In Disney’s third installment of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” series “At Worlds End,” the pirates of the ocean blue are faced with an unpredictable dilemma in which their ship is flipped upside down. Their world is flipped and seems normal until a pirate figures it out.

Parenting in today’s world feels much like the pirates of the Caribbean must have felt as parents navigate their kids in a world that is completely upside down compared to the world that God originally designed and the world in which believers will one day live. It’s a daunting task helping our children see this upside down world. Everything around them seems normal, but when contrasted with God’s plan and design it is completely flipped.

 

Laws of God

The laws of scripture; morality, integrity, sexuality, honesty, decency and spirituality and the laws of God’s perfect design for humanity have become new laws in the land. Today’s laws have been rewritten in the hearts of men, hallways of our schools and universities, habits of our leaders and heroes, and handwritten constitutions of our government. Society has now accepted these new laws as normal and our children are told to believe and accept them as truth. Parents who hold to the truth of Scripture and the protection of a loving and holy God are facing the challenges of pointing their children towards ultimate truth. Teenagers and college students are becoming more susceptible to the upside down world of secularism, atheism and social and moral tolerance and are being told that to think and act biblically is narrow minded, bigoted and dangerous to society.

But Scripture makes it clear that believers are not of this world. The Apostle Paul describes believers as “aliens” simply passing through. In the Old Testament God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were led out of a land of bondage, idol worship and paganism toward God’s Promised Land — a land of freedom. Upon entering this land, God instructed them to teach their children to love and worship Jehovah, to teach them God’s ways and God’s word, not to worship the foreign gods and customs.  You see, this upside down world existed then as well.

 

Navigation

So, as parents, it is critical to teach your children God’s ways. Scripture is a compass to help navigate our way through this upside down world to keep believers in Christ focused on the right perspective. God’s world here on Earth is a world of love, compassion, forgiveness, honesty, integrity, purity and holiness. These truths and virtues come from Colossians 3:1-13. And the only way your kids can live this way is through the Holy Spirit manifested in their lives (Ephesians 5:22).

We are not to conform to this world but be transformed by constantly renewing our minds (Romans 12:2).  Help your kids renew their minds by what they watch, what they listen to and who they interact with.

 

Biblical Worldview Philosophy

Parents and Churches that are tired of teens losing their way after high school need to develop a Biblical Worldview Philosophy (BWP). This BWP gives teenagers a real understanding of how to see the world the way that God sees it and enables them to have incredible success living in it.

Media, advertising, education, entertainment and government are teaching children to accept the upside down world as normal. So it takes a real partnership of parents and churches to teach them a BWP so that they can see through the lies and live out Biblical truth.

 

Pastor Brody Howell takes church youth groups through an interactive leadership adventure called, The WOW Leadership Factory. He is the founder of Core Solutions for Family Life, in which he consults and teaches in churches and schools on how to impact today’s families and youth. He is also an Area Advisor for First Priority of South Florida.  Pastor Brody can be reached at [email protected].