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BACK
AWARENESS
This moral war zone demands vigilance of all who are called to guard
the gates at home. No parent is exempt. We need to be infused with
the truth of God’s Word and aware of the devil’s strategies.
A soldier must be able to identify the enemy. Are you standing guard
in a state of ignorance? If you don’t know what your children
are watching or reading, your first assignment is obvious. Even
if your Internet access is filtered, you need to know what tracks
your children are making in the virtual universe. Don’t take
anything for granted. Anyone can have the run of the castle if the
guards have been lulled to sleep.
Pay attention to friendships.
Be nosey. Get reliable information on sexual issues. Much of the
information that circulates in adolescent circles is faulty or amoral.
Could you answer rightly if your child came home with a question
about HPV or HIV? Could you turn to four Bible references on the
subject of sex? If the subject has never come up in your house,
are you ready to raise it?
ENVIRONMENT
Though our family lives in a middle-class neighborhood, our front
door is equipped with two locks. We are careful to secure the house
and family against intruders. What about the other doorways into
our homes? Are we providing our children with a secure environment?
What is coming in through television and the Internet? What is being
glorified through music and movies? What attitudes shape the atmosphere
in your home? The Christian home should reflect what the Bible teaches
about sex. Parents must recognize that their attitudes towards sex
are usually known before the child asks his or her first halting
question. If a child lives in an environment where the subject of
sex is shrouded in embarrassment and secrecy, a parent should not
be surprised when that child looks elsewhere for sexual information.
Unfortunately, many Christian homes do not present an environment
in which sexuality can be addressed in a positive light.
COMMUNICATION
As a Christian dad, I want to be a source of inspiration, imitation
and information. I want my kids to get their information, especially
sexual information, within the framework of a Christian context.
Opinions vary on when sexual information should be shared. A parent
might well wait for puberty. In our sexually charged culture, however,
puberty might be too late.
Educators are pushing
for the introduction of sex education in lower grades each year.
The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
(SIECUS) is the driving force behind most sex education guidelines
in America’s public school systems. It has targeted children
as young as 5 years old for sexual education. If SIECUS standards
prevail, kindergarten children will be introduced to sex education
that casts a favorable light on homosexuality and masturbation.
The scope, content, and target of SIECUS’ work should help
us to realize that our children are unguarded prey unless we clearly
communicate a moral, biblical foundation for sexuality.
Our cultural drift away
from Judeo-Christian foundations has made our nation a dangerous
place for kids. Legalized abortion transforms a mother’s womb
into a death chamber. Pedophilic wolves in sheep’s clothing
destroy the aura of safety that once radiated in our neighborhoods.
STDs reveal one of many deadly flaws in the sexual revolution. Teenage
pregnancies give rise to a fatherless generation. Promiscuity stockpiles
regret and heartache to be visited another day. Sensuality demands
more and more until perversion robs all sense of right and wrong.
Yet there remains a path
that leads to love, sexual joy, holiness, purity and peace. A generation
is at risk. As we walk through a valley both dark and deadly, parents
must lead.
David B. Crabtree is
senior pastor of Calvary Church (Assemblies of God) in Greensboro,
N.C., and the father of three teenage daughters.
E-mail your comments
to pe@ag.org.
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