Posted by Doug
Mon, 28 Feb 2005 16:51:00 GMT
I’ve recently finished reading
Turning Children into Spiritual Champions by
George Barna. This book was recommended to me by
Mike Williams, a good friend from college.
The book is both frightening and inspiring. First, Barna is a research sociologist. For this book, he did about two years of statistical research on children through surveys and personal observation. That’s not to say he’s only got two years experience with children. It’s just that he did two years research specifically for this book.
His finding is basically this: if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior by the time you’re 13, the chances of you ever doing so are very slim. Similarly, he says your spiritual foundation is in place by age nine and is unlikely to change after that. You can look at this one of two ways. I know there are people who read my blog who aren’t Christian, are at least agnostic, and some atheist. Those of you who fit that bill can look at this as “just a few years and then they’re ‘safe’ from superstitious brainwashing”. Frankly, I think that’s exactly how Satan looks at this. As a Christian and a parent, I look on Barna’s results and think that the next ten years of my life are likely to be the most important.
Barna’s message is definitely to parents; but, he makes a broader observation. The most effective evangelism you can do is to children. Churches who want to have the highest success rate of winning people to Christ should focus on children.
The book is really divided into three parts. The first is a fairly raw presentation of the data he found in his research. He follows that up with his observations and gives the research some meaning. Finally, the last half of the book is suggestions on what to do about it. He reviews several churches that have successful children’s ministries and how they are organized in light of his research.
UPDATE: I’ve gotten some feedback on this post from some friends who’ve read this. There is some general uneasiness with the idea of forcing children to make life decisions (with or without “hellfire and brimstone” threats) is “too much to ask” or just plain “stupid”. Keep in mind neither I nor Barna is advocating propping our kid’s eyes open with toothpicks and forcing them to watch brainwashing videos.
Barna suggests seven specific questions that we should help our kids answer. I don’t have my book with me and I can’t remember all seven questions. But they are real philosophical questions that everyone has to answer sooner or later. Is there a God? What is His character and nature? By guiding our kids through these issues we can help them successfully answer them. As I write this now and earlier, I feel like I am talking about brainwashing. I like to think of it as “rigging the deck”. I don’t want my kids to accept the default answer to these important questions based on mass media outlets. I honestly believe there is a God. I believe Jesus is God’s Son and fully God Himself (aka the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit trinity). I believe Jesus was crucified, died, and was resurrected by the power of God. Further, I believe Jesus is the Life, the Truth, and the Way. No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. The ramifications of that belief is that I desperately want my kids to accept and believe that as well.
Is 13 too early to grapple with these issues? Prior to reading this book I didn’t have an opinion either way. I was baptized before 13 and often feel it was too early. I know lots of people that were baptized before 13. But Barna’s research indicates that kids
are making these decisions (consciously or not) by that age. If we really care about these kids (my kids, our kids), then we
have to do a good job of helping them form these beliefs. If we don’t, Barna’s research suggests it’ll be an uphill battle to overcome what beliefs they will form instead.
If you’re reading this as a non-Christian, I’m not really concerned with what you think about this. That’s harsh, I know. If you’re not a Christian, we’re not really on the same team. We don’t have the same goals. My goal isn’t to raise “moral” children. My goal is to to raise children who believe in Jesus, accept Him as their Savior, and live faithful lives of service to God.
If you
are a Christian reading this, I don’t see how you can ignore the call to action. Children in our church represent the greatest opportunity to win souls for Christ. Ignoring that opportunity or not capitalizing on it is a shame and a dereliction of duty to God.
Convinced or not, I hope you
order this book. Take a look at the research Barna has done and listen to his presentation.
Posted in Christianity | 2 comments
Posted by Doug
Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:26:00 GMT
I’ve had this link in my blog pipeline as something I wanted to write about. I’m still not sure exactly what I want to say, but I’m tired of seeing this draft waiting for me.
Almost a couple weeks ago,
the House voted to increase fines for FCC indecency violatiosn. This was pointed out to me by a younger gentleman on my
#photography chat channel who was very upset by this. Likewise, there has been reports of comparing the
FCC fines for indecency as greater than the fines for nuclear mishaps.
I’m of two minds on this. First, I realize (even as a Christian) that you can’t legislate morality. Furthermore, I seriously question whether
we can make this country a “Christian Nation.” I realize that God wants all people to be saved and none should perish. I have that desire too. However, there hasn’t been an entire nation that is pure in heart for a very, very long time. Besides, we’re told to expect persecution. It seems a little pretentious to think we can setup the good ol’ U.S. of A. as a “safe zone”. But, I don’t really want to get into this here.
The flip side is that there’s not a lot on TV that I both want to watch and feel comfortable watching while the kids are awake. The young man I mentioned above said he wanted more shows like
HBO’s “The Sopranos” and felt like most of the stuff on TV was basically an extension of “Barney”. I, on the other hand, disagree. It makes me angry when I hear the “F-bomb” dropped on network TV. Yes, I hear it other places; but I guess I’m used to hearing it in movies not in prime time.
So what TV do I watch? We used to watch “Friends.” It was my wife’s favorite show and I enjoyed it too. Undoubtedly there was material there entirely inappropriate for kids. On a similar vein, I really liked “The Simpsons”. Once we had kids, I pretty much had to quit watching that too. It’s worth noting that I put “The Simpsons” pretty much right on par with “Friends” in terms of the moral message. I still like to watch the original “Law & Order.” Now that I have a
PVR and can record them, I’ve pretty much seen them all and don’t watch them nearly as much. Carla and I both enjoy “Joan of Arcadia” and “Judging Amy”. Even though there are some definite mature concepts in those shows we feel OK watching them while the kids play in the room. I’ve started watching “Battlestar Gallactica” and “Stargate Atlantis”. Those are both good shows, but I don’t think I’d watch them with the kids around. That’s about all I watch that’s “grownup TV”. The rest is “Dorah the Explorer”, “Blues Clues”, “Miffy”, “Jimmy Newtron”, and the occasional “Tiny Planets”.
Really though, I wish I could just get rid of TV. All of us certainly enjoy it (particularly with a
PVR). I don’t like that all the shows we really watch the most (the kids shows in that last sentence) are all on the Noggin channel which Time Warner puts in the digital tier. Without TV though, we’d all have more time to get other things accomplished. Also, I wouldn’t be so tempted to spend money on a new TV and sound system.
Back to the
FCC fines. Basically, I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, I’ll enjoy not having as much foul language and “wardrobe malfunctions”. On the other, it also means I’m subjected to loud complaining from the morally liberal crowd. It’s just one more issue that makes Christians look like nut cases. Of course, to “the world” we are nut cases.
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Posted by Doug
Sat, 12 Feb 2005 02:49:00 GMT
I saw a bumper-sticker on the way home that made me go, “Hmm.” There’s no secret, I really don’t like divorce. Jesus’ teaching on it clear. There are a few exceptions, but in general God hates divorce and I pretty much do too. I’m not going to apologize for that; it’s just where I am. I know marriage is hard. You don’t make just shy of 13 years without knowing that.
One of the things I hate about divorce is what it does to the kids in the family. I’ve seen enough divorces to know kids aren’t unaffected by it. I had breakfast one morning with a guy (from church) who ended up divorcing his wife. “My boys will take it OK. They’ll still turn out alright.” I agree his boys will cope and adjust. But why give them that extra battle to fight. As parents we should be helping our kids as much as possible; not throwing up trauma for them to deal with.
Anyway… the bumper sticker. It was about 4” x 6”, green on black stuck to the back of a black Jeep Cherokee. “I’m still mad about my parent’s divorce.” The girl driving looked to be in her mid 20s. I wish I would have snapped a picture of either the bumper sticker or the girl. I don’t know what to think about the girl putting that on her
SUV to drive around. I don’t know if it was even her
SUV. It could have been a joke. But that the bumper sticker even exists says something about the impact divorce has on kids.
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