John 15:18-19 says, "If the world hate you, ye
know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, (or paraphrased - you are not to be
socialized!) therefore the world hateth you!"
Romans 12:2 states, "And be not conformed to this
world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Would it be fair to say that if we ARE conformed to
this world, and are NOT transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we
will NOT KNOW what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God? Heaven forbid if we allow our children to be conformed or
socialized to the world and its ways!
WE MUST BE CAUTIOUS THAT WE DO NOT GET CARRIED ALONG WITH THE
HOMESCHOOLING MOVEMENT AS IT HAS BECOME NO LONGER JUST A CHRISTIAN
ISSUE!
As believers, we should NOT want our children to be
socialized as the world sees it. We need to be very careful of whom our
children see and are around.
In the homeschooling movement are a growing number of
people who are not teaching their children because of Biblical
convictions but are doing it for educational purposes. We constantly
hear from people who are dismayed with support groups whose
"center" is not Christ at all, but education and
socialization. Many of these homeschoolers do not profess Christianity
but are following the New Age and humanistic philosophies.
One of their main objectives is that they believe they
can turn their children into even BETTER citizens (or socialized
individuals) than what the public education system is doing.
But WHY are we training our children? The reason
Christians are undertaking this is because of the Word of God! The
scriptures clearly tell us it is the responsibility of the parent to
train their OWN children up in the admonition and love of the LORD. Now
what fellowship, dear brother or sister, have we with that of the world?
What could we possibly have in common with those who are NOT
homeschooling for the same reason?
A FEAR TACTIC IS USED TO KEEP PEOPLE IN DECEPTION REGARDING
SOCIALIZATION!
What starts to happen when people ask, "Aren’t
you worried about socialization?" is that this very question plants
a little seed in ones heart. It may sow a little seed of doubt that
maybe our children won’t be brought up normal! Or another deceptive
thought this humanism breeds is, "Don’t you know that your
children aren’t going to know how to get along in this world?"
... "They aren’t going to know how to get along with people who
are not like them!"
The list goes on and on. But if we are training our
children up in the Word of God we KNOW our children are NOT going to be
"normal" compared to the world’s or society’s standards!
As believers, we should know that our children will be
HAPPILY different than other children... Our children will be raised up
with a love for God and a respect for God and His family of believers
here on earth.
The fear that is instilled by people that don’t
quite understand the Biblical teaching that we will NOT conform to this
world or society, by saying that our children are going to be
"different", can only affect us because of our OWN
socialization!
Are we afraid to stand for the Word of God? Are we so
far damaged by the result of our own selves being socialized that we
LISTEN to the whispers of humanism and accept these thoughts as TRUTH
without ever searching in the Scriptures as what the Lord would say? It
is our duty as children of God to find out what HE would say in response
to socialization.
THE MISSIONARY CONCEPT REGARDING OUR CHILDREN HAS KEPT MANY CHILDREN
FROM BEING TRAINED UP BY THEIR PARENTS AND ARE STILL IN PUBLIC SCHOOL
TODAY AS A RESULT.
The MISSIONARY CONCEPT is the belief that we need to
have our children out in the world witnessing and interacting with other
children that are not believers. That it is their responsibility as
young believers to
be with and teach non-believers about the Lord and His
Word.
What happens with this philosophy is that the children
are then allowed to mix with children that are not being trained up in
God’s Holy Word with the thought that THEY will be a good and
righteous influence upon those that are devoid of truth. Does this
thought line up with God’s Word?
The belief that children of good moral character
befriending and training those that are of a bad character (or that
character which is trained up in worldliness) is contrary to sound
Biblical teaching:
1 Cor. 15:33. Be not deceived; evil communications
corrupts good manners.
According to the Strong’s Concordance COMMUNICATIONS
means companionship; association together; company!
This scripture makes it very clear that evil company
will only make the good corrupt! Not the other way around!!! If the
scriptures say these things, are we willing to test them to see if they
are TRUE? Are we willing to take this chance with the CHARACTER of our
own precious children?
Here are some more scriptures to ponder regarding this
subject:
Prov. 9:6. Forsake the foolish and live.
