This coming Friday, I get to present the Gospel once again to Middle Schoolers, through a program called the Christian Learning Center. Since I have gotten to do this for four years in a row now, as an SRO in my middle school, I've decided to use one of my latest memoirs to give testimony and teach a short lesson at the same time. Typing it out beforehand will help me talk about it on Friday, so here it goes...
I wrote Dear America... Love, My Hero's Son for two reasons: 1) To celebrate my father's life in a way that he could still appreciate it, once he read it, and 2) To express to the nation, and perhaps the world, that the number one thing I wish we could all do is really love God the Father's Son, Jesus Christ. I want to tell the kids, my father grew up without a father, but because my grandmother (his mom) always pointed him to Jesus, Dad still figured out how to be a Godly man, and serve Jesus in this world through his hard work and unique gifts in business and finance - and raising a family. And because Dad found his wisdom through Christ, he raised me with certain commandments, if you will, so that it would go well with me.
The kids I will be speaking to have recently finished studying about Moses and the Exodus. It turns out that the people of Israel had fallen into not just slavery, but sin and idol worship. God not only showed the people, through Moses, that He would set them free - but He even presented them the Ten Commandments, SO THAT IT WOULD GO WELL WITH THEM.
Society has conditioned people to think of the Ten Commandments as just arbitrary rules that are meaningless and useless in the modern era, when nothing could be further from the truth. I've written entire blog posts before, focusing on just one commandment at a time. But think about it for a second.
We can avoid all idolatry if we put no other gods before God the Father. We can lump the carving graven images in here with this one as well. Think of all the idolatry we have in this world. Pop culture alone is rife with them. Think of all of the logos on clothing, and the brand names we identify certain celebrities with. Think of how the money and fame changes anyone and everyone we've ever known who made it 'to the top.' Self is a powerful temptation to place as an idol before God as well, especially by society's standards.
What if we could avoid using the Lord's name in vain; avoid misusing His Holy Name? Think about the language we hear from young people now. I am sure my parents thought something similar when I was growing up, but I swear language in general has grown much, much worse.
What if we could all keep one day per week, saved for the Lord? We could rest that day, because He said we could...but we could also plan on just worshiping our Heavenly Father. Regardless on which specific day you think it should be, or history states it should be, whatever - the point is, one day should be set aside... but look at weekly living for most of us these days. Are you making a special day for the Lord every week? Nowadays it seems like nothing is sacred anymore. What if we got back to that?
What if parents expected their children to honor them again? What if parents stepped up and set the example of discipline and taught their kids how to honor them again? What if young people stopped cursing teachers and their elders? What if we could do one better, and Mom and Dad could demonstrate how to be loyal to each other, and love each other, for their kids to see how the INSTITUTION of MARRIAGE is supposed to work? What if wholesome education could be taught by parents to help kids become responsible adults and not make poor judgment when it came to their sexuality as they got older? Think of how many of our problems would vanish, especially those that pertain to mental health.
What if we had a world without murder? Man, the world would be a much more peaceful and safer place, wouldn't it? DO you think God just made this one up as He went along, or is there maybe some practicality here, for I don't know...maybe the PRESERVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE? What if we stopped glorifying violence? What if we taught kids how to love each other as just fellow human beings; leave all things sexual out of it? Wouldn't that be something?
Stealing and cheating (adultery) and coveting...they all kind of go together, don't they? Wanting what isn't yours, taking what doesn't belong to you, and being disloyal and cheating on someone you are supposed to love - but yes, I am sure God just wanted to give us those 'rules' - just because.
What if we actually encouraged others to tell the truth? What if that became like the in-thing to do? Can you imagine; a world without politicians, haha!
Now I might not get into each and every one of these examples, but I want kids to know that just like Moses presented a way to live life for God, and reach the Promised Land (but the Israelites didn't listen), Jesus Christ came so that we may know how to live life for God, and reach an eternal home with Him. My dad grew up without a father, yet he found Jesus, and that helped him pass on that great message to his three boys. Does that make him my hero, just like the heroes of the Bible, like Moses, and Jesus. Well, yeah, but that is kind of the point. The book itself is a play on words.
Dear America...Dear World....Love, God's Son Jesus.