James Sire, author of The Universe Next Door, tells a story that influenced the way I looked at the world. The story goes something like this:
A boy came home one day and asked his father, "What holds up the world, Dad?"
The father answered with a storybook reply, "A camel holds up the world, son."
But the next day the boy was back. "Dad, if a camel holds up the world, what holds up the camel?" The father answered quickly, "A kangaroo."
Soon, the son returned. "Dad, what holds up the kangaroo?" Knowing he was now in trouble, the father said emphatically, "An elephant!"
"Come on, Dad, what holds up the elephant?"
Exasperated, the father blurted, "It's . . . it's elephant — all the way down!"
Besides illustrating that kids ask the toughest questions, the story shows that when a parent doesn't answer thoughtfully or replies flippantly, it doesn't eliminate a child's curiosity. Tough questions shouldn't be avoided. In fact, they offer some of the best opportunities to teach a Christian worldview.
Del Tackett, president of the Focus Leadership Institute, describes a worldview as "the framework from which we view reality and make sense of life and the world." The best tool we can give our children is to teach them how to accurately make sense of life.
Questions about life lead to teachable moments. Here are three ways you can teach your kids a Christian worldview so they interpret life by what is true — not what is trendy, easy or false.
1. What is really real?
When philosophies of the world compete with biblical truth, ask: "Is that really real?" When we are watching TV as a family and something comes on the screen that contradicts our Christian worldview, I might ask, "What are they really selling you?" The answer is often something like, "They want me to think that new car will make me cool." Bull's-eye! From here, we can talk about whether a car makes someone cool or if coolness is even important to God.
Our kids want — and need — to know what's really real. As Christians, we know that God's Word is what defines truth, not personal experience.
The truth? God is the ultimate reality, and the way we learn about that reality is from His Word — not our feelings, popular culture or peers.
2. What's the point of trials and difficulties?
Your child's worst days can be the best times to teach a Christian worldview. When my 14-year-old didn't make the basketball team, he struggled with disappointment, so we talked about whether God knew what was going to happen. My son was surprised when he realized God knew but allowed the circumstances anyway.
The even harder question was raised about our friend's son who died of cancer. This tragedy led to discussions about the reality that, without God, man doesn't have the resources needed to get through the difficult events in life.
The truth? Man, who is fallen, needs God.
3. What's the challenge for both parent and child?
A Christian worldview is about thinking rightly so we can have a strong relationship with God. In this way, loving God means thinking as a Christian and embracing the Bible's teachings. When my kids see that thinking about Truth is the first step in the process of living the Truth, they look differently at God’s Word.
The truth? The evidence of a Christian worldview is the life of a person who has a close relationship with Jesus Christ.
So, don't dodge your kids' hard questions. We need to build our lives on what can’t be shaken: God's Truth — all the way down.
Have you noticed that you aren't the only one talking to your teen? I don't mean your teen's friends or teachers, as influential as those conversations are. No, I am talking about the people whose faces you will never see, the ones behind the thousands of advertising messages that bombard our young people every day.
I am thinking of the filmmakers, TV producers and thousands of special interest groups who know (sometimes better than Mom and Dad) that our teenagers are the future. They are working from this pragmatic belief: "Teach the teenagers how to think and you own the future."
Thankfully, many parents are wary about the messages their sons and daughters are getting, even while realizing it's virtually impossible to filter these messages from a teen's experience. However, that might not be all bad. If the sheer persistence of these messages forces us as parents to teach our teenagers how to think about life and learn to filter messages for themselves, then we have given our young people the ability to think critically. And, hopefully, our teens also will be trained to defend their faith in a world increasingly hostile to family values and Christian faith.
There are not two realities, but only one reality, and that is the reality of God, which has become manifest in Christ in the reality of the world. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Just five years ago we might not have been having a conversation about society's messages. Sure, we knew that the media influence wasn't necessarily good for our teens, but few of us knew just how bad it was for them. There is one term that helps us understand the profound impact today's culture has on our kids: worldview.
This term was popularized by The Barna Group's recent research, which shockingly reported that only 9 percent of born-again Christians have a biblical worldview.
There's a buzz around the term worldview. This is good news for parents because when we look at media issues (and the myriad of other issues facing our teens) from a worldview, we are addressing root causes of belief and behavior. Let's start by looking at some foundational definitions for worldview.