Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Parent Like You Mean It 13: MMA – Moral Martial Arts

Parent Like You Mean It 13: MMA – Moral Martial Arts

Last updated on: March 2, 2016 at 10:06 am by Christian Podcast Central

Parent Like You Mean It 13: MMA – Moral Martial Arts 2016-03-02T10:06:25-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Parent Like You Mean It Slider FINAL

Parent Like You Mean It 13: MMA - Moral Martial Arts [ 10:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello and welcome to Parent Like You Mean It – the podcast were we talk about parenting each and every day in a manner that seizes every opportunity to instill amazing character in our kids. I’m Jefferson Drexler, and just like you, I answer the bell every morning, rise from my corner and fight the good fight as well as I can.

Speaking of which, my wife and I were recently treated to a six-week “Self Defense Training” trial at our son’s martial arts studio. “It’s a great workout!” said their instructor, “Plus, you’ll get a better feel for what your boys are learning.”

So we signed up.

And their instructor was right – we gained new perspectives and experienced incredible physical workouts (my arms and quads hurt just thinking about it… but hurt in the “good way”, at least that’s what the instructor called it)

But, one thing I didn’t expect was what we would walk away with. For instance, whenever I would be doing a punching drill “by the numbers”, just trying to get the technique down, my technique actually suffered. “You need to mentally put this drill into context”, said our instructor. “Remember, you’re training for the situation where someone is trying to get to your wife and kids. They are bad guys. They are not going to stop unless you MAKE them give up.” With that mental image, suddenly my punches were on target, much more forceful, and purposeful.

My gym experience went from a workout to a true training session.

Then, I looked across the mat at my bride. Now, my wife is the poster child for petite-demureness. She stands at a whopping 5’2”, weighing in at a mere 100 lbs. In my mental context, she’s going to NEED my fists because she’s just so dang tiny. Yet, what I saw across the mat was a woman who would give Ronda Rousey a round she wouldn’t forget. She was a lean, mean fighting machine – training to protect her kids.

Needless to say, we both hope that we’ll never arrive at a point where we need to use these new skills, but I pity the fool who would ever endanger us, our kids, or anyone we care for. We have a new, well-developed, and effective set of tools in our back pocket should anyone come against us.

And this got me thinking.

In a recent post, I wrote about the rapid trend in our culture toward relativism: What is good for you may be bad for me, and that’s all okay. There is no universal standard of right, wrong, good, nor bad. And the truth is, our kids are being taught this starting as young as the second grade. Sure, it’s not as deliberate as the way I just put it, but it is widely taught that judgment claims are mere opinions, while facts are things that are true and can be tested or proven.

Well, just like my wife and I learning to throw (and take) a punch, should the situation arise, we are constantly training our kids to defend themselves against this moral decay that I see spreading across our culture.

I know, you just called me a “Homeschooling Alarmist”… I heard you! But, let’s look at the big picture and the trajectory that we are heading in.

In his recent column, “America’s Decay Is Speeding Up”, Dennis Prager wrote regarding what he calls “The End of Right and Wrong”:

“At least two generations of American young people have been taught that moral categories are nothing more than personal (or societal) preferences… This extends to assessing the most glaring of evils. Since the Nazis thought killing Jews was right, there is no way to know for sure whether it was wrong; it’s the Nazis’ opinion against that of the Jews and anyone else who objects. I have heard this sentiment from American high school students – including many Jewish ones – for 30 years.”

Then, Prager continues his assessment of our societal decay in regards to “The End of Religion”:

“There are no moral truths because there is no longer a religious basis for morality. More than the Enlightenment, it was the Bible – especially the Hebrew Bible (which was one reason America’s Christians were different from most European Christians) that guided the founders’ and other Americans’ values. Not anymore. Instead of being guided by a code higher than themselves, Americans are taught to rely on their feelings to determine how to behave. Instead of being given moral guidance, children are asked, ‘How do you feel about it?’”

Apparently, John Lennon’s words have developed from “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try…” to “It’s a fact, there’s no religion, too”. Sadly, as we can see in any news source, the lack of religion, hope of heaven, fear of hell, or reasons to kill or die for has not led to all the people living life in peace… quite the opposite actually.

But enough Lennon’s dreams… back to Prager’s pearls of wisdom. The decay of our educational system doesn’t stop in the second grade. Dennis took a look at our nation’s higher education and noted a marked decline there as well:

“Compared to nearly all of American history, the average American school teaches much less about important subjects such as American history, English grammar, literature, music and art. Instead, schools are teaching much more about ‘social justice,’ environmentalism and sex.

