“If we are not taught truth, then how can we know truth?
If we don’t know truth, how can we obey truth?”
The world will quickly fill the void and give them what
it says is truth. Of course, the world’s concept of truth is
always in direct opposition to God’s Word. The result is
always the same. God went on to say that when truth is
not taught, the law of God is forgotten or ignored (Hosea
4:6b). This means that God’s people were not obeying
God’s Word. This shouldn’t surprise us. If we are not
taught truth, then how can we know truth? If we don’t
know truth, how can we obey truth?
I challenge you to think about all the “things” that
parents give their children today. It blows my mind what
the average child has today. They have the latest fashions,
good food, their own bedrooms (something I never had
until I got out of college), and the latest gadgets. I see kids
wearing Converse sneakers, and they think that they are
really in style. I still remember when the only basketball
shoe one could buy was Converse, and the only colors
were white and black.
If we go back to Ravi’s statement, the things we give
our children sometimes are things that we think they
need to have, and then we protect it for the next genera-
tion. However, are we giving them and protecting for
them the most important things?
In one of Christian Overman’s blogs, he quotes Allan
Bloom. Bloom was not a Christian, but he was a wise
person and understood the powerful influence the Bible
had on American culture from the time our country was
founded. In his 1987 book, The Closing of the American
Mind, Bloom diagnosed the real problem with parents
today. He wrote, “And fathers and mothers have lost the
idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their
children is for them to be wise—as priests, prophets or
philosophers are wise.”
The author went on to explain that parents think
what is most important is to give their children a good
education so they can get a good job and be “successful.”
But in doing so, we have forsaken what may be the most
important thing we can give our children that will protect
their future. Bloom wrote, “Specialized competence and
success are all that they [parents] can imagine. Contrary
to what is commonly thought, without the book [Bible]
even the idea of the whole is lost.”
Again, we must go back to Zacharias’ statement
quoted on page 24. He said that we must give them truth.
Whether you are a parent, church leader or educator,
the greatest thing you can give a young person is truth.
But without the Bible as the source and foundation for
truth, truth cannot be known or given. This means that
we cannot keep giving our children a secular education
because it denies God’s Word as the source of truth. I
agree with what Cal Thomas once said, “Without the
Bible, it isn’t education!”
I want to close with a statement by Dr. Tony Evans,
pastor of the great Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. As you
read his statement, please do not apply it just to parents.
I believe this challenge is for all Christians. God expects
us to give the most valuable gift there is to our children,
but we cannot give what we don’t possess ourselves.
“Children have a very spiritual reason for their
existence. ... [Parents] are to transfer a theocentric,
God-centered worldview; that’s why He said raise them
in the Lord (Eph 6:4). Let the glasses they wear (we call
that a worldview, a lens through which you view life) be
constructed by the parents as they have gotten it from
the Lord. But if parents haven’t gotten anything, they
can’t give anything. We are to transfer to them what we
have gotten from the Lord.”
A final thought from Hosea 4:6. It says that if we
continue to forget (ignore) God’s law (by not teaching
our children truth and obeying His Word), then God
will forget (ignore) our children! It is frightening to think
that the next generation might suffer like this because of
our acts of unfaithfulness. What kind of world are we
giving our children?
Dr. Glen Schultz has given his life to educating future
generations according to God’s plan. After five years in
public education, he entered the field of Christian educa-
tion, where he has been a teacher, coach, principal, and
superintendent. He has directed the Christian school work
at LifeWay Christian Resources, served as the ACSI South-
east Regional Director, Superintendent of Liberty Christian
Academy in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Headmaster of Sherwood Christian Acad-
emy. Currently, Dr. Schultz serves as founder and director of Kingdom Education
Ministries. He is the author of Kingdom Education: God’s Plan for Educating
Future Generations and several parenting booklets. Glen and his wife, Sharon,
have three children and six grandchildren and live in Summerville, SC. He is a
member of the Renewanation Board of Directors.
25