Articles
The Bubble
“Let the little children come to Me…” (Matthew 19:14)
Psalm 127 tells us that children are a blessing from God, and anyone who has raised children in good faith, can attest to the truth of that statement. Building of a home and family is a primary purpose of a man and, for most men, linked to his pursuit of holiness. For women, Proverbs 31 tells us that it is an even more important part of their lives.
Today is no different for parents and children as far as the importance of building that home, but we all face one issue which is never brought up in the bible because its existence was minimal in the day: school.
Do not misunderstand, school was something that all young Jewish boys and girls went to when they were children. Paul was lucky that he could afford to sit at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) who is so honored that his name is immortalized in the Bible twice as a man of wisdom (Acts 5:34-39). The teachers of the law were just that for children. Jewish schools would hold session in the synagogue and either a hired teacher (supported by the community) or one of the priests as part of his priestly duty, would assist children in learning to read, write, and memorize the Torah (first five books of the Bible). This would start at age 5 and would be completed around age 10 for students. Boys would then continue to learn more about the Bible and the prophets and begin participating in services after their 13th birthday (in modernity, a special celebration has been added to this coming-of-age year called the “bar mitzvah,” which means “son of the commandment.”) All other learning was done at home. Boys would learn the vocation of their father, and girls would learn how to make a home, run a family, and home economics.
Today’s schools have been expanded greatly and are not operated on a religious basis any longer. Modern schools teach a well-rounded universal education covering such a variety of subjects and disciplines that students who graduate should be able to begin pursuing a career or more focused education (college) on any topic on the globe. Professional educators, and entire nation-wide systems of education have been established to create this opportunity for children. In the United States, 87% of all children ages 5-17 are enrolled in public education. (NBC News, 2022) As Christians, it is easy to recognize that when you take nearly all a population and put them together in a single place, it is not the few who know the path to God who will be the majority in that population.
Putting all those children from so many diverse cultures, backgrounds, and religious beliefs or non-beliefs creates a unique situation which has no equal anywhere else in society, with a possible exception of prison, known as a “bubble.”
This bubble has no influence on the outside world. Nothing which happens inside of schools has any real bearing on what we do in society, but any wind of change from the outside world may feel like a fleeting breeze to those outside the bubble, but it disturbs the entire world inside the bubble. Combine that with the volatile and influence-able nature of children and the consequences can be dramatic.
Anyone who has ever dealt with children can attest to how impressionable children can be. Take this year’s silver medalist on the balance beam event in the Olympic Games, Zhou Yaqin, as an example. During the medal ceremony, the gold and silver medal winners, Alice D’Amato, and Manila Esposito, both from Italy, took part in a current trend of biting the precious metal awards (which are made up of some real gold, silver, and bronze.) This harkens back to a time when people would bite money as a quick way of checking for genuine currency. Zhou, seems unaware of the trend and how to do it, and in the ceremony, she can be seen looking over to the other two girls biting their medals, giving a confused look, then, in her effort to fit in, biting her medal like it were a cookie. This moment of innocence in her effort to be like the other girls has taken over the internet as one of the most adorable moments in the Olympic Games this year.
Remember that Zhou is a well-disciplined, world-class athlete from a godless country known for making failures vanish into the obscurity of the vast population, stripping them of their fame, glory, and privilege. Despite her focus and motivation, she can still be influenced by her peers and quirky trends which have extraordinarily trivial effects on the larger society. Also, keep in mind Zhou is 18 years old.
With how our society is currently structured, many families cannot afford to have the wife stay home raising and taking care of their children. Homeschooling is not an option for many families because the education requirements of our society are so high that a professional teacher really is necessary.
Sending Christian children off to school should make all of us realize how important it truly is to have them at church services every week without fail. Sports, school events, and other activities that are allowed to get in the way of service to God will influence our children that God is not important. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” When children are in services, even at a young age, we should be teaching them to participate. Certainly, being attentive the entirety of a sermon is a little much for younger children, but singing, learning to be quiet and still for a prayer, helping to pass the plates for the Lord’s Supper (not partaking), and giving money are all things they can do! Young boys can also lead a congregation in prayer or song to help train them to be confident and competent in doing it when they are older. Children must be trained to be reverent to God because the world will teach them a separate set of values.
Children will learn, it is in their nature to absorb all information around them and create the person they will be when they grow up. They will make mistakes. They will fall. They will make wrong choices. There will be days where it is or feels like it is impossible to get them to do what they should be doing. Do not give up! Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “You shall teach [these words of Mine (v.18)] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you like down, and when you rise.” Why does God tell us this? It is to be a constant learning because we are not perfect. If we were, we could tell the child once, and always be the exemplar. If we were perfect, we could tell the child once, and they will always have it. If we were perfect, we could tell the child once, and they will always practice it. Unfortunately, Romans 3:23 is correct, and we all fall short.
As we send our children and grandchildren off to school this year, pray over them. Ask God to let them be in that bubble not being influenced but being the influence. Do not let the slothfulness of giving up and letting children ignore God be the stumbling block for them. Ground them in the Lord and reap the rewards of the heart as you watch them grow in the Lord.
Lance Byers
8/10/2024
- The_Bubble_8-10-24-1723303280.pdf (124.09 kB)
