I recently heard a Christian influencer with a large following repeat a worn out encouragement. She said conviction comes from God, but shame comes from Satan. The first time I heard this, I remember thinking it sounded great. But just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it is biblical. What is implied in this statement is, if you feel ashamed, even if it is legitimate shame over sin, it did not come from God because God doesn’t shame us.
While it is true that, once God has forgiven us, we shouldn’t keep coming back to our shame as we are known to do, it is one of the tools God uses to call sinners to repentance. Believing that any shame you feel is not from God is a lie that only serves Satan. If he can keep you believing that all shame you feel is from him, it will never drive you to repentance. The truth is Scripture gives us examples of God shaming people to draw their attention to their sin.
Examples of Shame
Jesus shamed the Pharisees when He called them white-washed tombs and brood of vipers. He was shaming them when he overturned the tables in the temple and told them they were turning His house into a den of thieves. In Ezekiel, we are told that Israel needed to be ashamed of their iniquities (43:10). In Hosea, God promised to change Israel’s glory into shame because of their sin (4:7). First Corinthians reminds us that God uses the foolish things to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong (1:27). And Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica that if anyone doesn’t obey the words of Scripture, they should have nothing to do with that person, “that he may be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14).
Of course, shame is not the only tool God uses. When He met the woman at the well, she had experienced enough shame, so He used compassion instead. The same is true of the woman caught in adultery. She already felt her shame, so Christ did not pile it on. But when we come across people who think they know better than God, like the Pharisees who had added rules to God’s law that oppressed God’s people, shame is the appropriate instrument.
Where there is no shame, the private becomes a spectacle, what was wrong becomes right, and what was evil becomes praiseworthy. When we look around our world today and see women wearing barely a stitch of clothing while they twerk on a public stage, or men dressed up in caricature costumes of women dancing lewdly for children, or the number of women who are choosing abortion so they can be free to live their immoral lifestyles without consequences, I would say we could use some shame!
And that is the point: we ought to be ashamed of sin. When we think we know better than God and refuse to submit to His authority, we ought to be ashamed. Paul seems to be describing our current society when he says to the Philippians, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (3:19 ESV).
This same Christian influencer who repeated this belief about shame claims that while she doesn’t meet the standards of the church, she still meets God’s standards. As a result, she speaks out against the church, God’s given method for community among believers, as an oppressive institution. This sounds very close to believing she knows better than God as she seeks to destroy His church. And this is the very situation where some shame is warranted.
What Is Shame for?
Perhaps where we err when it comes to shame is not in that we don’t use this tool God gives, but that we use it wrongly. The goal of shame is not to lord it over someone in an “I am right, and you are wrong” way. It is not to pile on when that person has already recognized she ought to be ashamed. The goal of shame is to call sinners to repentance. Shame should drive us toward Jesus and His forgiveness. It should not be used as a club to hit someone over the head when she is already convinced of her guilt.
While we should be ashamed of our sin and lay it at the feet of Jesus never to pick it up again, we should not be ashamed of standing for the truth in a world that wants to bully us into complying with lies. Mark 8:38 reminds us that if we are ashamed of God, He will be ashamed of us. As long as we keep our eyes on Him, we will not be put to shame (Psalm 119:6). We should not be ashamed of suffering for the cause of Christ (1 Peter 4:16), and we should not shrink back in shame from God but abide in Him (1 John 2:28).
So, friend, how do you know if your shame is from God or Satan? Evaluate the cause of the shame. Are you ashamed because of sin? Let that shame drive you to the feet of Jesus where you can lay that sin down. Are you ashamed because you are standing alone on truth in a sea of lies? Stand boldly because that shame is not of God but of this world, and you will be rewarded. Stop letting the world tell you how God works and what He does. Turn to Scripture for truth.
Few things are as controversial in the Christian world as music—though I believe Halloween might give it a run for its money—and I will fully admit that I am a music snob. I grew up in a musical family, and both of my kids have inherited that same affinity. In college, I minored in church music. And, until recently, I have always been part of a praise team, choir, or singing specials at church. Music is in my blood.
