It has been hard to watch the recent assault on our children. If you are concerned you might have missed it, here are a few of the issues that have been reported on over the last few months.
- In Chicago, gunfire has killed or wounded more children this year than all of the children who succumbed to COVID in the US for the year. Many other cities have similar issues.
- Our FBI, Olympic committee, and the USA Gymnastics systematically covered up sexual abuse of hundreds of young female athletes for years. What compels a society to let this occur year after year with no concern to stop it?
- Trafficking of children for exploitation in the United States, especially through our unprotected boarders of those under 18, is estimated to be over 300,000 children annually. Millions more worldwide. Drugs are used once, and they are gone. Victims of child trafficking can be used and abused over and over. They recently found a 2 year old and 3 month old child abandoned in a swamp! You should be weeping for these children.
- In some jurisdictions, schools have begun teaching children as young as 5 years old about transgender lifestyles and gender fluidity. This is being done despite parent attempts to opt out their children. Are parents still responsible for their children or have we relinquished them to the perversions of our world?
- Sports, restrooms, locker rooms have become gender neutral and open to sexual perversion. Are there really more than two sexes? What is your stand on this!
- COVID policies have forced children into remote learning and wearing non-effective face coverings. Yet politicians travel, dine and party with little regard for their own restrictive mandates. Why are we sacrificing the future education of our children for the whims of the elite?
- God is missing from most educational systems. Truth has become subjective, opinionated, biased and misleading at best. God’s Truth is nowhere to be found in schools.
- History is being mocked. Statues that offend, cancel culture are reining supreme. We are no longer teaching the mistakes of the past, just the promises of the future. Are our children relegated to make the same mistakes of the past?
- The percent of Single parent families continue to rise. Children are being denied the experience of a father, mother, or in some cases both. Gangs have stepped in to fill that void.
- Drugs are becoming legal in more and more states. Many of these drugs are a gateway to a life of despair. Our children are watching as adults lead the way. Is this what we want for our children?
- We now have many states that have legalized the aborting of full term births. This is murder in God’s eyes. How in the world did we get here? Is life no longer of value?
- And then there is the entertainment and social media industries. Video games that promote sex and violence. Do you wonder why our society, our cities are no longer safe? People can no longer walk down the street without fear!
The most unfortunate part about the list above, is that it is only a partial list. There is no doubt that anyone could keep adding more!
(Matthew 18:6) “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
The disciples were gathered with Jesus when He made the above statement. Most use it to explain that the path to salvation is to have a simple faith, the faith of a child. There was an argument among disciples about the “pecking order” of heaven. Jesus might have answered the question, “who is the greatest?” by pointing to Himself. Instead, Jesus drew their attention to His nature by having them look at a child as an example. The fact that a child came when Jesus called says something about who He was. Jesus was the sort of man that children would come to willingly. Throughout Jesus’ life, children were always special to Him.
Jesus says, unless a person’s faith becomes like that of a child, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. This was probably a great disappointment to the disciples. But then why would Jesus add a warning about hurting those with a childlike faith? Can we also assume that this would not only include adults but the children themselves?
A child was a person of no importance in Jewish society. They were subject to the authority of his elders, not taken seriously except as a responsibility. Children were the ones to be looked after, not one to be looked up to. Children were not threatening. They were not tough, intimidating like Jesus. Children were vulnerable. Jesus says, when we fulfill the humble place a child has in culture, we are finally on our way to greatness in God’s kingdom. Jesus declares that those who receive one little child in His name, they receive Jesus Himself. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Him to sin, look out. Jesus declares, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
It is a bad thing to sin, but it is a far greater evil to lead others into sin. Jesus declares, leading the innocent into sin is the worst of the worst. Notice that the offense is described along with a millstone. The large stone, and anyone attached to it, would be sure to sink if thrown in the deepest parts of the sea. They would never come up again. Don’t miss the comparative part of Jesus’ statement. He is saying you would be “better off” if you were thrown into the sea. The sin of damaging a “childlike faith” is so heinous, so great, that it is better to undergo the worst of punishments which can only kill the body. For this sin, hell will be worse than the depth of the sea; for hell is a bottomless pit, and it is a burning lake. The depth of the sea is only killing, but hell is tormenting. In other words, judgement will be the most severe for sins against our children!
(Deuteronomy 6:6-7) – “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
(1 Corinthians 8:10-11) – For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ‘
(John 17:15) – “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
Whether little in stature, age or faith, Jesus is someone’s only hope of salvation. The above verses in Deuteronomy, and by the Apostle Paul and John, clearly show us that our starting point must be the Truth of God. The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone to saving our children and society. Paul warns that when your children are weak in faith, they are first influenced by your actions. Then they are influence by the world at large. Leading a repentant life, avoiding the pitfalls of sin is a requirement to saving our world. What we do, how we live is paramount. And finally, we read in the Gospel of John that it is not our primary job just to “shelter” our children. Yes, we are to “protect” them, but the protection comes through educating them in God’s Truth. Children need to be prepared for the world at large. Satan is just waiting in our decaying world to gather them up. Your children, my children, our grandchildren, our friends’ children, children that we don’t even know, children that have not been born yet.
What we do know is that when children believe in Jesus, even though they are young, they are part of His Kingdom. Children who believe in Jesus, benefit from the Cross. They benefit from the forgiveness they receive from the Son of God. In God’s eyes, no matter how young some is, they should have the same opportunity for salvation as everyone else. No one should be discouraging them or prey upon them. Offending Christ’s little ones, even by omission, is also included in the dreadful sentence of the mill stone. Inaction, the sacrificing of our children to our world of sin, cannot continue. All, you and I, are called to take a stand and make a difference now.
Contemplations
- What would you add to the list of attacks on our children?
- Ideas to Explore: Think about all of society and the problems within. Why are so many impacting innocent children? What about the breakdown of the family. Think beyond those who are single parent families. How are normal families failing their children?
- Is the church failing children?
- Ideas to Explore: In what areas of Christian education? Are there periods of their life and development that we abandon them? Are we growing “Parents” for our children?
- Courts no longer punish the wicked, including crimes against children. Why?
- Ideas to Explore: How is our modern society abusing children? By failing to punish crime, how does that impact our children? Why after numerous years of uncontrolled crime would a city like Chicago still have such issues? Is it that no one cares? What drives the lack of concern for children?
- Why would a government agency like the FBI totally fail to protect children?
- Ideas to Explore: The bureaucracy of government has no accountability. Do we even know who is in charge of our country and society any more? Is it the lust for power and money?
- Would you want to relive your childhood in today’s world?
- Ideas to Explore: If you are white, you are racist. If you are black you need the government to support your value. You may not have privacy or even sextual protections on basic things like showering for a high school sport. Your world is decreasing in human contact and increasing in social media contact. How will you hug over Facebook? How would you respond to being back in your youth?