If you’re like me, you often dreaded the time when they picked teams in gym class, mainly because of the shame of being picked near the end. But one of the bright spots of that otherwise challenging situation was when you knew you had the best athlete on your team. While you might not be skilled in the game, you’ll win because you have that player on your side.
We live in a polarized society, replete with identity politics, cancel culture, and an “us vs. them” mentality. It feels important that you are on the “right” team, belong to the “right” group, and stay on the “right” side of history. Just like gym class, you want to “win” the debate, whatever the polarizing subject may be: an election, gender ideology, sexuality, gun control, the war, or abortion. Anyone in the “wrong” group is left out, denied acceptance, and left to fend for him or herself.
This pressure can lead our children to believe that there is no other option than to think, speak and act as if they belong to the “right” group, which is often the group that doesn’t have a biblical worldview.
Paul tells the Romans in chapter 8, verse 31, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
The beauty of the gospel is that it removes the winning /losing paradigm. Unlike a team in gym class, the church is open to anyone regardless of background, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or skill set. There are no tryouts and no cuts, just an open invitation for anyone who wants to accept the gift of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
That should encourage anyone, especially a young person, who is struggling to fit in and find acceptance. As parents, we can remind our children of three ways we can know that God is on our side even when the situation may appear otherwise.
The Gospel
Many young people believe God is distant at best, and hostile at worst, that he sets people up for failure by offering impossible standards. If you aren’t working hard enough, God gets mad at you, much a like a teacher at school when you underperform.
But through the lens of the gospel, we view God as he really is. He is gracious and merciful. He knows we cannot attain his perfection, so he sent his Son to die for us to pay the penalty for our sin, the penalty we could not pay for ourselves.
God wants us to be saved. He isn’t just seeing “how bad we want it” and he is not trying to eliminate people because heaven can only take so many applicants. 2 Peter 3:8 says that God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Our kids need to hear that. God wants us to be saved, and he wants us to trust in him. He made a way for that to be possible for everyone who will believe in his Son’s power to save, no matter their background or life story. This is a God who is for us, not against us.
The Church
The world likes to throw around a lot of negative propaganda about the church. A small part of it is justified, but merely reading news articles about scandals or watching TikTok accounts of those who deconstructed does not constitute proper education on the church. Many people in the church where I serve have told me that their minds changed about the church once they actually started attending. They note the differences between the media reports and their experience.
One of the tricks the devil used in the garden of Eden was twisting God’s words, telling Eve that God said something that he didn’t. One of his tricks today is to get people, especially impressionable young people, to believe secondhand experiences rather than the truth about God’s Word and his church.
As parents, we should encourage our children to consider the sources from which they receive their information about the church and the faith, especially if it’s from social media. Journalists are trained to find the exception to the rule, that which stands out and attracts attention. But consumers of this information can often conflate the exception with the rule. It’s important to help our teens ground their understanding of the Christian faith in truth rather than the latest podcast or whatever their friends may say.
The Destiny
Revelation 19 speaks of a great battle between Christ and the forces of darkness. Many will be tempted to join forces with the enemy of our souls, but this chapter tells us that the forces of darkness that oppose Christ will be thrown into the lake of fire. Chapter 21 tells us that those who stand with Christ will be brought into the holy city where there will be no more crying or dying or pain. The stark nature of this outcome feels scary to discuss with our children, especially if they are young, but those who stand with Christ will emerge victorious.
Unlike many of the books we read and movies we watch, with the Bible we know the ending before we even start reading the story. We know which characters die, which ones survive, and who lives happily ever after. We don’t have to binge-watch a series on Netflix to find out the answers because the answer key has already been given. We view our problems from a different perspective when we know how everything will unfold.
For example, if a teenager believes that God is for her, then she can learn to view a friend’s betrayal in terms of eternity. Remembering that Jesus himself was betrayed and rejected by those closest to him, she can take comfort in knowing he understands how she feels. In fact, Jesus left the delights of heaven to endure rejection because we need a Savior. Without a doubt, Jesus is for her, even when life is hard..
The world says that Christians have become obsolete and should be left out of the public square. The Bible says something different. We have been redeemed and brought into the kingdom of a Savior who loves us and died for us. As parents, we need to remind our children of this truth often, since their experience in the world they live in can make it so easy to forget.
Parents, Join us for Rooted 2024 in Dallas, Texas, October 24-26!