As I have grown in discernment and increased my biblical worldview, I have had to reevaluate the types of music I will play in our home. I vividly recall listening to secular music when Mark and I were first married. I started paying attention to my mood and my expectations of people when I would listen to Christian music instead, and the results were very interesting. Music does affect us! It helps us memorize the good and the bad. It sets the tone for our environment. It can even attach itself to pleasant or hurtful memories. And often, we are unaware of the sway it has over us.
In the last few years, our family has visited many different churches, and one of the things we have noticed is the variety of song services during the churches’ worship services. We participated in services where the music was acapella. Others only sang Psalms. Others sang songs that came straight from Scripture and were unfamiliar to us. Most used the song service to “set a mood” for the upcoming sermon. One in particular seemed to just put on a show, singing songs with little to no substance and a ridiculous amount of phrase repetition. It was obvious which churches placed a high importance on the songs they sang and which ones only wanted to entertain, paying little heed to the words they were singing.
Gone are the days when we could simply trust a “Christian” label on a song. With so many false teachers infiltrating the ranks of Christianity and so much worldliness taking over the Christian music scene, it is important that we know how to evaluate music. It is easy to get caught up in the melody, the sticky lyrics, or the good “vibes” we get from the song and not recognize that we are not worshipping God at all.
Christian Music and Worship
First, it is imperative that we understand music is not evil. All throughout Scripture, we are told to worship God with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The longest book in the Bible, Psalms, is a book of worship songs the Jews sang as they set themselves apart from the world. David, a man after God’s own heart, was a gifted musician, called upon to soothe Saul’s spirit when he was out of sorts. And instruments are also not evil; the Bible mentions all kinds of musical instruments by name that were common during that time, lending to the assertion that we can use instruments common in our time. The Israelites were encouraged to use their instruments and their musical talents, even dancing, when they worshipped. While music and instruments can absolutely be used to draw people away from God, they can absolutely be used to draw people towards God, too. And there is nothing inherently more spiritual about an organ over a guitar. Both can be used to worship evil, and both can be used to worship God.
Besides worshipping God, there is another purpose to the song service: spiritual instruction. Our worship of God becomes deeper and more meaningful when we learn more about Him. As I mentioned earlier, music helps us memorize. That is why a song we heard on Sunday can stay with us all throughout the week. Therefore, we should be using the time during the music service to help in the spiritual growth of the congregation. This is why it is more important for a song to have doctrinal substance than a catchy tune.
Music is not the only way to worship. For some reason in our society, the “song service” and the “worship service” have become synonymous, but the song service is only a part of the worship service. The prayer, the sermon, the invitation, even the offering are ways we can worship God during the church service. And our worship is not limited to our time in church. Everything we do throughout every day of the week can be an act of worship. We can change diapers, make meals, do laundry, go to our jobs, drive down the road, play games, and sleep to the glory of God.
The Object of Our Worship
As with everything man gets his hands on, worship can be perverted. We need to evaluate the object of our worship. The music portion of the worship service in our churches is meant as a time to worship God. Unfortunately, many modern songs twist this purpose and worship “me,” “I,” and “myself” instead of worshipping God. If the song is about who I am, how God makes me feel, how I define God, or what God can do for me, then it is not worshipping God, it is worshipping me.
Not only can a song be twisted to worship self, but also it can be manipulated to simply elicit an emotional response. There are many songs that make us feel something. Maybe the music builds in a certain way as to increase our feelings of worship, causing us to close our eyes, stand spontaneously, or raise our hands. Maybe the lyrics strike a chord with us based on a particular circumstance in our lives at that time. Maybe the song lends itself to dramatic outbursts or added musical trills and runs. But, friend, we must keep our eyes on the intended object of worship! Emotional responses are fickle. Our emotions should follow our knowledge of who God is, not a fabricated, momentary feeling.
Christian Music for the Congregation
We should also consider what makes a good congregational song. If the goal of the song service is to lead the congregation to worship in unity, then the songs we choose to sing as a congregation should lend themselves to congregational singing. When there is a solo or the music leader strays from the melody, this causes confusion rather than unity in the assembly. One of the reasons hymns have been so popular throughout the years is because most of them are predictable. Even if you have never heard a particular hymn before, the melody often follows common musical patterns, so it is easy to pick up. Unlike most modern worship songs, hymns are repetitive in melody but not in lyrics. This makes them easy to learn, too. Contemporary worship songs often have difficult transitions, bridges, or vocal ranges making them more of a distraction and less conducive to congregational worship. Please don’t misunderstand me, not all hymns are good and not all contemporary choruses are bad. Each song should be evaluated independently before we choose to sing it in our churches.