Most universities have become secular seminaries for the dissemination of leftism. Moreover, aside from indoctrination, students usually learn little. One can earn a BA in English at UCLA, for example, without having read a single Shakespeare play.

To the extent that American history is taught, beginning in high school and often earlier, American history is presented as the history of an immoral nation characterized by slavery, racism, colonialism, imperialism, economic exploitation, and militarism – not of a country that, more than any other, has been the beacon of freedom to mankind, and the country that has spent more treasure and spilled more blood to liberate other peoples than any other nation.”

So, in the face of all this, what are we to do?

Well, for starters, we train up our kids in self-defense. No, I’m not talking about jabs and crosses, I’m talking about defending the Cross.

In too many Christian households across our country, our kids’ moral education is being left to their teachers, Sunday school teachers and Youth Group Leaders. We’ve already established the wide-sweeping trend of moral relevancy that resides in our public schools, so I won’t beat that dead horse. But, the truth is that even the most devoted of middle schoolers spends 90 minutes each week in Sunday School and another two hours at youth group on Wednesdays. Most of this time is spent playing games, singing songs, or silly ice breakers (even when the ice is sufficiently crushed). This means that by the time these “intellectual sponges” reach college, they have received a whopping twelve days of moral and spiritual training throughout their junior high and high school years. TWELVE DAYS!

A dozen days may be enough for training at In-N-Out Burger, but not nearly enough for lifelong moral and spiritual foundations to be established.

So, that leaves the heavy lifting, the day-in-day-out training, the instilling, establishing and developing of their moral fortitude up to you. You, the parents.

Our kids – the teens, pre-teens, grade-schoolers, kinders, and pre-schoolers walking around today – are about to face greater hurdles and obstacles than we parents ever imagined. It was once commonplace to encounter a philosophy or sociology professor who questioned Judeo-Christian values, but our kids are about to face off with an entire culture that says Biblical standards are archaic, irrelevant, and straight-up wrong.

Will your kids have an answer to that?

Keep in mind, these will be their peers, their lab partners, their fraternity brothers, their professors, their competition… the ones they will want to impress.

How will they answer?

Unless you – yes YOU – instill in them not only WHAT is right, but WHY it is right, they won’t answer well. Definitely not with uncompromising conviction.

You see, in the same way that I look at my wife after our self defense classes and know that she’s got the skills to take down just about any creep that would dare confront her or our kids, I can rest assured that my son will be able to stand his ground in the face of questionable morality, ungodly perspectives, and self-centered peer pressure.

But, unlike our self-defense class, the lessons we teach our kids are not once a week for six weeks. They are non-stop, seven-days-a-week, at all hours of the day. Our kids’ morality lessons come from our day-in-day-out decisions, habits and behaviors that model what it means to be consistently confident and uncompromising in our faith and in doing what is right and good.

And unlike our self-defense skills that I hope we never have to use, I actually look forward to hearing stories from our kids when they face off with a professor with an opposing view, new friends pressuring them to go somewhere or do something that Scripture teaches is wrong (therefore it is wrong), or the giant cultural wave of stuff that they’ll be hit with once life stops revolving around our dinner table.

Of course, there are times when they won’t want to listen, as well as times when I don’t want to teach. There are even times when they are observing and learning and I desperately wish that they weren’t watching my terrible example. But, as a parent who is intentionally seizing every day to raise my kids to be amazing adults, that’s the type of “morality class” we must teach and they must attend. Because when they graduate my class, the real test only begins.

If nothing else, I hope that they keep in mind the words of one of my personal Biblical heroes when Peter wrote:

“Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!” (1 Peter 3:13-17)

Know what is right. Do what is right. Stand your ground.

Class dismissed.

For more encouraging and engaging podcasts and videos, visit the E-Squared Media Network at www.e2medianetwork.com.

Uncategorized

America’s Decay Is Speeding Up

character

christian

christian culture podcast

christian family relationship podcast

Christian Parenting

christian relationship advice

christian relationship podcast

keys to Christian parenting

pearls of fatherly wisdom

Previous Post

April 10, 2015

Meeting People Head On with Ray Schmautz 21: Fill 'Er Up!

Next Post

April 13, 2015 The Daren Streblow Comedy Show Mini-Cast 89: Improv Class, Bone Hampton & Tom Isbell

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz