Raising a generation apart from God

One thing that has become painfully apparent to me is that we are part of a generation that is either woefully ignorant of God’s ways, or we have made a conscious decision to abandon them altogether. And while I see this in so many areas of our culture, none is so saddening as those that concern the rearing of our children.

Children are our future. They represent how America will conduct itself in world affairs, and whether we shall see the heritage passed down from our forefathers enriched or lost.

In Proverbs 30, verses 11-14, we find a generation that might as well be our own. It says:

There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

there is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the need from amoung men.

First of all, as a society we have taught our children to disrespect their parents. It has been going on for so long now that I am not sure exactly where it all began. But what is clear is that the worship of children has produced a generation of selfish monsters.

What we need to understand is that when children are taught to disrespect their parents, they will in time rebel against other forms of authority. And the real disservice is to those who eventually rebel against the laws of our society and lose their freedoms in our correctional facilities.

We need to understand that God established authority, beginning with parents, and it is in responding properly to God-given authority that we can know how to respond to him. Think about it: Those who refuse to respond properly to God eventually lose everything in hell.

Secondly, as a society we have been teaching  our children that they determine right and wrong (pure in their own eyes). We do this by emphasizing self-esteem, teaching them that everything is relative to their feelings.

As a state, we decry the No Child Left Behind standards, declaring how evil a “cookie-cutter” mentality is. But the truth is that some day our children will wake up and find that they won’t be able to get that job because their teachers pandered to their feelings rather than elevated their intellect.

But sadder yet is that one day they will stand before a holy God and find out that he is the one who determines right from wrong, and that it has nothing to do with feelings, only then it will be too late.

Thirdly, as a society we have been teaching our children the art of arrogance (lofty eyes). This is the sin that teaches the “I am better than everyone else” mentality. This is the attitude that teaches a man to view a woman as what she is rather than who she is. It is also the attitude that causes a woman to flaunt what she has, and then despises the man who treats her less than a lady.

It is also the attitude that causes some to erroneously believe that God will accept them because of how good they are or some good thing that they have done.

Sad will be the day they find out that there is none good but God, and that he hates arrogance. Their only consolation will be that the devil made the same mistake, too.

Lastly, as a society, we have taught our children that he who has the gold makes the rules (devour the poor from off the earth). Somehow we got it in our minds that legalized theft is OK as long as it is for the benefit of the community, or some part thereof. We call this eminent domain and the mill rate.

But the day will come when they will find out that he who created this world owns the gold and makes the rules, one of them just happening to be “thou shalt not steal.” And they will also find that he who formed the rich also created the poor, and takes a dim view of those who oppress them.

Folks, reaping God’s results requires that we do things his way. Obviously, we are doing things our own way.

Ron Hamman is pastor for Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229.