The Origin of the Music
Finally, we must consider the origin of the song. Who wrote it? What affiliation do the songwriters have? What other kinds of songs do they write? The importance of these questions is two-fold. There is a practical, financial side to consider, and there is a spiritual-health-of-the-congregation side to consider.
Let’s start with the practical side. We live in a time when we value private ownership not only of property, but also of ideas. Being accused of plagiarism is no small thing, and using someone’s intellectual property without their permission is stealing. As a result, there have been checks and balances set up to ensure an artist is financially compensated when his song is played—as he should be.
Christian Music and Stewardship
We are called to be good stewards of the money God provides us, both on a individual level and as a church body. I don’t want to get into the weeds on this, but churches purchase a license to use an artists songs, and as individuals, we either purchase the song or listen to it on a membership platform like Spotify or Apple Music, all of which we pay to use. This is a way to ensure the artists are compensated each time we play or use the song. So when we play a song on one of these platforms or we sing a song in church, we are financially supporting that artist and should consider if that is good stewardship of the money God has provided.
Each church should make this decision prayerfully, but I will share my position on this. An individual artist or band who is not affiliated with a larger organization can learn and grow during a musical career, so picking and choosing individual songs that are doctrinally sound from those artists whose lifestyle and teaching align with Scripture is acceptable. Of course, if you find that they have made a statement that goes against Scripture, supporting their ministry should end until such time as they repent.
A band that is affiliated with a larger organization or ministry should be regarded with more scrutiny. When we financially support a band that is part of a church or ministry, our money may not stay simply as a support of the music portion of that organization but may be used to finance other endeavors. For example, Bethel Music is part of Bethel Church, which includes a ministry training facility. When I support Bethel Music, my money may well be used to fund the training facility. What does that organization teach? Does it align with Scripture? Would we invite that pastor to preach behind the pulpit of our church? If not, we should not be supporting that ministry with our dollars.
When we consider adding a song to our church’s music service that comes from one of these bands, we also need to look at their entire repertoire of music, not just the one song in isolation. When we look at the entirety of their work, do they only sing about those attributes of God that make us feel good, like His love, mercy, and goodness? Or do they also sing about His justice, holiness, and righteousness? Do they ever mention His wrath or His power? Just like a lie of omission (telling only part of the story) is a sin, singing only about the parts of God we like paints only half of the picture.
Christian Music and the Assembly
Perhaps we think we can still pick and choose songs that don’t meet this sniff test because that one song is just so good and the lyrics are spot on. Let’s consider the effect that could have on the spiritual well-being of the members in the assembly. One of the church members absolutely loves the song and looks it up online to find the artist. As soon as she find it, she adds it to her Spotify playlist and begins listening to it on repeat. She loves the song so much that she downloads the entire album, she goes to YouTube and searches the artist, and then she begins listening to sermons preached by the pastors in that organization. Suddenly, you have a member of your congregation falling into false beliefs which cause her to deconstruct her faith.
The music we encourage our church members to listen to is no light issue, friend! The song service should be just as concerned about the spiritual growth of the assembly as the sermon portion of the service. The music pastor should be more pastor than musician, weighing everything he brings to the congregation against the teachings of Scripture.
Conclusion
I know this is a heavy and controversial topic, and if you have read this far, I commend you! I encourage you to do the research and come to your own conclusions about the music you choose to play in your home. You may have convictions about music that your pastor or music minister don’t share. Like I said at the beginning, I consider myself a music snob and have dealt with this situation repeatedly. Prayerfully consider which aspects can be covered in love, which aspects should be addressed, and which aspects are deal breakers for you.
Ultimately, God is sovereign, and He can redeem those things the enemy intends for evil. While this is not a salvation issue, we are told in James 4:17 that it is a sin to know the right thing to do and not do it. That applies in every area of our lives, including the music we listen to and sing.
