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HOMESCHOOLIOWA.ORGEquipping Children for a DangerousWorld
BY CHAWNA SCHROEDER
The world is a dangerous place.
F
lip on the nightly news, skim trending headlines, or browse
the internet, and that reality parades before you. From local
murders to international terrorism, from arson to human traf-
ficking, we cannot escape the darkness shrouding our world.
Yet as dangerous as knives, guns, and bombs can be, they are
not the greatest threat our children face. A far more insidious
enemy lurks in the shadows: the ideas and beliefs spurring these
external dangers. After all, actions don’t spring from a void. They
flow from the heart—from thoughts, philosophies, desires, and
beliefs which can and do infect us all (Matthew 15:18-20, Mark
7:20-23).
Facing the Enemy
How, then, shouldwe deal with this threat bombarding us from
every side? How do we handle this war of ideas with our kids?
Isolating our children from the war often sounds like a great
solution. But we cannot always be there, telling them what to
do or think. Some
day, sooner than
most of us want,
our kids will step
outside our pro-
tection. What will
they do then? For
if we have isolat-
ed them from the world their whole life, our children will lack
the necessary tools to handle such an overwhelming barrage.
And what tools they do possess, they will lack experience using.
Is it any wonder that they fall prey to the first sweet-talking or
rational-sounding enemy they encounter?
When we realize this, the temptation arises for us to shove
our children head-long into battle. Maybe, we think, facing the
enemy on his own turf will teach our kids how to defend them-
selves. Sometimes this works, but more often than not, they will
simply succumb under the enemy’s endless attack.
In both of these cases we have made the same, often fatal,
mistake. We have sent out our children ill-equipped. We have
provided them neither the tools nor the training to face the en-
emy. We have forgotten to teach them the art of discernment.
Defining Discernment
When you read that term “discernment,” many different con-
cepts may come to mind: a spiritual gifting, a natural intuition,
divine guidance. These are not wrong perceptions. Discernment
can be a gift, and both intuition and guidance play a role in our
discernment. However, each of these definitions raises a prob-
lem. None of them can be taught. As a result, many throw up
their hands and walk away saying,“There is nothing else I can do.”
That is a lie. There is something we can do. While gifts, intu-
ition, and divine guidance cannot be taught, there is a frequent-
ly overlooked form of discernment which can be taught: the
spiritual discipline of discernment.
Contrary to the other definitions, this type of discernment is
not given to the select few. This discernment we acquire through
constant use and training. Moreover, God desires everyone to
have this kind of discernment because it marks us as spiritually
mature Christians (Hebrews 5:14).
Therefore, the discipline of discernment is the ability to recog-
nize good as good and evil as evil; the skill to separate that good
from evil; and the choice of keeping the good and throwing the
bad.
Recognizing the Good
The first step in preparing your kids, then, is to arm them with
the Bible.
You cannot separate the good from evil until you first know
what qualifies as good and what qualifies as evil. You cannot
understand those qualifications until you understand the un-
changing
stan-
dard that sepa-
rates the two.
Therefore, much
like those trained
to spot counter-
feit money, we
must train our
kids to recognize the true, the real, the genuine, and the good,
because then they will be able to spot the fake and the evil, no
matter what guise it takes.
As a result, we must train our kids to be biblically literate, as
the Bible is our final say on what is true and good in this world.
This is why Scripture frequently portrays itself as a sword (e.g.,
Ephesians 6:17). It protects, defends, and separates.
We must teach our kids to know all the stories of the Bible,
from Genesis to Revelation. We must hone their understanding
of God’s character and Christian doctrine. And most important
of all, we must train them to study the Scriptures themselves
and feed themselves spiritually from it. For what good is a sword
if we must rely on someone else to wield it for us?
Separating Good and Evil
The ability to recognize good and evil is not enough. We must
also develop the skill to separate them. This comes from apply-
ing the Bible to our everyday world. We often read the Bible and
learn its magnificent truths, yet fail to do anything with that
truth. We must guard against becoming merely hearers of the
Word who deceive ourselves (James 1:22).
So while we ought to teach our children the stories and doc-
trines of Scripture, we cannot stop there. Indeed, we dare not
stop there. Swords are sharp and pointed. They can and will do
much harm if improperly handled. The Bible is no different.
“...the discipline of discernment is the ability to:
•
recognize good as good and evil as evil;
•
the skill to separate that good from evil;
•
the choice of keeping the good and throwing the bad.”