Raising Godly Christian Children in a Pagan Culture

Walking in Truth: The Spiritual Legacy We Leave Behind

Bible Passage: Deuteronomy 6:4–9

if you have a copy of the Scriptures with you today, please turn them to Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 LSB

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

LET’S PRAY.

Today is a wonderful day that we get to celebrate the mom’s in our lives, and their wonderful love and devotion to their families.

During this season I am often reminded of 2 Timothy 1:5 “being reminded of the unhypocritical faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it is in you as well.” and even later, 2 Timothy 3:14–15 says, “But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” This, of course, is Paul talking to young Timothy about the deposit of faith his mother and grandmother made in his life, faithfully teaching them about Jesus and the Scriptures.

This was transformative in his life, and empowered him to live faithfully in a corrupt pagan culture. 2 Timothy 3:1-7 shows us what the culture of Timothy’s day was like.

That is not too dissimilar to our own, right?

How do we carry raising Godly Christian children in a pagan culture like ours?

The passage before us, in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, speaks to that very thing.

Israel had just come out the 40 years of wilderness wanderings, after seeing God dramatically remove them from captivity/slavery in Egypt.

Now they reenter the Promised Land, where all sorts of so-called gods exist.

El—the chief god, the creator, and father of the gods.

Baal—a storm and fertility god. He took over as chief.

Anath—the goddess of war and love.

Asherah—the mother goddess associated with fertility and the sea. She is often attributed to be the consort of both El, and El’s son Baal.

Moloch—either a Canaanite god or a Phoenician god related to Child Sacrifice. When you read in the O.T. about having their children pass through the fire, this is the idol worship they are talking about

Yahweh God wanted to keep the Israelites free from this idol worship, as they were to be a light to the nations around them. Deuteronomy 4:6 ““You shall keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

Israel failed, and often. The account of the Judges shows this vividly—Judges 2:16–17 “Then Yahweh raised up judges who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges either, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of Yahweh; they did not do as their fathers.”

If we are going to raise children amidst competing voices of secular culture, our unwavering commitment to testify and live out the truth of God's Word and His glorious gospel will shape a resilient spiritual legacy in their lives.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 gives us three priorities to recover if we are going to raise godly children.

1. Priority of Passionate Devotion

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This passage begins with a creedal statement, known in Jewish circles as The Great Shema, from the Hebrew behind “Hear”.

The Shema was to garner attention and produce a response of obedience.

It was as if by reciting it they were daily reminding themselves that there is only one God and His name is Yahweh.

Israel would be different because they only had one God, as opposed to the pantheistic people of the land.

“One” is “echad”. A “comprehensive” one, like in Genesis 2:24.

Leaves room for the Trinity.

Whats more, we see the familiar words of what Jesus calls “The Greatest Commandment”.

“...heart...soul...might… & sometimes mind...”

Much has been said about this, in how using various faculties of our life we are to love God. However, I think the main point is the most important: We are to love God with our entire being.

This passionate devotion displays to our children the importance of knowing and loving God above all else.

We may not have idols in our pockets, or next to the mantle in our homes, but our hearts are still idol factories none the less.

Colossians 3:5-10

All our sin is simply idolatry, and the worship of self.

Simple questions to ask:

What takes a majority of my thinking, musing, day dreaming?

What would I being willing to sin in order to get?

What would I being willing to sin if I didn’t get it?

We become what we worship

Either Christlike (Colossians 3:10)

Or like idols (Psalm 115:4-8)

2. Priority of Family Worship

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

In verse 6, we see Moses encourage the meditation on Scripture as he says “these words shall be on your heart.”

This a fruit of the New Covenant in Jesus (Jeremiah 31:33).

An evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts (John 16:13).

Meditation, aided by the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer.”

This is all to point out that Christianity is not merely a set of rules to live our lives by, but a response of deep love and appreciate to God for what He has graciously accomplished for us.

John 14:16, 23-26.

Because these words are on our hearts, we talk about them with our family, passing them on to our children, because we talk about them all the time. Sit, walk, rise, lay down.

Do you have a family member who doesn’t shut up about that thing that they are interested in?

Video games.

Sports.

By the time I was 10 or 11, I had the entire Indianapolis Colts roster memorized. I could tell you every race that Jeff Gordon won in the Nascar Winston Cup series, and I could tell you every driver that was currently on the Indy Racing Series circut.

Mine, currently, are:

Lord of the Rings

Star Wars.

I know so much about these two fantasy worlds.

I have spent the time reading and researching because I want to know all about them, and I pass it on to people whether they want to hear it or not.

The indictment on Christian men right now is Sunday mornings in September. We spend an hour or two a church Sunday morning, and then 8 hours cussin’ the tv during football games afterwards.

Does that truly display loving God with all our heart soul mind and might?

Family worship can be intimidating.

I can’t give a whole sermon every morning, or we don’t have the time.

It can be a simple as reading a chapter a day, and talking it through.

It can be helpful to have study bible so if you have questions you can look there (MacArthur, ESV).

There are studies upon studies that have come out through secular and Christian research about the benefits of sitting down as a family for a meal, no phones, just family. Bring a bible along, and talk about something spiritual.

3. Priority of Pervasive Faith

Deuteronomy 6:8-9

Tefillin—phylacteries are these leather straps, that are accompanied with black leather boxes. They are wrapped around the left arm and placed on the head to symbolize two very important things:

(Head strap & box) As you go through your day, as you encounter various things, you are going to think through it in an intentionally biblical way.

2 Corinthians 10:3ff.

(Arm strap & box) All that you do, all your actions are going to be governed by the Word of God.

Mezuzah—these are little Torah scrolls that are placed on every entrance to the Jewish home, and often on the offices/den of Jewish men.

This is used as a reminder of verse 7. The home is governed by the Word of God in all things. And when you leave your home and “walk by the way” you are reminded to be governed by the Word of God in all things.

These two symbols are worthless if they aren’t true. They are just meaningless actions, if you are putting the true meaning of them into place.