Few books have left me with so much food for thought as Rebekah Merkle’s book Eve in Exile. In this book, Merkle explains some daunting and controversial passages of Scripture in a way I haven’t heard before. She also explains how women have been the drivers of our cultural downfall and how we can drive the rebuilding of our society. Merkle is clear, concise, and even funny at times in her unpacking of difficult topics, making the book an easy and enjoyable read.
She begins the book by reminding us that freedom does not mean we live without boundaries. Her analogy of a basketball game with no hoops or lines hits home as she compares it to our society’s current inability to define what a woman is. She says, “True freedom lies in the opportunity to pursue excellence, and that opportunity is dependent on the boundaries that define and restrict the entire field of endeavor” (10). Later in the book, she adds, “[…] we can grow, mature, and change, sure. But we can’t grow past the fixed limits that He has built into our natures” (99). It is a sobering thought as we wrestle with what our purpose is as women created in the image of God.
Part 1 of the Book
The book is divided into four sections that develop the purpose of women and how and why we have gone so wrong. The first section of the book explains some of the pitfalls. Whether it is longing for a fictional era or chasing a mythical idea of fulfillment, women have been the driving force behind the downfall of our society and culture. We long for a time we have only seen in the movies, and we have distorted our God-given drive into something completely disconnected from our purpose.
Part 2
In the second section of the book, Merkle delves into the history of feminism, but she does so in a way that makes the journey very clear. Her explanation makes it obvious that we would end up where we are long before we arrived. Going back to a “simpler” time will lead us to the same place we currently stand because the seeds were sown during that “simpler” time. Merkle doesn’t get into the weeds of a purely academic history, but instead, looks at the potential and legitimate causes of the different waves of feminism. While some of her ideas are purely opinion, they make sense when you follow her logic.
Merkle describes my dilemma with feminism so well when she points out that some of the causes the feminists took up were good, but how we accomplish those outcomes matters, and a feminist is never going to get there the same way a Christian should. She reminds us that, “Trajectory matters, and the trajectory of the feminist movement has been opposed to Christianity since day one. We need to get over the fact that sometimes we happen to agree with feminists on this or that issue. Just because we occasionally agree with the what does not mean we were ever agreed on the how or the why” (92).
Looking at the outcomes of feminism we are experiencing today and the fact that more women seem to be unhappy now than ever before, we must ask if feminism will ever deliver on its promises. After documenting the statistics, Merkle summarizes, “For the last fifty years, American women have chased the rainbow and the pot of happy has not turned up” (69). She adds, “We need to figure out what went wrong—not so that we can sit around and criticize our grandmothers, but so that we can figure out how to spare our daughters” (73).
Part 3 of the Book
In the third section, Merkle takes us back to Genesis to unpack our purpose. She points out that, “Design matters. The intent of the designer matters. And we women, as God’s creatures, are designed by Him to fulfill a particular role” (98). But that role may not look like what we have been led to believe it looks like. What does the Bible say we are designed to do? What does this look like for women in our current time? As she develops the ideas presented in the passage of subduing, filling, helping, and glorifying, she explains what the biblical terminology means and draws analogies that make those meanings clear. In this section, Merkle goes to great lengths to define the biblical view of submission.
Part 4
Merkle gives examples of ways women can fulfill their purpose in the fourth section of the book. She reminds the reader that one woman’s way of fulfilling her purpose may not look like her neighbor’s way, yet they can both be obedient to their callings of womanhood. While she talks about different ways we can subdue, fill, help, and glorify, she is careful to repeat that the examples she gives are just some of the things we can do, and we can make them our own. Merkle describes women as, “[…] born translators. We take principles, abstract ideas, and then put flesh to them” (143). One analogy Merkle makes when it comes to the difference between the roles of men and women is that of music. Men are singing the melody while women are singing harmony. But feminists want all of us to be singing the same note, making the music monotone and boring (174).
