In the month of October we recognize a tradition that has been popular since we understood that sugar was sweet. It’s funny to think that even the youngest of children can grasp the possibilities of free candy. Traveling from house to house, gathering as much candy in the quickest manner possible. With age, kids can even begin to decipher where the “good” houses or blocks are. However, it may be a little bit more difficult for children to understand that this candy is essentially from strangers and that taking candy from them opposes one of the fundamental rules we teach the young… “Don’t take candy from strangers”.
In our Wednesday Night Program we have been teaching our students about the need for Truth in our post-modern world, where truth is considered relative; where truth for one person isn’t necessarily truth for another. We have been teaching our students that the Bible transcends these false pretenses and that the Bible offers the only real Truth. The reason that we are going through these lessons is because of different “truths” that our teens are exposed to. They receive “truth” ranging from little tidbits to full lessons from various teachers, friends, friend’s parents, neighbors, television, books, anything and everywhere.
Much like the candy that our neighbors pass out and our children quickly grab and stuff into their orange plastic pumpkin heads (which certainly do not hold enough), different, unfiltered truths are being put into their actual heads and minds. When our kids get home from a night of trick-or-treating, we hopefully take the time to go through their candy, and make sure that they do not have anything that looks suspicious or questionable, or maybe even dangerous. We try to filter out the bad stuff so that they can enjoy the good stuff. This is the goal of our Wednesday Night Program, to help our students filter out the “bad” stuff, the various false “truths” that our students are exposed to, and help them to enjoy the good stuff, the absolute truth of the Bible.
In Romans 12:2 it says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Out of this passage, we can see that we shouldn’t just accept the various “truths” that are handed out to us by strangers. We shouldn’t take their candy. So why, without careful biblical consideration, should we take their words?