Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

“With the lights out it’s less dangerous,
Here we are now, entertain us,
I feel stupid and contagious,
Here we are now, entertain us.”
--- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana, 1991)

I remember well when this song was first released in 1991. I was a senior in high school and this song quickly became the anthem of my graduating class. But more than that, I look back over the past fifteen years and I realize, with great sadness, that it has become the theme song for my generation and those coming behind.

Here we are now, entertain us.

We see and hear and experience this expectation in almost every context of life today. There is a premium placed upon “fun” and the responsibility for ensuring a “good time” falls squarely upon the shoulders of everyone but the individual.

Let’s look at a few examples within the context of a typical teen’s reality.

At school, we hear statements like “My math teacher is so boring.” The assumption, of course, is that the most important attribute of an educator is that they are fun. Their qualifications of experience, content mastery, and methodologies are rendered meaningless if they are unable to entertain the student. The ultimate goal of most students attending school is to have fun and to grow their social networks. The primary purpose of education is to promote learning. Sometimes the two can work hand-in-hand, but often times they are diametrically opposed. Learning is work and work is not always fun.

This type of immature logic is repeated in the context of family life (“I hate doing chores – they’re no fun”), employment (“I need a new job – this one is so boring!”), and church (“I hope church isn’t dull today or I’m going to fall asleep!”). Again, the supposition is that these things exist only to entertain, and that the individual bears no responsibility for what he gains from the experience. That task gets relegated to the parent, pastor, employer, and teacher.

We want a fun process to lead us to a fruitful reward. But the biblical model says that a fruitful process will lead to a fun reward. Psalms 128:2 reminds us that “when you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it will be well with you.” The fun that we should seek is not in the process of what we do, but in the joy we find in the reward of our efforts.

The human tendency is to only do the things that we enjoy. We like the things that we value and we value the things that we like. But our dislike of something does not, and should not, diminish its value or importance.

Immaturity says, “I don’t like _____ so I’m not going to _____.”

I may say "I don’t like broccoli so I’m not going to eat it," but that does not diminish the nutritional value I would receive from a regular diet that includes broccoli.

Yet, we hear this statement frequently from children today. I don’t like my parents’ decision so I’m not going to obey. I don’t like writing essays so I’m not going to do my homework. I don’t like the school’s dress code, so I’m not going to tuck my shirt in unless I get caught. I don’t like reading the Bible so I’m not going to do it very often.

Statements like these, whether directly stated or just implied by our actions, demonstrate that we are driven by our desires for fun.

Are we raising our children to be governed by their feelings or by their faith?

Studies show that the average 21-year-old has watched 20,000 hours of television, played 10,000 hours of video games, and sent 250,000 e-mails and instant messages. While today’s generation of American youth are busy chasing the next thrill ride, there is another population halfway around the world that is working hard now to ensure a prosperous (and fun) life later. (For more on this topic, read Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat.)

I like having fun as much as the next person, but that can’t be the end-all goal.

We must teach our children to be mature enough to recognize that the greatest things in life will never be achieved chasing a good time. If they limit their pursuits and their efforts to the things that are fun, easy, and pleasant, they are guaranteed to live a life devoid of value, purpose, and significance.

Talk about boring.

Purposed in Heart

With the start of school coming up in a few weeks, most families are making the final preparations for their children to begin a new school year, whether at home or in a local school.

I’ve been pouring over the book of Daniel the last few weeks, and I want to share some interesting insights I’ve observed as it pertains to our children’s education.

We see in the beginning of chapter one that the king has ordered that “some of the children of Israel” be brought into the palace. Now, notice that it says some of the children, not all. Which children did the king want? We read in verse four that the master of the eunuchs was instructed to find “young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace.”

The king wanted the best and brightest from among the children of God’s people, those identified as having the gifts and talents and ability to serve in his palace. The king’s intent was to “teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans” that they would be well-educated in his ways, that they may serve his kingdom most effectively.

In biblical typology, the Chaldeans (being a part of Babylon) are a representation of the world’s systems. In other words, what we see is that the king’s goal was to provide the children of Israel with an education that would train them to operate in worldly systems and apply that learning to serve the king and his mission.

However, the king did not force these young men into servanthood. Instead, he enticed them. In verse five, it says that the king “appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.”

