Strong and Bold
As I hear the various reactions of professing Christians to the state of the nation, especially Covid restrictions, it is amazing that we claim the same faith in God.
One group claims an understanding of Romans 13 that says that we are to obey our government because they are authorities placed in their positions by God. The other group says “keep reading.” God’s ministers, according to verse 4 of Romans 13, are put in place by God for our good as, “an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
Much evil is being practiced with no governing intervention for our good (ask any restaurant owner right now).
The place I think we have failed as parents and as the Church of Jesus Christ is in training the next generation to know that what God calls good is good and what God calls evil is evil. The civil government doesn’t get to define sin. Without this understanding we cannot rightly apply Romans 13 to our lives.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 say, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
There is a general problem in the way many in the Church now view the Old Testament, teaching it is irrelevant to our day. Oh, if more people had already known at the beginning of the pandemic that God’s Word says you quarantine the sick – not the healthy – what a different outcome we might have had (Numbers 5:1-4; Deuteronomy 13).
It goes even deeper though. We have a couple of generations (maybe more) who have not been taught the basic truths that when we obey God’s Word He blesses us and when we disobey God’s Word He curses us. We have not “diligently taught” these Deuteronomy 6 truths in our homes ; neither are they being taught in the Church.
We live in a day when life is pretty easy, though that may be changing. It has been tempting for Christians to allow other people to educate and care for our children, not even thinking about what they will be taught. It is clear that God’s Word is not considered or even respected in public schools (though I do thank God for teachers who make valiant attempts to teach godly principles). The truth is that the government curriculum is rife with false teachings.
Even Sunday School has become a time of entertainment more than teaching in many cases.
We make excuses about not having time for family Bible study and thinking that if we just live by God’s Word our kids will get it. This is why the Bible says to teach it “diligently.” It is not through effortless osmosis that children pick up the faith and knowledge of their parents. That’s only the baseline. We have a responsibility to teach the whole counsel of God to our children. If we don’t know it, we will learn it with them.
Just for the record, Grandparents cannot say, “Well, I missed my opportunity.” We have the same responsibility to teach our Grandchildren (Psalm 78).
A new year is starting. Stronger, bolder Christianity is being called for amidst the evil among us. Will we resolve to be diligent teachers of God’s Word — especially to the next generation?