In the conclusion, Merkle sets out the path to rebuild our culture. While it will look very different than the path to destruction looked, there really is nowhere to go but up from here. Ultimately, we should not seek to escape, but we should rise up to fight for our convictions as we instill them into the next generation. Merkle points out that, “God hasn’t called us to run away from the world […] Christ expects his church to launch a full scale assault on the world” (24). While I may not agree fully with her statement that, “The majority of our most pressing moral issues are the direct result of the women of this nation fighting for what they have declared to be their ‘rights,’” I can understand that there is definitely truth in it (197) because, “A wise woman is capable of building a house just as much as a foolish woman is capable of tearing one down” (202).
Draw Back to the Book
One draw back to the book is that some of the ideas presented, when followed to their logical conclusion, could lead to an attitude of arrogance or self-importance even for the godly wife. And considering that has been the crux of the entire feminist movement, it is something we should guard against. After all, isn’t it just like a sinner to take what God created as good and pervert it into selfishness and self-service?
Are we commanded to be “nice”? For too long we have allowed an unbelieving world to tell us what it looks like to be a Christian. So what does the Bible actually say about it?
One of my favorite preachers, Voddie Baucham, Jr., is known to point out that, in our society today, “There is an 11th commandment. The 11th commandment is ‘Thou shalt be nice,’ and we don’t believe the other ten.” Unfortunately, this belief has snuck into the church and given Christians an excuse not to call out sin. We are so afraid of offending that we don’t speak truth even though we know that the truth is what sets people free from their captivity to sin (John 8:31-32).
You might be thinking that the Bible tells us to be kind and to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15 & 32) so, of course, we should be nice! But loving truth does not equal watered-down truth. Biblical kindness does not mean affirming or enabling sinful behavior. When Scripture talks about unity, it doesn’t mean unity at the expense of righteousness, but unity through righteousness. While there is no excuse for rudeness, name-calling, or mocking, there is definitely a time to be blunt and direct. Tiptoeing around the truth and leaving room for misunderstanding does not meet the standards of kindness or love set forth in Scripture.
For too long, we have allowed the world to tell us what it means to be a Christian. We have allowed the world to set the rules for the church based on a worldly interpretation of Scripture. While worldly “wisdom” tells us that we shouldn’t hurt the sinner’s feelings, biblical kindness is concerned more with the sinner’s eternal destiny than temporary offense. It isn’t loving to neglect to tell someone the truth that will save his soul; in fact, it is selfish because we care more about our own temporary comfort than his eternity.
No matter where you land on the debate about election versus free will, Scripture is clear that we believe because we hear the Gospel (Romans 10:14). As Christians, it is our job to tell people the truth so they can hear it and believe. Not wanting to step on toes, not being liked, or not wanting to offend are not defensible excuses for not sharing God’s plan for His creation.
Imagine You’re on a Plane…
I want to tweak an illustration I first heard from Ray Comfort in his book, The Way of the Master. Imagine you are on a plane with several other people, and during the emergency instructions you’ve heard a million times, an announcement is added informing everyone that, at some point during the flight, the plane is going to crash. You don’t know when this is going to happen, but you know there will come a time when you will need to bail out of the plane. Because of this knowledge, you don a parachute. This is a unique parachute because you only have to put it on. When it’s time for you to jump, the parachute will do all of the work. You don’t have to pull the ripcord or even build up the courage to take the plunge. All you have to do is wear the parachute.
There are other people on the plane with you, and there is a parachute for each person, but no one else is wearing one. Maybe they didn’t hear the announcement because they tuned it out with all of the others. Maybe they think it isn’t true; it’s just the airline trying to manipulate them. Or maybe they are waiting until it’s necessary to put the parachute on.
You grow concerned for their safety and start asking them why they haven’t put their parachutes on. One woman tells you that the parachute will mess up her hair and ruin her outfit, so she doesn’t want to wear it. Her appearance and reputation are too important to her.
Another passenger points out the fabric of the parachute. It is too itchy and will be uncomfortable. It will rub him the wrong way and make him miserable. He might even end up with a rash that will make others laugh at him.
Still another passenger tells you he doesn’t need the parachute; he can save his own life if the plane goes down. After all, he spends so much time at the gym that he is strong enough to endure anything that might come his way.
The final passenger has plans for this flight. She brought some things to do, and if she puts on the parachute, it will hinder her mobility, and she won’t be able to follow through with her plans.