That same strategy is employed by the kings of this world even today. They entice our children with their delicacies, and, once they’ve tasted, they teach them “through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col 2:8)

How many Christians teens have been lured away by sports, the arts, academic programs, social activities, and other interests to the public school system, and, in the process have submitted to “years of training that they might serve before the king.”

Enter Daniel. The Bible says that Daniel “purposed in his heart” that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies.

The chief of the Eunuchs was so concerned that Daniel’s health would deteriorate that he insisted that Daniel eat and drink the king’s delicacies. True today as well, the world simply cannot fathom why any young person would not want to enjoy all that it has to offer. It is convinced that its system is in the best interest of every individual and that it would be foolish and unhealthy to forsake our “portion of the king’s delicacies.”

So Daniel proposes a test.

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink, then let our appearance be examined before you, and let the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.”

Now, this isn’t a debate about diet. Daniel’s request for vegetables and water wasn’t because he was a health nut, but because he sought to obey the strict Jewish dietary laws and not defile himself with the king’s food and drink.

This required an act of faith and a sincere trust in God. I have to believe that the food and wine that the king offered had to be really tempting, even to Daniel, especially in comparison to his basic meals of veggies and water. He also had to trust God that his obedience to only consume what God has commanded would provide him the sustenance he needed, especially when he would be compared to the other young men dining on the richest foods.

How often do we doubt the simple nourishments that God ordains for our kids, believing instead that our children will be intellectually malnourished and ill-prepared for life without a healthy dose of the world's latest recipe?

The results of Daniel's test? At the end of the ten days, Daniel’s features “appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.” And because Daniel honored God, He supernaturally gave him “knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”

Now, don't miss this. The other young men (who were Jewish boys just like Daniel) didn't die for eating the king's meals. They survived, but they weren't the same. After just ten days, there was already a noticeable difference in their lives.

Christian kids can "make it" in the public school system, but they'll never be as spiritually fit. There will always be a difference. Had Daniel dined on the king's delicacies he would not have been the same young man. He would not have been prepared for the fiery furnace.

Is your child's education preparing him to go through the fire?

The world wants to limit the education of young people to its own systems of belief. But a Biblical education provides “knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom.” The lie being sold to Christian families is that a “Christian education” is a limited education. In fact, the opposite is true. A secular education is the narrow-minded education. A true Biblical education encompasses all knowledge, because all knowledge is founded on God and His Word.

How great of an education can the world offer, when everything they teach is built on a lie?

Families who provide a Biblical education for their children, either in Christian school or at home, are refusing to allow their kids to defile themselves with the world’s delicacies. Home school and Christian schools may not offer the bells and whistles of the public school system, but that was never God’s mandate to His people.

We cannot allow the world to rob us of our more gifted students, to be trained by Babylon and promote a system that defies God. While the delicacies may seem tempting, and the alternative may seem bland at times, God’s promise to us is that He will supply all of our needs and that he will give us all knowledge and wisdom.

Like Daniel, all we must do is be purposed in our hearts.

Kids Who Make It

As I write this, I am sitting in Maypen, Jamaica, in the middle of a seven-day missions trip with The Rock of Gainesville. The trip includes about 36 high school students and 8 adults, and it has reminded me again that - despite all the negative I see - hope is not lost for this generation.

Spending this time, here, with this group of kids, I am convinced that it is still possible to raise children who make it. To raise our kids to love God and serve Him above themselves.

They wil never be the majority. They will never quite "fit in." But they can fulfill the purposes of God for their generations in spite of the cultural battle against Christianity.

I am surrounded this week by a remnant of those who stand for something greater than themselves. I have witnessed selfless giving, serving, and love. I have seen young people faced with the worst, choose to make the best. I have been so proud of them for all that they have become.

They worship God in a strange land. They pray for people and a nation they do not know. They've given their time, their talents, and their finances to come and sow into a country and a church because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Are they perfect? No. Who among us can make that claim? They face the same issues as any other teen. But unlike the world around them, they understand that there is a higher calling than the self-indulgence that culture offers them.

As I've watched and listened and interacted with them over the past few weeks, there are so many that I could point to and say "If my children grow up to be like him or her, I would be a very proud father."

These young people are proving that it's not impossible. Even though it may be harder to be a righteous teen today than it was for most of us, it can still be done.

To the parents of these 30+ young people, I say "thank you." Thank you for your years of diligence and commitment to raise your children to honor God. It is an encouragement to those who come behind you. That we can do it. That we can still raise Godly children in an increasingly anti-Christian culture. The future is bright indeed.