Parents, Just Say No.

My beautiful wife dabbles in that peculiar phenomenon of the internet known as Facebook.

Recently, she saw there a posting by a Sister-in-Christ whom we haven't heard from in a long, long time. Seems that her daughter is into Hannah Montana, and that she just saw the new Miley Cyrus video, and is questioning whether she ought to allow her daughter to see it. She posted a YouTube link to the video to ask what her Facebook friends think of that and how she should handle it.

I have never seen Hannah Montana, except for the ubiquitous t-shirts and posters in the Towns. We haven't seen the new Miley Cyrus video (or, for that matter, the old video), but my dutiful wife took a peek at it to see what exactly was being discussed.

Yikes!


Where on earth to begin?

Let me tell you a little story.

I know of a man – whether in his mind I do not know, or whether out of his mind I do not know, God knows – I know of such a man who as a middle-school child was caught up to the third degree in a devotion to the band KISS, and heard things there which are not lawful for a child to express. You know; the notorious 70's rock band KISS with make-up, platform boots, fire-breathing and all that. I know of such a man who, at very young age, in the third grade, had previously been called by God. He hadn't known much about God, he hadn't known that God could or would 'call' anyone, but there he found himself called and in the innocence of his heart he answered the call and gave his life to God.

As this young man grew up in the public schools (you may have noticed that even by the third grade his mindset was oriented around School) he naturally grew away from the God he had dedicated his life to. He went to 'church' twice every Sunday and once on Wednesday, but despite the fact that his parents were Christians, and his father would go on to be appointed to an important position in the 'church', the majority of hours in between 'church' were filled with School and TV – both of which very naturally impart an ungodly mindset. By the time that he was in middle school his hours were filled with School, TV, and Music – specifically KISS music.

The young man still went to 'church' and still considered himself a Christian, but was caught in that rather unfortunate place that a great preponderance of western Christians find themselves: divided in heart and mind between the Christ that they profess to worship, and the anti-Christ world that they are immersed in. Worse, being immersed in it, most of them are quite unaware that there is anything at all inherently problematic about this situation, and neither did this child. Apparently, neither did his parents and neither did the 'churchpeople' that they associated with three times a week.

In fact, the pastor of this 'church' and many of the 'churchpeople' often encouraged this type of schizophrenic Christianity by lampooning Christians who "...don't cuss, drink, smoke or chew, or go with girls who do." By celebrating Halloween and solemnly sympathizing for the poor children of lesser Christians who were so misguided as to think that there was something wrong with Christians celebrating Halloween. By denigrating imaginary straw-man Christians who didn't understand that in Christ we have the freedom to watch all kinds of godless movies and television and listen to all kinds of godless music and to do even more than that.

Amazingly, only one person at this 'church' ever bothered to say anything at all to this young man about the propriety of listening to KISS: the young and sincere 'Youth Minister' of the church. Imagine what a position that 21 year old Youth Minister must have been in, desiring to lead this young man out of this sort of music, knowing that the 'Pastor' of the 'church' and the young man's 'Head Deacon' father were not in agreement with him at all.

And once, the young man did overhear another 'church' member asking his parents if they truly had no objection to their son listening to KISS. The young man's parents assured the misguided 'churchperson' that it was "just a 'phase' he was going through."

The phase became a defining issue in his life and thinking – which, of course, isn't a very compatible with a life in Christ. The phase lasted for about 17 years, give or take a year, which is a good long while for a childhood phase. In fact, the phase was still in good health right up to its demise: its eyes were not dimmed, nor was its strength diminished. It would probably have gone on for a considerable number of years at that rate, except that the Prince of Life felt compassion for the young man who had been led completely astray by the worldliness of the world, and sent His Spirit to make war against the phase. The phase had been going to and fro in his life and walking back and forth on it for all of his adolescent and adult years, and had wrought havoc in every direction. No aspect of the man's life was left unharmed by the phase, and yet, in his blindness, he esteemed it very highly.

Mercifully,the Lord Jesus struck it a mortal blow with the sword of His mouth, and it died soon afterward, unmourned and uncelebrated.

Funny thing though about Jesus: for all the resentment of the unbelievers of the world, He is actually quite unwilling to violate your personal rights no matter how much that might be in your interest. He stands at the door and knocks, and to everyone who opens He will come in and dine. If you won't open, He stays outside. He won't come in where He isn't wanted, even though He has every right to do so; unlike His enemy, the wicked one, who comes in wherever he can sneak in, when he has no right to do any such thing, and it's never in your interest for him to do so.

So Jesus knocked, and the young man opened, and Jesus came in to sit down and eat with the young man.

And what do you suppose was there waiting for the young man, after all those years, that very night, when the young man got home after committing his life to Jesus? The young man's beautiful and dedicated wife had fallen asleep while waiting on the young man, and there on the unattended television, broadcasting live, was a massive KISS convention in NYC, complete with an upcoming performance by KISS in a few moments...

Coincidence? Well...maybe.

The young man looked at the TV for a moment... slowly realizing the irony of the situation... and could it really hurt to wait until the morning to dig up his Bible and get started obeying God? Very still he stood, quietly feeling the pull of the weight of gravity from his old friend and nemesis... then, to himself, in silence said... "Well, either I'm in or I'm not..." and quietly reached out and turned off the television...


What then is the moral of our story?

1. First of all, above and beyond everything else: if you send your child to the Schools (public, private, or religious) you have already given the most important ground to the enemy, the accuser of the brethren, the opposer of all godliness: Satan and his kingdom. You have ceded to the enemy the most strategically critical ground and the greatest opportunity to influence your child's mind and direction. Of course, that doesn't mean the battle is over, but it does mean that the odds are stacked against you. Worse, if you send you child to the Schools, the odds are you aren't too concerned about influencing your child's mind and direction to begin with.

2. Parents have a responsibility not only to keep up with what their kids are watching and listening to, but to step in and say, "No." In fact, that's actually the whole point of parents to begin with. At times when I have felt like the children aren't turning the lights off like they should (which costs the entire family needed money) I re-emphasize to them, "The whole point of having lights switches at all is to turn the lights off, not on. Otherwise you wouldn't need a switch at all, you could just wire the lights to be on all the time." Well, if children didn't need to be told no, they wouldn't need parents at all. If everything were permissible they could just be on their own.

3. And Miley Cyrus of any sort or condition is a good example of what to say "No" about. In point of fact, way, way, WAY more than three-quarters of what is available to your child should be a "No", especially in these days. Turn that tomfool television off, and throw away those wicked CDs and video games. Here is where the Schools greatly and unduly complicate things: if your child was at home with you where they are supposed to be, then there would be much less likelihood of them getting entangled in such nonsense to begin with – unless you yourself introduced the nonsense to them. And if that's the case, then, well, don't do that!

Parent your children people. It's a stewardship from God.