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Because we home school our teenagers, we are often asked, “Aren’t they too isolated? Doesn’t a Christian child have to experience the world?” The answer to the first question is, “No, they are quite well socialized actually.” But it’s the answer to the second question that’s really interesting, because it pertains to all children, no matter how they are educated. How much of the world do Christian children need to experience? How much sin do they have to see? How much naivety is too much? Don’t they have to face the world head on? Don’t they have to learn to survive in a sex-saturated, violent, liberal-minded, secular society? To answer those questions we can use an analogy. When someone gets a vaccination against a disease, the vaccination includes a small amount of the disease. The result is that the person’s immune system builds a defense against that disease, forever protecting them. But if the vaccination includes too much of the disease, the person will actually contract the disease. I had this happen to friend. He got a mumps vaccination and the vaccination actually gave him the disease! Attempts to vaccinate can backfire. The question with our children is this: are they exposed to just enough of the spirit of the world to vaccinate them against it, or are they getting too much and getting the disease? Are their hearts still repulsed by sexual images, cruelty, and compromise, or are these things growing like viruses inside them? More importantly, is their life still pulsating with the all-consuming thrill of experiencing God regularly? Perhaps you are like me and you have had the chance to go days without any TV. Then one day you watch it and your spirit is bothered by a commercial or the content of a program. This is healthy. Your spiritual immune system is defending you. When our spirit-man loses its sensitivity, then we have become like the world. Paul talks about those who “have lost sensitivity resulting in giving themselves over to sensuality.” Sensuality has to do with a flesh-driven-life, a life of selfishness lacking spiritual energy. Yep, the world’s out there and you can’t keep your kids from it, but getting saturated with entertainment, videos games, sports, unclean conversation, even friends, will not inoculate. It will give the disease. The answer is a dynamic family life that is full of God-adventure and a growing spiritual sensitivity. Reference: Ephesians 4:19 by Pastor Tim O’Brien |
