These days - The Fall of Nations - Pt 3

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6 ESV). Returning to the lessons we may learn from the fall of the Roman Empire brings us a second important truth about the state of these days and the precarious position we find ourselves in today. Rome began with emphasizing the development of character, morality, patriotism and social values in young lives. The goal was to develop the whole person. There were two basic flaws with this approach as it played itself out in practice. First, it denied the very nature of man; and second, it could not be maintained. The first of these is the most essential for us to grasp. God did not create man simply to do things. We were created by a relational God for relationship in all of the three areas of our being.

We should see ourselves as a trichotomy: we are body, mind, and spirit. As it happened in the ancient Roman world so it is happening in our world today. Eventually the emphasis was exclusively place on knowledge; therefore, academics were the most important part of development in the lives of their citizens, young or old. There was little or no moral absolutes; their spirit was so weak and underdeveloped by their pantheistic belief that they had no internal compass for right and wrong. And, further, the placed no value in developing their person beyond their improvement in pure knowledge. Eventually their lives were replaced by an emphasis almost exclusively on academics, with no moral or ethical absolutes defining right and wrong; and, character development, patriotism and civic duty were seldom taught or modeled. Here, in our modern Western world, where God and the Bible are banished, and morally unchecked “creative expression” is encouraged, we have seen a generation of people who are unable to think beyond the simple absolutes of academics. It is this rejection of the Source and foundation of all true knowledge that ultimate destroys the individual and the culture in which they live. Now, I am not calling on our public education system to teach our children about God. That should be done in the home and community of faith. We certainly have much to change in how we teach our children at home and in the church. The benefits of developing the full man (body, soul, and spirit) can be found in the creation of true balance with a stable foundation from which to face and overcome the challenges of life. The Barna Group did a survey in 2014 which showed the Bible is still firmly rooted in American soil: 88 percent of respondents said they own a Bible, 80 percent think the Bible is sacred, 61 percent wish they read the Bible more, and the average household has 4.4 Bibles. Yet only 20% read any part of the Bible more than once a month. That leaves our children educated, but misinformed. They are simply not equipped for the challenges they will face as they navigate their adolescent and teen years. Bullying becomes a problem because there is no moral compass to point children away from it; and, there is no sense of true self-worth because they have no experience with their Creator. On and on the list may go. We must attain balance in body, mind, and spirit through faith.