“He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.” Luke 17:1
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 2 Peter 2:1-3
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.””
Psalm 14:1a
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 1:7
False teachers as described in the New Testament includes those who teach false doctrine in the church and in cults. But in today’s world the majority of them are those who oppose the gospel and who teach that God does not exist. Today they often use the theory of evolution as support of the false teaching they are espousing, even though evolution is no longer supported by the scientific data. This includes the Neo-Darwinists, the New Atheists, and many others who actively teach that God does not exist, speaking at debates, doing podcasts and videos, etc. It also includes the many schoolteachers who teach there is no God, undermining the faith of children in K-12, and in colleges and universities. Jesus said it would be better for a large millstone to be hung around their neck and for them to be cast into the sea, than for them to lead these young believers astray with their false claims that there is no God.
Research by the Barna Group indicates that approximately 70% of Christian students walk away from their faith in college. While many return to their faith later in life, many do not. It is important that we prepare our children to defend their faith against false teaching and the ridicule for their faith that they will face in school and beyond. Jesus made it clear that we are to stand up to this, and not capitulate when facing false teaching. In Matthew 10 we read:
““Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33
Jesus wants us to stand up in the midst of persecution, and this includes standing up to false teaching in the classroom. It is our job as parents to prepare our children for this, so they will have the information and arguments needed to support their faith. We must also teach them that it is inevitable that they will encounter false teaching throughout their lives. We should teach them that when this happens they can think of it as a test, an opportunity for them to strengthen their faith. A chance for them to dig deeper into God’s word and into the latest research on topics that are often used to oppose God’s existence, the life of Jesus, the resurrection, and other key tenets of the faith.
It is also important for us to teach them to avoid arguments that do not matter, like the age of the earth, whether or not the Noahic flood happened or was local or worldwide, the inerrancy of scripture, etc. These are debate traps that people use to avoid the real issues, and we must teach our children to redirect the discussion to the real issues: Does God exist? Did Jesus live, die, and rise from the dead? Does faith in Jesus give us salvation? These are the things that matter. If these baseline issues are not true, then nothing else really matters. 2 Timothy 2:14-26 and similar verses address the need to avoid being drawn into useless arguments. Jesus interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well in the book of John is a good example of how Jesus redirected the discussion to the real issue.
There is a lot of good information today that can be used to prepare our children for the false teaching they will face as adults. Stephen Meyer and James Tour come to mind as some of the current leaders in opposing false teaching in our day. Frank Turek and J. Warner Wallace also come to mind. The websites, videos, podcasts, and books by these men are excellent sources of information for us to use to prepare our children to stand up to the false teaching they will inevitably face in their lives. Another good resource is “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. Focus on the Family is another great resource. There are many resources available for us to use to prepare our children and strengthen their faith. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 makes it clear that this is something God wants us to do. It is our responsibility as their parents to do this.
We should think of the 18 years that we have them living with us as a time of spiritual preparation, training them and preparing them for the spiritual war that they will be entering into when they leave home. And when they are grown and gone, it is still important for us to encourage them in their faith. The single most important thing that we must ensure, as far as we able, is that they have been born again. Nothing else really matters unless they have been born again. I encourage you to lead your children to Christ, and prepare them to face opposition to their faith. And don’t forget to pray for them regularly.
Father God, we come before You in Jesus name and ask that You would draw our children to You through Your Son. We pray that they would be born again through faith in Jesus. Teach them Your ways and show them how to live. Help us to teach them and prepare them to face opposition and to stand firm in their faith. Help us to equip them with the knowledge and skills that they will need to stand firm. Enable them to stand out as men and women of God in their generation. Let them be a light and an encouragement to those around. Teach them to stand up and face evil and false teaching whenever they come across it, bringing deliverance to those who are being oppressed by it. Give them a hunger and a thirst for Your word, to know You and to have a personal relationship with You. Protect them from evil, that no harm may come to them. Strengthen them in Your truth. Lead them by Your Holy Spirit. Use them as sharp tools in Your hands to accomplish Your purposes. We ask that You would be with them always, and that they would walk with You all the days of their lives. Lead them in the everlasting way by the power of Your Spirit. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
3 John 3:4
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