I don’t know how we cannot see it. Even those who were raised in “Christian” homes seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the moral cesspool known as America. The Scriptures warn us that “When there was no God in Israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Young American Christians are afloat in a sea without a compass. We have failed to train them to navigate the rough waters of the debaucherous American culture. If today’s parents don’t lose their children in high school they are sure to lose them in college.
It is my experience that for most of the Millenials I come in contact with “religion” is not the guiding factor in the moral decisions that they make. We have taught them to FEEL, not to think. Emotions are a poor foundation upon which to build moral values.
It is time to wake up and look around. We are losing our children to the world. Do you understand that? Whatever we are doing in our churches is not working. Why is it that our children are rejecting the values of their parents? Why is it that the Millenials are cancelling out the votes of their grandparents? Why are time-honored values no longer valued? How did we reach the point where following Biblical values became old-fashioned?
In California, Democrats passed a law SB 1322 decriminalizing under age prostitution and Governor Jerry Brown sign it. Not one pastor stood publicly against it, not one. The apathetic public ‘that keep voting these low life scoundrels in office’ stood by and did nothing as well. We truly get the government we deserve.
We treat symptoms in America. Make a visit to your family doctor and you will see what I mean. Our medical professions have been trained to treat symptoms and that no matter what your malady; the pharmaceutical industry has a drug to treat it. Just watch the commercials on your favorite cable channel and you will understand what I am saying. Does “an erection lasting longer than 4 hours” ring a bell?
The foundational institution upon which the American Republic was built is crumbling. America is sick because the family is sick. Fatherhood has become a trial-by-error- proposition. You aren’t a man when you can make a baby…you are a man when you can raise one. Fatherhood is on life support.
Our churches have failed us. Although their intentions may have been noble, our pastors have trained the family to depend upon the church and church programs to pass Christian values to the children. Youth ministries and youth programs have taken the responsibility of “training up a child in the way he should go” off of the shoulders of the fathers.
Very few fathers today have any idea how to pass their values to their children. It isn’t learned through osmosis, or passed to the children in the DNA. The transference of values has to be intentional.
What can possibly be responsible for the startling statistic which shows that nearly 75% of Christian kids leave the church when they go to college? What has happened to us that even in families where a father is in the home that so many young adults reject the values they were raised with?
Could it be they were never taught those values in their home? Is it possible that the fathers trusted the church and its flashy programs to instill those values in their kids? Maybe the Dads were ill equipped for the successful transference of fundamental moral values to their kids.
What in the name of all that is righteous are we being taught in our churches? What does it prosper a man to gain the whole world and lose his children? The “church” is hemorrhaging young people. The consequences will have an eternal impact.
Only fathers can make their family great. Only great families can make the church great. Only great churches can make America great. It is time for fathers to get back in the game.
Let me ask you Dad, when was the last time you sat down with your son and explained to him that a real man honors women? Have you told him that an honorable man will not take advantage of a young woman hungry for male affection? Have fathers instructed their sons that the job of a man is to protect the weaker sex?
And how about your daughters? Have you relinquished the moral training of your daughter to your wife? Have you looked your daughter in the eyes and explained to her chastity and WHY it matters? Have you told how important her character is to you and to the Lord?
Have you explained to your children the value of fidelity, purity, and integrity? Have you equipped them with the tools to stand firm against the deluge of sewage that they will face when they go to college? Have you given them a firm foundation upon which to stand or have you trusted the “youth pastor” at your church to train your children?
Every experience in life has the opportunity to teach life-lessons to your children. Only the enduring values passed from the father to the family have that chance to endure.
Our 6 year old granddaughter loves to sit and watch old Andy Griffith shows. She loves the interaction between Andy, Barney, Opie, Aunt Bee…and even Otis the drunk. Watching them with her makes me slip back into the good old days of Father Knows Best, Leave it To Beaver, Donna Reed, and all of the family shows that I grew up on.
It dawned on me the other night as we sat watching a rerun together that all of the moral values being taught in those TV shows were values that were emanating from Dad. Although church was mentioned, I can’t remember one show where the strongest influence in the family was a pastor.
Man up Dad. Your kids will learn their values from someone. Shouldn’t that be you?
There was a reason why it was Father Knows Best…not Pastor knows best. Put down the remote. Your family, and this nation, is counting on you.
© 2017 Dave Daubenmire – All Rights Reserved