Everyone heard the announcement that the plane will crash, so you simply put your parachute on and hope that you can show them how much better it would be if they did the same. Perhaps they will simply learn from your example. Then you lean back, close your eyes, and pray the plane will crash soon.
Should You Be Nice?
Hopefully you can see the correlation. Can you see how, at the risk of offending one of these passengers, it is still better to share the truth with them? Your appearance and reputation aren’t worth your life. A little discomfort is a small price to pay to save your life. You can’t be strong enough to save yourself. Changing your lifestyle is worth saving your life even if it means you can’t do the things you have always done before. And simply living by example isn’t enough to show others that they need to make a change.
In the same way, we can’t keep silent about the Gospel because turning to Jesus might ruin someone’s reputation, require them to change their lifestyle, or force them to recognize they can’t save themselves. Relying on lifestyle evangelism in hopes that they will learn from our example isn’t enough, either. We don’t know when, but soon this world will come to an end, and after that, we all face an eternal destination. Hunkering down and simply waiting for it to end, repeating, “even so, come quickly, Lord,” isn’t fulfilling our responsibility.
Eternal Perspective
Everything we say and do must be done with eternity in mind. It doesn’t matter if you offend someone with the Gospel if your goal is to spend eternity right next to her in the presence of God. Affirming someone’s sinful lifestyle is actually unkind because that lifestyle will lead him to eternity apart from God. Because this life is all we know, we often forget this life is a vapor (James 4:14). The decisions I make in this life determine the course of my eternity, and that course can’t be altered at that point. We must take advantage of now!
One of the things that has become abundantly clear to me over the last few years is just how much our grip on eternity, or lack thereof, affects our daily choices and actions. It is easy to say we believe something until the rubber meets the road, and we are forced to live it out. But we will never get a grip on eternity unless we spend time with the creator of eternity. The more time you spend in the Word of God, the greater your knowledge and understanding of Who He is and how He operates. And that gives you confidence to live in light of eternity rather than fearing man.
Christian, stop allowing the world to tell you how you should behave, what you can and cannot say and do, and what the Bible means. When we take the time to read and study the Word for ourselves, we get to know God, and this gives us the courage to speak truth to this lost and dying world.
The book of Daniel reinforces the idea that education is discipleship based on the education tactics used with the Jewish exiles.
As I spent the month of July sitting in the book of Daniel, I was struck by the fact that King Nebuchadnezzar understood the importance of education. He understood that education is discipleship. And many of his education tactics are being used in our society today. If you want to get some context on this topic before you continue this post, read my previous post Education Is Discipleship.
At the very beginning of the book, Daniel relates to us how he came to live in Babylon. Most scholars agree that he and his friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (better known by their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), were around the age of fifteen when they were essentially kidnapped and taken to Babylon. Once there, these young men were subjected to very intentional and systematic tactics that were intended to make them forget where they came from so they could lead their own people to follow the Babylonian culture.
Babylonian Education Tactics
The first education tactic used by the Babylonians was isolation. Not only were these boys taken from their families in Israel, but they were also separated from the other exiles. They were specifically selected for their appearance, pedigree, and knowledge to be set apart to be trained and taught. This brings us to the second tactic of the Babylonians: indoctrination.
Scripture tells us that they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The goal was to immerse them in this new culture and teach them where the beliefs originated. They were supposed to replace what they had learned in Israel with this new and “superior” knowledge. Since the Babylonians were able to defeat and conquer the Israelites, the Babylonian gods and culture must be better, so the Jews were expected to assimilate, which is the third education tactic.
Daniel and his friends had a complete lifestyle change. They were served foreign (to them) food and drink that came from the king’s table. They were taught what it meant to stand before the king. And they were expected to comply with every request, including answering to a different name. This leads us into the last of the Babylonian education tactics.
The final tactic of the Babylonians was confusion. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are all names that point to the God of Israel. Daniel means “God is my judge.” Hananiah means “Yahweh is gracious,” Mishael, “Who is what God is?” and Azariah, “Yahweh is a helper.” The new Babylonian names given to these young men, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, all point to the Babylonian gods Maduk, Bel, and Nebo. By creating confusion, King Nebuchadnezzar understood that these boys would cling to anything that appeared to be solid ground. They would go with the flow of the culture because it would all make sense once they had spent the full three years under this indoctrination.