Prov. 13:20. He that walketh with wise men shall be
wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Here is an allegory that one brother came up with. He
worked at the Olympic Training Center and was talking about the way the
athletes lived. They were put on very rigorous schedules and very
disciplined diets, some for years and years, during the time that they
were preparing for the Olympic tryouts. During this time, they were only
allowed one goal in their minds, and that was to win the opportunity to
compete in the Olympics! Nothing else was allowed to be focused upon in
their lives.
Do you know what they call this period of time during
an athlete’s life? TRAINING! They are in TRAINING!
The dictionary definition of training is: 1. To coach
in or accustom to some mode of behavior or performance. 2. To make
proficient with specialized instruction and practice. 4. To cause to
take a desired course or shape.
The Strong’s Concordance defi- nition of train in
Prov. 22:6 (Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is
old, he will not depart from it...) is Hebrew #2596:
To NARROW. To initiate or discipline. Dedicate; Train
up!
The term "Narrow Minded" has usually been
used in a derogatory manner towards people who have a narrow view or
regard life through an unmovable philosophy or viewpoint. We should be
very ENCOURAGED when we are viewed this way!
Dear believers, if the world regards training so
seriously today in an effort to win such a prize as an Olympic medal,
why do we not regard as seriously our race that Paul preached about....
1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may
obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an
incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not
as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway.
Do these scriptures sound as if we are to be passive
towards the goal of living a life unto Christ? How much more should we
teach our children to be careful in the race towards Christ and to not
be afraid to TRAIN them! Sheltering our children during this time of
training is not bad!
THE MAJOR GOAL OF THE HUMANISTIC PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIALIZATION IS TO
ENCOURAGE OUR CHILDREN TO QUESTION AND DOUBT TRADITION- AL BIBLICAL
VALUES THROUGH PEER PRESSURE!
One of the goals of socialization is to BROADEN the
minds of our children and not have them be "narrow-minded"!
A very popular bumper sticker that is seen on the rear
of many cars reads: "CELEBRATE DIVERSITY" ! It is a very sad
thing to see many religious organizations accepting this same
philosophy. We have accepted as "normal" perversity! Another
bumper sticker recently read: "CELEBRATE PERVERSITY?"
Socialization can be devastatingly dangerous to
children that are not yet founded in the Word of God and are easily
swayed by others.
Prayerfully, if we bring each of our children up to
not regard the opinion of their peers higher than the opinion of their
parents, and we insure that those who they do have minimal interaction
with are being trained with the same goals, we then will have beaten
this humanism! The outcome for our children will be that they will NEVER
have been SOCIALIZED, or in other words, made worldly!!
SOCIALIZATION ALSO HAS BEEN CHRISTIANIZED SO THAT MANY HAVE BEEN
DECEIVED INTO LETTING THEIR CHILDREN BEFRIEND THE WORLD...
The scriptures teach us to GO into all the world and
preach the Gospel, but does this mean that we go and BEFRIEND the world?
Did our examples, the apostles, befriend the world? What did they have
to say about this?
James 4:4. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
SOCIALIZATION IS ALSO BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT IF OUR CHILDREN DO NOT
PLAY WITH OTHER CHILDREN, THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FUNCTION IN SOCIETY.
This belief has pressured many of us to allow our
children to play and associate more often than what we should with
others children. This is where we need to question this belief and line
it up with the Word of God. First of all, what does the Bible have to
say about children?
Prov. 22:15. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a
child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Prov. 29:15. The rod and reproof give wisdom; but a
child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
How many times have we allowed our children to play
with other children and then go off and let them tend to themselves? So
many times we have let our little ones occupy themselves with playmates
while we get things done that needed to be tended to, and have not
supervised the situation. Many times, these situations have ended with
children getting hurt or fights breaking out. Tears are shed and the
parent never really knows exactly what happened or who really was at
fault in these instances. If one is in the habit of doing this often,
isn’t it doing what is spoken of in Prov. 29 of leaving our children
to themselves? And not only that, we are allowing them to train each
other! We are letting foolishness train up foolishness.
There is nothing wrong with children playing together.
