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As a Society Thinks, So Will it Behave
A society that has removed God from their thinking should expect a people who behave as if there is no God.
Over the years, every effort has been in the public education system to reject God as the Creator, the Rule Maker, and the Ultimate Judge of every human. To add fuel to fire, parents have failed to counter this teaching in the home. As a result, the Biblical worldview has been replaced with one that teaches that everything, including humans and all life, has come about by accident and has no meaning.
This society begins to believe that there are no rules to live by much less a final Judge. The only law that remains is pure relativism. Each person gets to decide how they want to live and no one has the right to tell them otherwise.
The greatest proponent and educator of evolution and atheism was the largest mass murderer in history, Adolf Hitler. In a few short years, he was able to convince millions of people that whoever had the most power had the right to make the rules. As a result of his atheistic evolutionary worldview, over 13 million people were murdered.
The point is if God is intentionally removed from a society, then we should not be surprised by a population who is immoral and ungodly. Since the God of the Bible has been rejected, our society will increasingly suffer the consequences of a population who has been taught that there is no God.
Think about this, if God and His rules for living are intentionally removed, then what makes lying, cheating, stealing, pornography, rape, or even murder wrong?
We often think that a society that rejects God is a new thing but it is common throughout human history, and the results are always the same.
Take for instance the people of Israel who followed Moses and then Joshua. Upon the death of Moses, God reminded them of who He is and their obligation to obey Him, along with what they could expect if they obeyed Him.
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:7-8)
However, the generation of people that knew God died without teaching the next generation. While they themselves knew God, God’s rules, and the consequence of obedience or disobedience, they did not teach these principles to their children. Instead, they assumed that the next generation would somehow just know, but they did not.
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers (Judges 2:10-12a).
Within one generation the Israelites went from honoring and obeying God, to a generation who did not know Him or obey him. The result? Ungodly behavior.
The cure for a society plagued with immorality that is rooted in atheism and evolutionary teaching must begin by returning to Bible basics, such as, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…” (Gen. 1:1).
Belief and/or unbelief guides a person’s behavior. If we want our children to love God, obey God, and strive to live godly lives, then let us intentionally teach them about Him.
Do your children have the same faith?
Do your children have the same faith?
Has your faith been passed to your children?
Do they believe that God created all things?
Do they believe that there is only one God?
Do they know that they are sinners who need forgiveness?
Do they know that Jesus is God?
Do they know what Jesus has done to bring about salvation?
Do they know how to be made right before God?
The best way to find out is to go ask them. Right now! Go see what they say to these questions.
Sadly, many parents are shocked to find out that their children do not share the faith with them.
Sometimes this is because Christian parents just assume that their children are acquiring all of the information they need to have right belief. However, often the parents are not personally involved in the instruction process. Many do not even check to see if their children are acquiring basic doctrines of Christianity.
We must remember that the teachings of Christianity are not learned by osmosis.
Children are born without any knowledge of God’s Word. They must be diligently and consistently taught the Bible, or the will not know it. If they are not taught the right knowledge of God, they will grow up not seeing the Bible as God’s supreme rule of belief and behavior in their lives.
By the time these children get to be teens and young adults, we are finding that their beliefs are totally different from their Christian parents.
How did this happen?
Most likely, the parents assumed that Christianity would just be automatically learned, however, Christianity must be intentionally taught.
Timothy is an excellent example of a young man who believed like his parent, and even his grandparent.
Paul wrote, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Tim. 1:5).
Here we have an example of three generations of right faith.
How did the faith get passed down?
We find the answer in the same letter to Timothy when Paul wrote, “but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
It appears that Timothy had been taught the Word of God by his mother and grandmother from the time he was a very young child. Now as a young man, Timothy possesses the same beliefs as his mother and grandmother.
What are the benefits of teaching a child the Bible?
According to Paul, the Bible:
- Educates a child about salvation.
- Teaches a child right belief.
- Calls out a child’s wrong belief and wrong behavior.
- Corrects a child’s incorrect belief and behavior.
- Trains a child how to live as God has commanded.
- Equips a child to work for God.
