Are you SURE your child has a moral anchor?
I recently sat on a panel of “experts” regarding the topic of sexuality at Rice University. Out of the three panelists, I was the only one who advocated a biblical worldview. To say that the reformed Jewish rabbi and sexual therapist seated on either side of me had different ideas about sex than I do is a serious understatement!
We were each given ten minutes to present our ideas about sexuality, then the conversation was open for students to ask virtually anything on their minds regarding sex and relationships during a time of “Q and A.”
Right off the bat, questions were directed at me about abortion:
- Should it be legal?
- Are there exceptions when a woman’s health is at stake?
- What if a pregnant woman is too poor to provide for a child?
Some of our country’s brightest minds continued posing questions:
- What if I’m a Christian but don’t want to wait until my boyfriend and I tie the knot in five years before having sex?
- Is it healthy to be involved emotionally and sexually with multiple people at once?
- When will my girlfriend and I know we’re ready to have sex?
- Is homosexuality wrong?
The primary difference between my responses and that of my fellow panelists is that they advocated a relativistic approach to sex and relationships—“If it makes you happy, do it.” I, on the other hand, poured out my soul trying to convey God’s bigger purpose for sex and asserted that there should be more than self at the center of our sex-related decisions (I’m trusting you put those two italicized words together and added “ed”).
At-Home Application
Does your son or daughter esteem the Bible as the standard of truth for everyday living or dismiss it as a mere historical collection of man’s out dated opinions? Does he or she believe that the Bible, every single passage of Scripture, is inspired by God—I mean really believe that?
Have you ever asked?
Let’s not assume that our child’s active church involvement equates to heartfelt belief in the inherency of the Bible! We can posses knowledge without buying into it.
I shared this same scripture with the Rice University students:
2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
We live in a day and time in which relativism rules, and the masses insist: “What’s right for you is right for you, but don’t push your ‘right’ on me!” Knowing this, if and until our kids cling to the Holy Word of God as a trustworthy anchor for their character, morality and life decisions, they are sure to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).
Let’s ask our kids what they believe about the Bible and assure them, they need not cover up their sincere beliefs on our account. If they say they do esteem the Bible as God-inspired, let’s ask them to share three reasons why—not to test their sincerity but to motivate them to give critical thought to what they say they believe. Trust me, if we don’t ask tough questions of them now, someone else will in the not so distant future!
If our kids admit that they do, in fact, question the reliability of the Bible, don’t panic. That just means we need to do a better job providing practical explanations about the truth claims of the Bible.
If we’re the ones unsure about the validity of the Scriptures, now is the time to seek to reconcile our doubts—to pursue answers to our questions as opposed to writing them off as unimportant.
Please keep in mind, a reverence for the Bible is only relevant when combined with a passionate love-walk with Christ.
Parents, we don’t have to become renowned Bible scholars; we just need to know why we put confidence in the Scriptures and pass on that hope and belief to our kids.
Reprinted from http://www.lauragallier.com/articles/are-you-sure-your-child-has-a-moral-anchor/
Darla
Well said.
May 29, 2012 - 5:12 pm