But the philosophy that they MUST play together to grow up functional is
never mentioned once in the Word of God. The Scriptures which talk about
children are all based around the PARENTS having interaction... NOT
peers.
THE FAMILY IS WHERE BIBLICAL SOCIALIZATION STARTS AND ENDS...
The following are scriptures that admonish us in who
is necessary in the training of our children. Please note that there is
not one scripture throughout the whole Bible that says peers are needed
in this training. Read 1 Kings 12:1-16 that tells us what happened to
King Rehoboam because of peer pressure and influence.
Deut. 6:6-7 & 11:19... And thou shalt teach them
(God’s Statutes) 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.
This scripture says to DILIGENTLY teach our children
and then goes on to say that during each moment of our lives we are to
teach them... not just speak them but also teach through our actions...
CONSTANTLY. It doesn’t sound here as if the parents were allowed too
much "time for themselves"!
Prov. 22:6. Train up a child in the way he should go
and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Prov. 29:17. Correct thy son and he shall give thee
rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
Eph. 6:4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children
to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
WHO is told to train up the children? The parent. Who
is to chastise and correct? The parent. Who is to teach the children God’s
ways? That’s right, THE PARENT!
Scripturally, the parent and the family is all that is
necessary for a child to be trained up correctly, if that training is
based on God’s Word. We no longer need to be afraid that if we are
careful of our children’s associations we will cause irreversible
psychological damage to them! It is actually quite the opposite. We
could cause spiritual harm to our blessed offspring if we AREN’T
careful of SOCIALIZATION.
SOCIALIZATION HAS HAD AN AFFECT UPON BELIEVERS THAT WERE BROUGHT UP
IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND ARE NOW RAISING CHILDREN.
Public school has done a very good job in influencing
most of the parents today. The aspect of socialization has caused many
of us to be afraid to stand up and do things a little bit differently.
But this is what SOCIALIZATION was meant to do! It is to ensure that
people follow along with what society says is NORMAL! When people lift
up their eyebrows when you say you "home teach" your children,
their reaction is only because they were not trained this way and they
wonder if another way could be successful.
The aspect of EXPERTISM comes in also... Pretty soon,
we are wondering if we will need degrees to be mothers and fathers!
In order to do anything successfully, one must have a
university and college degree... only then does a person know what they
are doing!
Socialization is not just a simple thought that
children must play with other children. It runs much deeper than that.
When humanism declared that all children must interact it was part of
their belief of reconstructing and reforming the mind set of America. It
is a way to have the people in society keep an eye on the rest of
society! It causes people to never step out and think for themselves and
never weigh society’s teachings with what God’s Word is saying!
We do not know how much longer the Government will
tolerate believers home training their children. We pray that God will
soften the hearts of those in authority over us... We need to keep on
the alert and watch! Socialization is not a Christian philosophy.
Rather, it is totally contrary. Many people do not realize this and so
are allowing their children to have influences in their lives that are
harmful to their spiritual growth. Many of these influences come through
the guise of homeschooling. Many through the influence of television.
My wife recently stated that many seemingly innocent
cartoon characters were hurting believer’s children... She was
questioning me, if Donald Duck came to play with our children, would we
let him in? Now Donald Duck seems to be a relatively harmless fellow but
if you take a closer look at his character, he is known for his
selfishness, grumpiness and deviousness. If you happen to let your
children befriend cartoon characters, take a closer look at their
character and see what they reflect!
One family uses these questions as a checklist for
their children’s associations:
1. Do they have a deep love and respect of the Lord
and His Word?
2. Do they choose not to conform to this world as in
Romans !2:2 & John 15:18-19. (This is a very sensitive subject as
different families have different beliefs as to what conformity is. The
head of each family should decide for his own offspring what their
standard will be. Also, be charitable and remember that all of us are in
different states of growing with the Lord and to look at the openness of
people in their attitude to God’s Holy Word.)
3. Do they have attitudes of respect for one another
and operate through a character of brotherly kindness and love?
Beware, dear saint, that we do have an enemy, and this
enemy definitely wants the hearts, minds and souls of our children. Do
not underestimate him, but be watchful and alert!
1 Peter 5:8-9 "Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
