What Are We Teaching the Children?

Several weeks ago I watched an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, Chopped.  You may have seen the show.  Four cooks face baskets of mystery ingredients and the clock as they prepare appetizer, entree, and then dessert.  One cook is eliminated in each round, until eventually a winner is named.

I haven't been able to get this particular episode out of my mind. The episode I'm referring to involved teen chefs as the competitors, which in itself is pretty impressive.  And all four of them appeared to be very good cooks.  But one of the competitors, a barely 13-year old boy who was the eventual winner of the competition, is the one who stands out in my memory.  Not because of his cooking ability, but because of his vocabulary.  Or lack thereof.

You see, nearly every sentence out of his mouth began or ended with the phrase "oh my g....".  And that offended me more than words can express.
Let me hasten to add that I am  offended every time I hear that phrase uttered.  But I am bothered most when it comes from the mouths of children.  And yes, 13 years old still qualifies in my mind as a child.  Certainly not an adult.

As this young man continued to let this phrase roll so easily off his tongue, I couldn't help but wonder what we are teaching our children.  Obviously someone somewhere along the way has taught him how to cook.  And that's a good thing.  But what have they taught him about right and wrong.  About values.  About the Lord.

Here in this country we've raised up a generation of people who can utter this phrase as easily as they can order a burger at McDonalds.  A generation who knows all about how to post selfies to every social media imaginable.  Who can tell you all about this celebrity or that athlete.

But we have raised up a generation in this country who, with few exceptions, can't cook a meal or balance a budget or keep a clean house.

Far, far more importantly we have failed to teach them about the things that matter.  And that makes me unbelievably sad.

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."  (Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ESV, emphasis mine)