The Gang Line Blogger: Still Have To Train Your Own Child!

[Mike Ramey]

[By Mike Ramey] On the subject of getting children to mind their parents, I remember a comment from Pastor John Hagee: “If THEY can train a dolphin to bounce a basketball on its nose at Sea World, YOU--parents--can train your child to do their chores and show proper respect to you in your own home.”

I’ve been noticing over the past few years that the video gadgets are getting smaller and smaller, and the kids using them are getting younger and younger. Parents these days have gotten used to the ‘peace and quiet’ of turning their kids over to an electronic device much the same way that their grandparents used to plop them down in front of a TV set, back in the day. The only difference is that their parents USED to take the time to turn off ‘the boob tube’ and teach them the REAL lessons of life.

Much the same thing has been taking place in our churches as well. A parent--IF they can get their child or teen to attend church with them--still drags along their electronic ‘gear’ to get them to sit still during the service. Of course, the child can only ‘focus’ on the video screen, and not the Word of God.

Who is ultimately responsible for ‘training up’ of a child? The KJV Bible says that this is the responsibility of the p-a-r-e-n-t! Not the Pastor; not the Sunday School teacher, but the p-a-r-e-n-t! YOU, dear parent are responsible for teaching YOUR child about the Word of God, the doctrine of the Bible, prayer and the need for understanding the catechisms of the Christian faith. There are going to be a LOT of broken hearted church members (notice I didn’t say Christians) who are going to find out when their child gets older that they will LEAVE the church and NEVER return. Why? Because Mama, Daddy or both found the time to ‘give’ them things, instead of ‘teach’ them Bible.

I would challenge EVERY Christian parent to spend some time in the Book of Proverbs. See how King Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote about the needs of youth, the gravitation towards sin, and the dangers of the streets and the criminal element. That is covered in the FIRST chapter. I would urge any parent to spend a month in Proverbs, roll up their sleeves, and DAILY start passing the wisdom on to their own kids. IF a parent can spend several hundred dollars on a device to ‘stunt’ the mental growth of a child through electronic means, they can spend an hour or two teaching that same child about God’s word…and making their mental faculties grow in tune with our Lord. It is always about priorities and choices. Time for parents to make some wise ones…themselves.

Mike Ramey is a Modern Street Gangs and Media Consultant with THE GANG LINE, Indianapolis, Indiana. Feel free to contact him at [e-mail]. ©2014, 2016, 2018 Barnstorm Communications.