God is dead. Remember those words from the 1960’s, spoken to make society pull away from Christianity. They shocked, stunned, and infuriated. Both the phrase and phase died as those who started the 1960’s anti-Christian slogan finally realized people weren’t buying it.
Words to dim the light of Christianity burned strong in the 1980’s, when those fighting to abolish the faith forced laws prohibiting prayer in schools. Here are a few.
The real world. In the 1980’s many were told their children needed the public schools to prepare them for the real world. The real world is what we make it. In many of our schools it has become one with students wielding guns and knives and selling drugs.
If we raise children with Christian beliefs and principles, society will become a place with Christian values. Not every person has to be a Christian to live in a world that promotes peace and love any more than every person needs to be violent to live in the current one. It’s a matter of which world one prefers.
Culturally diverse. As Christians we have and should continue to honor the faiths of others as long as their beliefs bring positive values to our society. In the past, Christianity and the Jewish faith have produced a caring, prosperous culture. Both instruct their followers in strong moral principles and teach the Ten Commandments. Other religions have guidelines to live by that produce good. Harming others in the name of any religion should not be tolerated. At the same time, other religions need to honor Christianity. The phrase “culturally diverse” has been used to squelch Christianity, attempting to make Christians stop celebrating religious holidays and sharing their beliefs.
A place for God. Who would want to get to the Pearly Gates, face Saint Peter and tell him, “Yes, I put God in His place in the 1980’s?” God is everywhere. He’s in our hearts, our minds, on the streets, in our schools, in our churches, in our homes, in our closets. As Christians, God is in our being, in the breaths we take. We can’t go anywhere without Him, so attempting to designate places where we leave Him behind is ludicrous. A more correct phrase for those who mistakenly claim there are certain places God isn’t allowed would be, “God is in this place, but I choose not to acknowledge Him here.”
Tolerance. By their faith it’s ingrained in Christians to be tolerant and respect others. A wonderful minister once said, “We’ve become so tolerant of everything that nothing means anything.” Christmas, Easter, Bible studies, prayer in schools and nativity scenes should mean something to Christians.
Christianity needs to be taught in the home. True, but not every home practices Christianity. Looking at this from an altruistic sense, it’s a Christian’s responsibility to spread the Gospel to those who’ve never heard it. When we spread it to children who’ve never heard it, we raise a Christian society. What an oversight to call ourselves disciples of Christ and not include un-churched children in those we want to reach.
Christianity’s outlawed in the public schools. Even though many Christian teachers would like to share their faith, they can’t. For those not exposed to Christianity at home, other options are teaching them in Christian schools and Christian homeschooling groups.
If one isn’t inclined to look at this from an altruistic standpoint, he or she might ask, “Would I rather have my child live in a society filled with people who follow Christ's Gospel of love and peace or one that doesn't?”
Since the public schools stopped abiding by Christian guidelines, they’ve struggled with violence, including shootings, drugs and alcohol. They now condone sex in minors by supplying them with birth control.
Now we have a new phrase.
Post Christian America. Over a span of roughly thirty or forty years attempts to kill off God or get Him out of the way by putting Him in His place have fallen short. Attack the faith. It’s not as strong as God. Some who send their children to public schools also teach the Bible to them. Quite a few in the Christian silent majority educate their children in Christian schools or homeschool them in the faith. ACSI, the Association of Christian Schools International, touches the lives of 5.5 million students worldwide, including those in the three thousand schools that are members of the organization in the United States.
A new facebook icon tells us it isn’t our job to raise our children to face a cruel and heartless world, but to raise them to make the world less cruel and heartless. Many are already doing this.
Easter is just around the corner, reminding us that Jesus rose from the dead. He lives. God and Christianity are alive and well.
Spread the GOOD NEWS!
Words to Believe
Psalm 67:
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
And make his face shine upon us,
That your ways may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
May all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and
sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you,
O God;
may all the peoples praise you
Then the land will yield his harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth
will fear him.”
Proverbs 22: 6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Comments
Thanks for coming by and for your wise words.