Belief empowers behaviour. Whether we believe the aforementioned statement or not, sooner or later the evidence of it in our own lives and the lives of those around us will be to overwhelming for us to have any other opinion.
Undoubtedly that is why James the Apostle warned that not many of us ought to be teachers, for there is a stricter judgement. The value of a good teacher cannot be underestimated in the day and age in which we live.
As I watch and observe the way in which the world is heading, I have come to the conclusion that teaching has now become more re-active than pro-active. This, I believe is not a good sign. The world has found itself caught in a whirlwind of developing doctrine according to the varying behaviours and ideologies of men, all the while paying scarce regard to the foundation on which they should be building, or the plumb line with which they should be measuring.
What is right is now determined by how we 'feel', or whatever seems to satisfy and gratify from one day to the next. If this was the philosophy I embraced when I trained during my few years of amateur boxing, I would have rarely even made it to the gym to train, my regime would be fickle and flawed. My trainer would be embarrassed, and my head would be mashed potato. Reality would have whipped me.
The destruction of PC and narcissism
The need to not offend is surely one of the most dangerous ideologies of all time. Political correctness will one day stand side by side in the history books with the likes of racism and communism because of the awful and wicked harvest it unleashed on the earth.
The throwing away of constructive criticism and actual grading systems in school is giving rise to a generation of self obsessed narcissists who are unteachable in the workplace, on the sporting-field, and yes, even in the church. I cannot be the only employer who has experienced more than one occasion of a young apprentice quitting at the first hint of criticism, even if it comes from someone with many years of experience!
Personal experience with the 'me' generation
One of the biggest problems I, and my good friend had in recent years, whilst captaining a men's basketball team, was dealing with players 25 years old or younger who did not believe in taking substitutions, felt no need to give notice when missing a game, and routinely destroyed games through their inability to notice anyone else but themselves on the floor.
I still get surprised by the look I got when I criticized a young man who quit our team early in the year, the puzzled look that says, "This has never happened to me before". Why an employer or team captain should get looks like that from someone who has parents and has been through school, I do not know.
For today's young people, The reality of actually having to change when you get married has led to a two-fold problem, firstly, young couples are unwilling to make the commitment at all, and secondly, large numbers of divorcees who are not yet even 30 years old. I'm sure many couples would not have to end up this way if they would only let someone with greater knowledge and experience speak straight with them.
The attack on the family ends now
That primary responsibility for this straying from the truth will point firstly to parents should give us utmost respect for the vital role that Fathers and Mothers have in society, and an awareness of why the devil is so intent on wiping them out. Much of this is through an aggressive campaign of homosexuality, gender neutrality, divorce and abortion. The devil will not be content until the words mum and dad have been wiped from the world's lips.
I believe it is time to take a stand. Parents have become too passive and bought into the lie that their children's feelings are more important than their foundations. The reason minorities are dictating your child's education in school with defiance to your values, is because you have not stood in support of the teachers values when it came to disciplining your child. The day we took away the right of schoolteachers to discipline our own children, is the day we left them powerless in the face of politically correct anti-Christ agendas.
We must re-align ourselves with scripture. I cannot comment on these things without looking at our church culture also. I myself will admit that much of my failings and wanderings in church have come from a failure to handle criticism and offence. As in times past I looked at church as somewhere to satisfy my feelings, not as a place to share in and be instructed by the disciplines of Christ.
The older generation must make the difference
If Mothers and Fathers do not want their position swept away as foundations in society, then it is time for them to stop fattening the crowds of seeker-friendly church services and join themselves and their children to a church where leadership will not just exhort, but correct also. If the church is not offensive to the world and our own worldliness it is not built on Christ, for our foundation is 'a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence'.
It is time for Mothers and Fathers, school teachers, Pastors and elders, to support each-other once again, teaching our children in the way they should go, so that when they are older they will not depart from it. Always remember that those who teach and critique you, will be judged and critiqued by Him with the highest standards of all.
Joshua Robbie is currently serving the Lord under Pastors Ronnie and Shirley Naidoo of KZN Celebration Centre in Tongaat South Africa. He and His wife Rene' moved from Australia to South Africa in April 2016. Their desire is to help in whatever way they can so that the church can become all that God has purposed her to be. Josh also enjoys sports such as surfing, basketball and boxing.
Josh Robbie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/josh-robbie.html