By Timothy Johnson
Preacher’s Point
I overheard a conversation between a mother and her 12-year-old daughter about 10 years ago. The scene was a parade. A local church had a float in the parade with a man on a cross.
“Why is that man hanging on that cross?”
“That’s church stuff. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Something to note here is that a 12-year-old in the United States did not recognize a man on a cross as a representation of Jesus Christ. Maybe it is because I am a preacher, but I would think that a man on a cross would be one of the world’s most iconic symbols. Oh, how naive I was. I was in the parade. The organization I was with was marching directly in front of the church and the man on the cross. I started hearing other children asking about the man’s identity on the cross. I began to count; when I reached 40, with tears in my eyes, I stopped counting.
A few months later, we picked up three children for church for the first time. The kids ranged in age from eight to 12. It was December, and the children in children’s church were practicing for the Christmas program. The play was the typical Christmas play — baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and the smaller children dressed up as barn animals. On the way home, the twelve-year-old asked, “What does any of that stuff in the play have to do with Christmas?”
I am sure you are beginning to see a pattern and the point. The children of America know nothing of God. I know that last statement is not universally true, but is it generally true?
These events were roughly 10 years ago. All these kids are now in their late teens or early twenties – college-age. I am sure a few, most likely, have children of their own. How many more along that parade route wondered the same thing about the man on the cross that either remained silent or I did not hear? How many American children see a babe in a manger, scratch their head, and wonder, “What does this have to do with Christmas?”
I know a lot about baseball. When I was a kid, my dad was passionate about the game. He taught me its history, strategies, rules, and mechanics. By age 12, I knew more about baseball than most adults who called themselves fans.
I know next to nothing about mechanics. Anything I do know is just something I picked up along the way because of problems that occurred with my vehicles.
Most people my age know far more than I do about the workings of an automobile. Many started at around age five, handing Dad a wrench from the toolbox. Over time, Dad taught them more and more. I never had that experience with anyone. When I was a kid, and there were problems with the car, Dad took it to a mechanic.
I am sure you can see what I am getting at. I still love and know baseball because it was implanted into me as a child. On the other hand, I am in my sixties and have no knowledge or passion for getting under the hood, getting my hands dirty, and fixing something. Why? My parents never instilled in me a desire or a sense of need.
America is quickly becoming a godless nation. Why? We have had several generations of parents who do not desire or see the need to instill God into their children’s lives. Never forget what that mom said: “That’s church stuff. You don’t need to worry about that.”
A side note: Many church-going parents try to influence their children by word only. When it came to baseball, my dad would take me to the yard and show me how to bat. He would take me to games. When we watched games on television, Dad would often tell me where the location of the next pitch would be and why. He was 90% accurate. With that said, many parents talk a good game about God, how to live, and what to believe, but there are no actions to back it up. Kids need to see how the Bible is relevant to everyday life by watching the adults living it in front of them.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”
Preacher Johnson is the Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Website: www.preachers-point.com; Email: [email protected]; Mail: 25 W 1200 N; Kingman IN 47952. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Timothy-Preacher-Johnson-101171088326638. All Scripture KJV.Reach
