Bombarded

I have been bombarded this afternoon. Bombarded by the truth of what the world would like to bombard my children with. (Yes, I know they are young ladies, teenagers, but they are my children.) I am not sure if things are degenerating as rapidly as it seems, or if I am just more acutely aware of it lately. Probably a little of both.

I was alerted earlier today by two of my younger friends to the lyrics of Lady Gaga's newest song. I confess, I am not completely sure who Lady Gaga is. I have heard of her. I have heard people I know talk about her. I am pretty sure I have heard people I know compliment her "talent". I have never seen her or heard any of her songs. As of today, I know the name of one song. A little while ago I Googled it and read the lyrics. Afterward I felt like I needed to take a bath, ask forgiveness, and have my eyes and brain purged. I was disgusted and saddened. My young friends suggested she needs prayer. I agree. I won't link the song here. If you are interested, you will have to find it.

How many of our kids listen to this trash? What is going into their heads? Does anyone realize that what goes in their ears and their eyes goes straight into their heads? Once it is there, it is there to stay. And from their heads, it goes to their hearts. I am a stickler for what goes into my kids nutritionally. I am not a "food nazi" by any means, but I am cautious and do my best to make sure they are getting adequate nutrition. I care about what goes into them. I want them to live long, healthy lives. But I care even more about what goes into them in a spiritual sense. We have kids growing up spiritually starved, filling up on trash and junk and downright heresy.

Is it just music? Is it just a movie? A tv show? A book? Is is really JUST that? What is it doing to their minds and their hearts? Is it slowly numbing them to the truth? I would never feed my kids burgers and fries and chips all week, then throw in an apple once or twice a week and say I have done a good job feeding them. Why, then, would I let them live on a diet of trashy music, tv, movies and literature (I'm stretching, here, using the word literature, but bear with me) and throw in a quick prayer at bedtime, or a Bible verse, or a trip to church, and say I have done a good job?

The world is quickly losing all sense of morality. Maybe it is already lost. But those who belong to Christ are not of this world. As parents, we have to fight, and fight hard, to protect the hearts and minds of our children. Start young, and never give up. Just because they become teenagers doesn't mean our job is done. In fact, it is harder than ever. I read a statistic last night that was chilling. According to research by the Barna Group, less than one-half of one percent of adults ages 18-23 (that's college age) have a Biblical worldview. One-half of one percent! Surely 99.5 percent of those kids didn't grow up in atheistic homes. Surely many of them grew up going to church, in "Christian" homes. So what happened? I am not sure, but I have some ideas. Somewhere along the way, the 0.5 percent understood that what they were being taught about the Bible, what they were being taught AT HOME about God, had everything to do with every other part of their lives. They were raised on a spiritual diet that was consistent and pervasive.

Consistent and pervasive. That's the world's strategy. It has to be ours.