We all recognize that we must fight sin, fight against the lusts of the world, and fight to love Christ more. I fear many youth are failing, and one of the reasons is that despite their daily Bible reading, godly parents, involvement in the Church, and sound teaching, their world view is being shaped by this world. It is so subtle! A seemingly decent movie here, a quick summer read there, and all of a sudden Satan chips away at a Biblical perspective. In Craig Cabaniss' chapter in Mahaney's new book Wordliness, he quotes Ken Myers:
"I believe that the challenge of living with popular culture may well be as serious for modern Christians as persectuion and plagues were for the saints of earlier centuries...Enemies that come loudly and visible are usually much easier to fight than those that are undetectable."
This is specifically to parents: your children are under assault. They are being confronted, bombarded, and infiltrated with absolute lies. Can I plead with you to help them exercise discernment? Can I encourage you to sometimes say NO as you teach them how to view this world through "Bible glasses"? For example, it is certainly permissible to read Harry Potter, but I am convinced now, more than ever, it is not profitable. Let's put aside the books are full of sorcery and witchcraft. Let's forget Lewis' point that there has never been a GOOD witch - not in Homer, not in the Fairy Tales, not the White Witch, not the Maid of Alders - NONE OF THEM. So, ignoring that, let's view the other things supported by Harry Potter: Rebelling against parental authority, rebelling against school authority, subverting rules (and being rewarded), showing disrespect to elders, lust (snogging in the hallway), coveting (wanting someone else's snog partner), disobedience, self-righteous independence, relative good and evil, relative heroism...the list goes on.
I have not read the Twilight series, nor am I going to, but I know it also plays with pre-teen and teenage fascination with rebellion, good, evil, darkness, and lust. Listen, even if you just study vampires on Wikipedia you will realize they also have NEVER been good! They have always been connected with selfish fulfillment, sensuality, and dark taboos. NO WONDER the books appeal to teenagers! NO BETTER REASON to avoid them! I assume that, in making a vampire 'choose' goodness, we are in a post-modern-Harry-Potter world devoid of absolutes, where all sense of morality is based solely on individual choices to 'help other people' and bring peace to the world.
I plead with you as a woman who, in her formative years, got her hands on some "it's not so bad" type of books - but also read harmful, worldly books. Those damaged me, and I still deal with some of those images...there is a worldly residue that creeps into my goals or sense of satisfaction. Cabaniss later defines covetousness as "a desire for something or someone that God has not provided." Books like the Twilight series - popular music - sappy chick-flicks - they all spin a vision of a world that does not and cannot exist. They laud that happiness can be obtained by having a certain relationship, certain things - for godly young men and women, those false expectations WILL CAUSE challenges and struggles within marriages and families later on.
You can't necessarily stop your children from reading certain things - their hearts might be rebellious, and they will seek what they covet. BUT, you can be active, you can be alert - and you must! Their souls are in the balance - help them desire good things. Help them to read good things. Satan is so crafty and cunning - the things that lead us astray are so palatable. The reason young adults like reading filth is because it's entertaining, easy, and engaging. We need to get their lazy brains up off the couch and throw them on a treadmill. They need to read GOOD BOOKS. Next time they want the latest pop-culture-mac-and-cheese bestseller, make sure they have eaten all the steak in the house. Here's a good list to knock down:
THEIR BIBLE
A lot of books about their Bible
Biographies on MANY godly men and women
Pilgrim's Progress, any Charles Dickens, The Count of Monte Cristo, any Jane Austen novel, Les Miserables, Paradise Lost (this is a pack of steak from Costco), The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Flies, Madeline L'Engle novels, Frankenstein , Beowulf, Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky (for high school eaters). If they are into gothic, give them real (edifying) gothic like Wilkie Collins or Ann Radcliffe. And for some history, David Mucullough and Iain Murray.
I know I'm a bit odd, but I was sitting in the corner of the playground reading Sense and Sensibility in 6th grade. Get them reading good books and the tween junk loses its appeal. Get them listening to good music and the bad falls away. Fan that cup of zeal by keeping it out of ice.
6 comments:
Al Molher told the men at S/C last year not to read any book that was not on his list of good reads. Because he is able to read so many books, so quickly, it doesn't make sense for most of us to wallow through a book that is not good when we could be spending our time on a good one.
Making the younger ones read really good books and helping them to think will do nothing but encourage them to use their brains and fill their hearts with great truths of Scripture.
Thanks for your teacher's heart for reading.
Thank you, thank you , thank you!! I love that you have some suggested reading. Please feel free to give reading suggestions to Rachael, and Taylor for that matter, anytime! I am so thankful to God for all the time that all the one28 leaders invest in the lives of our children and the encouragement you are to me as a parent!
Nadene R.
I thank you for taking the time to write this information out for parents and teens both!! I appreciate your efforts to help your peers stay on God's path and your warnings for us, as parents to be alert - another important aspect of media which should be addressed is video games.... what do you think??
Tanja,
Thank you for your comment! I'm not a fan of video games for a number of reasons:
1). It gives a visual image to violence. When children read about violence (and I think it's necessary to their growth and understanding of, say, heroism), they are protected by the limit of their imaginations. Like, I can read the Grimms Brothers' fairy-tales (not great for small children, mind you), and when it talks about birds pecking out the evil step-sisters' eyes, I can only imagine so much because I have never seen it on a movie or in real life. Video Games and movies obliterate that protection, and also don't encourage the imagination to flourish because it doesn't have to work - the images and emotions are automatically provided.
2). It is 'false' work. Our Youth Pastor made the point that we are called to take dominion over the Earth, and video games are a 'fake' work. Nothing is accomplished through getting the most gold coins. Children need to work hard at chores/gardening/caring for pets/etc. There is so little time for us to redeem! I don't want to stand before my Maker and see hours of wasted time before a gaming unit.
Now, I did grow up playing the old-school computer games like Kings Quest. In moderation, like any form of entertainment, clean games can be great! I learned to type and problem solve, both of which have served me very well. So, some games, like clean 'fluffy' books (Redwall, for example) I think are fine.
Awesome list of recommendations by some of my totally favorite authors! And excellent insights and clarifications of many random thoughts I have had bumbling about in my head since having the little man. Your advice (though still for a future parenting season) will be very helpful! -Erica
Thanks Erica - I understand the bumbling. The old brain doesn't work the same anymore after Merian, but every now and then I get irritated enough that my annoyance drives the whirling monkeys into order.
Do you have any other recommendations?
Post a Comment