The Christian Village

One of the main goals of a parent with deep faith is to raise your child in a moral way, in a way that grows their faith and shelter them from exposure to secular elements before they are ready. That last part may confuse some, but as I said to my daughter, I don't let you watch PG13 rated movies, why would I allow you to be in potentially R rated situations?

But this faith development of your children is a difficult, complex process. How much sheltering is too much? Are we to raise our children to succeed both in this world and the next? What good is developing spiritually grounded children if you don't allow them to interact with others who may not have that foundation? Did not Jesus tell us to not hide our faith like a lamp under a basket, but to be the light of the world? Doesn't that mean that we have to interact with those of different moral standards and, hopefully, give them a Christian example?

Parenting is an "individual" exercise. No two parents raise their children in the same way. What one family finds appropriate, the other finds offensive. What some find acceptable, others find detestable. So, though the world is full of parents, it is also full of individual parenting techniques and expectations.

One of my brothers and I were discussing raising our children in a world that is veering quickly toward anti-Christian beliefs. Because Christian teachings hold high and strict standards, they are considered by some to be closed-minded. Yet, Muslims and Jews hold many of the same stances on gay marriage, premarital sex and abortion, but it is Christians who are considered intolerant.

As my brother and I discussed this subject, he mentioned that it would be great if we could live in a place like The Village, the film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. I don't want to give away any major plot points, but the jist of it is that these people are protected from the outside world and The Village existence, though limited, is often idealic to most. My brother felt that living in a Christian Village would be great, where we could live our faith without having to combat the increasingly pervasive secular forces that our children are exposed to and often are at polar opposites of our Christian beliefs.

I thought about that for a long time... would it be better to live in a Christian Village? It would be easier, that's for sure. But, is it the right thing? Is it what Jesus intended? For us to worship Him in seclusion? Again, I pondered this for a long time... I finally concluded, to me, that this is exactly opposite of what Jesus intended.

Jesus did not die on the cross so that we would huddle with like-minded Christians... if we are to follow His example, we should be out there with the polar opposites of our faith, trying to educate them on why Jesus is our Savior. Jesus did not spend His time hanging with His apostles, avoiding confrontation. Nor did He spend all of His time with Jewish Rabbi's who understood His mission. No, He spent His time with the sinners of all sinners, the repugnant and reviled... the lepers, the tax collectors and prostitutes. Remember, lepers were thought to have the disease because of sin. Prostitutes lived daily and profited by their sin. Tax Collectors were the lowest of the lot, the Kings of Sinners. Yet, that is where Jesus spent His time... with those who needed His grace most.

I look back on my life and realize that God has an uncanny way of putting me in situations where I may be the lone voice of Christian values. I've been in many situations where I was the outsider, even in the presence of vocal Satanist... but I remember thinking two things... 1) no matter how uncomfortable I am, the Holy Spirit will guide me in these situations and 2) if I wasn't there, Jesus would not be represented at all.

Does that make me holy or a saint? Far from it... my sins are too numerous and reoccurring for me to be that holy. But, the Holy Spirit can use any of us as ambassadors for Christ. Its those situations that force me to live my faith, a lone Christian salmon swimming upstream. I would remember something I told my children... when God looks at us, he doesn't see our body, but our souls. And, when I interacted with those people of differing values, I had to look past their looks, their tattoos, their piercings, their clothes and try to look upon them with God's eyes... how brilliant are their souls beneath the human facade?

So, would it be great to raise our children in the Christian Village? As I said, it'd sure be a lot easier. But it would also not allow us to live our faith, to be the light for Christ. I realized that I must raise my children in their faith. That I must not only make them participate, but to understand why we believe what we believe. And I must also prepare them, not shelter them, for the world. God's path for them will certainly include moments for them to share their faiths with people who do not feel the same.

In the end, that may be the entire reason for their existence. We never know. My entire reason for being on this planet may be for me to have a single conversation with one person 10 years from now at a film party. And that every moment, every decision, every curve in the path may have all been scripted to lead up to that point. In the end, we just don't know.

That's why we must rely on our faith. And it is that faith that I must endow to my children and trust that, when faced with spiritual challenges, when they are unsheltered, that the Holy Spirit will guide them as He has guided me.