NOW MORE THAN EVER . . .

“Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.  If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.  If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . .

If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

President James Garfield proclaimed these words in 1881!!  How much truer are they today, one hundred thirty-four years later, in 2015!  And where does the morality of a nation begin?  Not in the Christian Church, nor even in the private Christian school.  Their responsibility is to build upon the foundation of character, virtue, morality, and self-government which is begun elsewhere.

It is the American Christian home which lays the foundation for Christian character, not the Church, nor the school, but the home, yielded to God; modeling and teaching Christian principles of faith in God, life, love, integrity, relationships, and self-government, all of which are the bedrock of a Christian Constitutional  Republic.  It is the American Christian home with a vision for fulfilling its purpose in God, seeing into the future, diligently teaching the next generation its identity as an American Christian, and its stewardship responsibility for liberty within the heart of the individual and without in the culture and the civil sphere. It is in the home where the connection must be made between our Christianity and our culture, extending all the way into the civil sphere with our citizenship.

Therefore, if we want changes in our government, our media, arts and entertainment, education, our economy and in our churches, we must begin with the family.

No other institution can substitute what only the home can provide.  And as the home goes, so goes the nation!

PARENTING APPLICATION:

The biblical key to any teaching is that the content of what you desire to teach has to be in your own heart first.  You cannot give what you don’t have.  So if you look at any of these principles in my blog or on the website and think to yourself, “I don’t know these things.  I didn’t grow up learning and practicing these,” take heart . . . I didn’t either!!

When I began learning the principles of an American Christian Home, I had 4 children under the age of 9, I had just decided to begin teaching at home, and I was learning as I went . . . usually the night before I needed to teach the subject.  When it comes to the subject of Character, however, it is best taught by modeling.  Live it before your children.  Name it for them so that they have a visual image of it.  Find a scripture for it, or several, to commit to memory.  Look for examples of it in the Bible, in our American Christian History, and in your own family.  Find biographies or even fables and parables where the characteristic is exemplified and use those in your Read Aloud time.  Aesop’s Fables is a wonderful resource for many of the characteristics you want to teach and there are great illustrated ones on the market.

Take today’s topic for example:  What only the home can provide; and the underlying principle that what happens in the nation or in our congress begins in the home, therefore, to change the government, we must begin in the home!

Our form of government is a Christian Constitutional Republic and it rests upon the principle that each citizen is capable of Christian self-government.  In fact the whole American experiment rested upon that knowledge.  But self-government begins in the home.  It is actually the direction, control, regulation and restraint of oneself based upon the rule of God’s Holy Spirit within.

Christian self-government is first internal, within the heart of the individual, then it becomes external governing actions and behaviors.  Because it begins in the heart, it must be planted as a seed, nurtured, protected, and patiently waited upon for fruition.  It is not immediate and should not be expected to be fully grown before its time.

Depending upon the ages of your children, begin with the biblical basis for self-government.  Use Scriptures like:

Proverbs 16:32 “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city.”

1 Timothy 3:5  “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”

Pray with them and for them that the Holy Spirit would plant this seed deep within their hearts and cause the growth.

Talk to them about it as you go through your day, giving them examples of when you direct yourself in doing your tasks without anyone telling you to. Or perhaps when you restrain yourself from something you’d like to have, or eat, or do, because it isn’t the best for you at this particular time.  Tell them, “I would really like to have another brownie, but it really isn’t in my best interest, so I won’t!”  Let them know you’re restraining some desire for the sake of having a greater good – better health, for instance.

For reading aloud, there are many wonderful examples of people directing, controlling, regulating or restraining themselves according to the Word and Ways of God, and in their relations with each other.  Children learn by contrast and comparison also, so don’t forget to use opportunities where story characters are not practicing Christian Self-government.  One such character that comes to mind is Peter Rabbit in The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other stories by Beatrix Potter.

We’ll go into greater detail about the value of reading aloud, choice of books, and other related topics in future blogs.  I welcome your questions and/or comments.

Remember:  The government, education, and character which comes out of the American Christian Home also constitutes the government, education, and character of the nation.  As the home goes, so goes the nation.