Snowy Slopes and Straining Sludge

The day after Christmas my family packed up and headed to Breckenridge for a day of skiing.  I have to admit that my number one goal for the day was to get to the end of it in one piece.  If I had some fun, great.  If not, wholeness would be it’s own reward.  Neither of my children had skied before so we went straight to the bunny slopes for some instruction.  We weren’t able to work out joint lessons with “real instructors” for the kids so my husband and I looked at each other and said, ”How hard could it be?”  We each took a child and systematically showed them the basics.  There was lots of instructing going on. “Look at me,”  “Watch this,”  “Do this,”  “Try this,”  “No, don’t do that”.  

All day. 

You get my drift.  (No pun intended.  Ok, pun was intended.  Forgive me.) 

My husband and I already know how to ski but never once did it cross our minds to say, “Hey  guys, here are some poles and skiis.  There’s the lift- good luck!”  Ok.  Maybe once but we thought better of it.  Anyway, later it got me thinking.  That’s exactly what some Christian parents are doing these days with their kids and media.  They’re driving them to the slopes and then letting them out with an iPad and a prayer.  Completely unprepared or trained navigate the slopes of our culture. 

How should Christians respond to the remarkably powerful influence of the media that floods our society?   

1. Know the Word.  This is far and away the most vital step.  In fact, none of the rest of it is going to do any good unless you have this foundation. Reading, studying , discussing and memorizing the Word, there’s just no way around it. Truth cannot be ascertained from Error if we don’t know the truth and have it residing in our in-most being.  This concept is so common it is almost cliché but bankers and FBI agents know what the counterfeits are because they study the real thing. Anything that varies from the true deal is deemed counterfeit.  Children must have this ability in order to wade through the sludge of this world.  You are investing in eternity when you make scripture memory a part of your child’s education. 

2. You can and you SHOULD set boundaries in the area of media consumption for your children.  

We need to teach our kids that we are stewards of our media engagement.  We don’ t have to watch all of this. We don’t have to listen to it.  We don’t have to play.  We don’t have to go.  Sure, we can’t hide out in little holes and hope we never have to touch the world.  It’s our responsibility to be aware of what’s going on in the culture, but we do not have to be immersed in it.  In fact, we shouldn’t be. I think that’s what Jesus was saying when he told us to be in the world but not of it.  Young people are particularly vulnerable to media.  That’s why it’s so crucial for parents to act like parents and set boundaries. 

There is such a dearth of good content (that resonates Biblically) out there in media-land that sometimes it’s tempting to let some pretty sludgy stuff into our lives.  (“it’s not as bad as XYZ show”) As parents, this is something we must constantly evaluate.  Just because tons of people watch something doesn’t make it acceptable to bring into the temple of our minds and hearts.  There’s no reason to take in sludge just because we have a strainer.  We need to learn to slow the media flow down and control it, instead of letting it control us.    Don’t consume as much garbage.  Our primary consumption of ideas  should come through the written word.

3.  Find a systematic mechanism to teach your children Christian worldview.     

Parents absolutely must be deliberate in the training of their children in Christian worldview.  Make no mistake, your children are learning a worldview whether you are officially  teaching it to them or not.  Everyone filters their ideas through some sort of grid and if you don’t give them a grid to use (the Bible) they will filter it through the grid of the world- of humanism, secularism, postmodernism, and whatever is being put forth by their teachers and the media.  I recommend a systematic approach because it will cover all of the basic apologetics of Christianity.  Your children need to have ready answers for questions such as “Is there is a God and if so, what is He like?” (All worldviews have an answer to this question) and “ Is there Absolute Truth? If so, what does this mean for me?” They need to be able to read an article in the newspaper or listen to a song on the radio or watch a commercial on TV and be able to answer the questions: What is being presented here?  Why does it have such a powerful attraction to people?  What is the truth?  How do I come up with a Truth-based answer to the culture? 

If you’re not confident about how you would answer these questions, now is the perfect time to educate yourself along with your kids.  Don’t shy away from teaching systematic worldview just because you don’t feel qualified.  Make it a priority and qualify yourself through education.   I recommend using The Truth Project for high schoolers and mature middle schoolers but there are scores of other resources out there.  Choose one and do it. 

  

4. Spend more time reading.   Reading is an analytical activity as opposed to media consumption, which is highly emotive. When you read, you have the ability to stop and think about what you have read.  Media just keeps going.  We should be reading more than watching and reading broadly as well as historically.  We must understand history from a Christian perspective. Every Christian parent  should be able to give an intelligent answer to their children when they ask: “how did we get to this point in our culture?”  If you are a bit rusty on your history of the world from Ancient Rome to Postmodern times, I highly recommend getting a highlighter and copy of “How Should We Then Live” by Francis Schaeffer and reading it this weekend.  He has written an excellent and concise analysis of what he calls “The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture”.  It should be required reading for all Christian high schoolers and those who wish to understand these times.  As George Santayana, an American philosopher and poet said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  It’s shocking how predictable the future of cultural norms is when you understand the past.

Thankfully, many Christian families have embraced the idea of reading as entertainment (i.e. reading excellent literature aloud even into the upper grades) and of getting back to the “great books” of the Western Canon.  This is the foundation of the Classical Education movement, especially in home schools and Christian schools.  As a result, there are many more children reading and thinking critically about the future in light of the past.  I find this very encouraging considering the times in which we live.

Nutty but fun.  

So,  where are you in all of this?  Take some time and evaluate your readiness as far as training your kids to respond Biblically  to media and the culture.  If you're on track, keep moving in the right direction and if you haven't left the station, get going.  Wherever you are, God will give you the insight and strength to train you children if you surrender to him and give Him control of this area of your life.

We're all in process.  I'd love to hear where you are and how God is working in you as you train your children in responding Biblically to media and the culture.