of their child’s mind because they know best. I believe that is not only sad but repulsive that the culture in our country is lying to parents to believe a lie rather than what God our creator has lined out for us in scripture. By the way, Satan has told the same lie to Parents about church. He has convinced parents that simply taking your kids faithfully to church is enough to foster a true relationship with God, and to learn how to live a God honoring life. This is in strong contradiction to what scripture teaches about a Parent’s role versus the Church’s.
Now, I understand this is not the most politically correct stance to take, and some will cringe and say I am a little to hard nosed and rigid (which I have been accused of before). And by no means am I saying that we at ITG have done it all correctly, as we are still learning as well; but none of that makes the trend less true.
Parents, you have a responsibility given by God to help teach, mold, and shape your child’s mind, behavior, beliefs, and reactions to the world around them. By now your asking what does Samuel L. Jackson have to do with this, well this is a great interview that he did in 2013 about this very issue of culture, children, gun control, and who is responsible for shaping children. I thought it was very interesting to hear his opinion and views of media, culture, and parenting (to be honest it is not what I thought it would be).
~ God Bless – Tyler