Of course, if you are familiar with the biblical account, you know that they did not assimilate. They rejected the food and held to their Jewish beliefs, and they paid dearly for their faithfulness. We might look at Daniel and his friends and think, “See, they made it. They were able to stay faithful to God in spite of living in a godless society—a society that was hostile to their faith.” But how many captives didn’t remain faithful to God? Of all of the Israelites taken to Babylon, we only know of these four young men who stood strong in spite of the danger.
And boy, did they face danger! They weren’t threatened with death, they were literally thrown into the fire and into the lion’s den where they were expected to die. Only through God’s intervention did they survive. How many others caved under pressure because their faith wasn’t strong enough to sustain them?
So how does this relate to education tactics seen in our society? I have heard and read many preachers talk about this for our college students. Once our kids go off to college, they are isolated, indoctrinated, assimilated, and confused. But I would argue this is happening long before college. I would argue this is the intention of government schools.
Before you close this post offended because your daughter teaches in public school, and she is not indoctrinating her students, please hear me: This is the goal of the school system, not each individual teacher! I am 100% pro teacher. I know many amazing teachers who are doing their best to stand in the gap and protect their students from the world’s harmful ideologies. Unfortunately, most of those same teachers are also wondering how long they will be able to do that.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s break down this sequence.
Education Tactics in Our Society
Isolation: You may be thinking, “My kids come home everyday, and we talk about what they are learning.” Ok, I get it, but if you have been at work for 8 hours that day, and your child has been at school for 8 hours that day, how much energy do you really have to talk about what they learned, especially if you are spending your evenings at ball practice or gymnastic classes? Are you spending as much time at home teaching them as their teacher is spending with them at school? Not to mention that there seems to be a concerted effort to keep parents in the dark about what takes place in the classroom.
Indoctrination: Knowing how a subject is being taught is more important than the subject itself because it is teaching the students how to approach not only that subject, but every piece of information they encounter. The teacher’s pedagogy is passing on the teacher’s worldview even if it isn’t explicitly stated. Often we discuss what the child learned when we should be discussing how it was taught to get a full picture of the teacher’s worldview.
Assimilation: One thing I can say with absolute certainty after our country’s experience with Covid is that the years of anti-bully slogans and seminars have failed miserably. There was so much peer and administrative pressure to force students to comply with “guidelines” that they now know to go against the grain is to ask for trouble. This applies to the pronoun choices of their classmates, sharing a bathroom or locker room with a child of a different biological gender, and even their status in the classroom based on the color of their skin. We have been taught to “go along to get along” or else…
Confusion: Our children are being taught that gender is fluid, it’s okay to keep secrets from your parents, and all sexual activity at any age is normal. They are being taught that the color of their skin determines their success in life. History is changing, not the future, but the past. Science should not be challenged. And the list could go on.
So, as believers, how do we respond? How do we make sure that we are giving our children the tools they need to stand strong in this hostile world? We disrupt the program!
Disrupt the Education Program
Of course, the best and quickest way to disrupt the program is to pull your kids completely out of the program. Whether you choose to homeschool your kids or send them to a private school where you have a say in what and how they learn, taking them out of the system is the easiest way to disrupt the program. But it isn’t the only way.
Which of these education tactics can you disrupt? Can you be at your child’s school periodically so you are disrupting the isolation? Can you make sure to be teaching your child biblical truth at home (not just in Sunday school) to disrupt the indoctrination and the assimilation? Can you have difficult conversations with your kids to clear up the confusion? The truth is the program is systematic, so disrupting one tactic will disrupt all of them. Imagine what it will do for your child’s confidence and strength to see you in the hallways or the classroom on a regular basis! Be the parent who asks for the lesson plans and gets ahold of the textbook or articles ahead of time. Be the mom who makes regular appointments with your child’s teacher so you can be sure he or she knows your worldview.
Disrupting the system at any level will not guarantee your child will have a strong relationship with God, but he or she will have a greater chance when you set the example. Show your kids what it looks like to live your life with a biblical worldview in spite of the hostility the world throws at you.
