Faith

Barns in Scandinavia are built in such a way that vermin are prevented from getting in. The harvest is precious and, in past years, it meant that a family could survive another harsh winter.

It never ceases to amaze me how casual parents are about the computer use of their children. Young children often have access to the world in the privacy of their bedrooms without any supervision or protection. “My child is responsible.” “We need to respect their privacy.” The precious children are open to attack by all sorts of vermin. I still remember the first time I rang a dad and suggested that there was evidence that his daughter was being “groomed” on the internet. This was happening out of school hours but I felt I had a responsibility to alert him to the possibility. I was roundly abused. Later my fears were proven to be well founded. But I never received an apology or a word of thanks for the warning. It did teach me at the time that many parents are wilfully foolish with regard to the protection of their children.

Unlike the harvest, too often our precious children are not protected.

How should a committed Christian parent be training their child in internet and computer use? I have lots of ideas, but I would love to hear from parents. What are you doing to ensure the spiritual, moral and emotional safety of your children?

Not so long ago, if you saw someone talking to themselves, you quietly thought that they had kangaroos loose in the top paddock or were a few palings short of a fence. Nowadays it is more likely that they are using a hands free mobile phone. There is a new reality that explains this behaviour.

It is a handy illustration. More and more, Christians are being sidelined as irrelevant and anachronistic. We are often considered to be simple and foolish because we have a faith in the God/man who died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago. But this faith is the reality we work from. This is the worldview that arranges our understanding and meaning of all that surrounds us.

Taking on the values of the society in which we live is easy and often done unconsciously. However, our reality must be shaped by this God/man. When we look at ethics, work, politics, leisure and all the other components that make up modern life, is it Christ that shapes our thinking? Yes, we may appear like a person talking to themselves in the pre-hands-free mobile phone age. The truth is, however, strikingly different. We are saying through our words and lifestyle that our worldview/perspective on all life is shaped by Christ.

We may be called mad or foolish but there is a different, eternal, reality that drives us.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

There was a time when I was under a great deal of pressure on a daily basis. Going to work was a trial. I had to force myself to face each day anew.

Then I discovered the Psalms for myself. I say, “for myself”, because in my time as a pastor I had regularly used them to bring peace, hope and healing for others. To be honest, I had never discovered them for myself. That changed.

Each morning before I went to work, I spent time with God. I ended each morning’s devotion by reading a Psalm. Very  quickly I discovered that the concluding Psalm became God’s pep talk for me, to encourage me into the day:

So every morning as I went out to teach, I had the words of God ringing in my ears. This morning “ritual” enabled me to understand that God was a regular companion with me as I entered my day. There were other results. I have to confess, I began to see the Psalms in a far more personal light. The Psalms weren’t just comforting greeting card passages, but they were God’s revelation to me, His child.

To this day, when I read certain Psalms, they remind me of my struggles, but better still, they also remind me how God carried me through this time.

Quite a while back I wrote about the “Princess Syndrome”. If we gave it its real title it would be Narcissism. This is not new and have all gone through narcissistic stages. The world centres on a two year old if your are two. And in your teenage years you were trying to be cool and sexy to attract the attention of the opposite sex.

But self obsession seems to have reached new levels. Part of the blame lies with the internet: social media – even blogging. I must admit searching my own conscience as I am writing this. When I first signed up to Twitter I found our what a friend had for breakfast everyday- I didn’t care, but obviously he thought I, and all his friends, did.

However Narcissism goes a lot deeper. This constant obsession with self: the advertisers love it, and we, who are parents, pander to it. We tell our kids over and over again they are special and we build up their self esteem. Is this wise when the child has done nothing worthwhile and we still say it?

Scripture reveals a more complex picture. By ourselves we are sinners; objects of God’s anger. In Christ, God sees us as innocent. The challenge, and I believe it is a real challenge, is to nurture our children in this more complex image. What they are in Christ is a gift of God, not a natural ability of their own. Their beauty, their gifts and talents, once again, are gifts of God. Like all gifts they are to be used  to His glory not for self aggrandisement.

What we need to be praising and encouraging are those attributes in our children that are other centred and God centred. It is noticeable with both Jesus and Paul that they give praise when the Kingdom is being advanced. Maybe this should be our starting point too.

Pilgrims' Bridge - Puente de la Reina, Spain

The apostle Peter reminds us that our life here on earth is a pilgrimage. We are foreigners and exiles (1 Peter 2:11). How easy it is to get attached to this life. Too often we are like toddlers holding fast to a toy which can’t be wrestled from their grip. We grab hold of, and obsess about, the temporary, while God has something far more eternal and spectacular  set aside for us.

I too, find myself often living a short-sighted life. Peter reminds me that God has called me to His eternal glory. (1 Peter 5:10). And our Saviour, himself, said on many occasions, “Follow me” (e.g.My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27). The more we learn to treat this life as a journey, the healthier our spiritual “walk” will be.