“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11
Yesterday, I stumbled across a BBC interview about a beautiful young lady who is passionate about her faith in the Lord Jesus. Deborah Drapper is a 13 year-old homeschooled girl living with her family in the British countryside. The 4th of eleven children, she is bright and articulate, and enjoys spending time with her siblings. What is striking about her is that she regularly looks for opportunities to share the gospel with people she meets. Her concern for the souls of other people and their need for salvation put me to shame.
While the video shows a family of parents who obviously love their children and and siblings who enjoy being with each other, the BBC interviewer attempts to portray Deborah and her siblings as objects of sympathy because they don’t know what “reality TV” is or recognize the names or faces of such celebrities as Britney Spears. The children are shown to be bright intellectually, and there is no indication that their academic education is lacking in any way. It is very apparent that the parents are importing a very strong spiritual foundation, one that is preparing the children for life as strong Christians and productive members of society. However, the children’s cultural education is focused on by the interviewer, with its significant lack of introduction to such things as celebrities, teen sex, drugs, and smoking. In the eyes of the interviewer, it is not enough that the children have frequent internet access, the poor things are deprived of having a TV in their rooms and access to teen magazines!
It took me no time at all to discover that this interview is being used widely in athiest circles as an example of why children should be taken away from Christian parents. It is posted on YouTube with such tags as “abuse” and “indoctrination” . It is okay for parents to expose their children to all kinds of garbage and leave them to the pitfalls of peer pressure, but it is not okay to teach them that there is a God who made them, and of whose standards they fall short. It is not okay to teach them that, because they have sinned against that God, they are worthy of eternal judgement. And it is certainly not okay to teach them that that same God has provided a way through His Son for them to escape eternal judgement, but that the gift of salvation through His Son is the ONLY way of escape!
One day, every single one of those who are now denying the existence of God will be forced to admit the truth. Those who now express anger at Deborah’s parents for daring to teach her the truth of the Bible will one day bow their knee before the One they now deny, and will confess Him as Lord. There will be no more denying the existence of God, His laws, or the Savior that He provided. There will only be eternal suffering and regret that the day of salvation was neglected and the Savior spurned.
On the other hand, there will be rejoicing for Deborah and her parents, as the Lord rewards them as “good and faithful servants”. They will spend an eternity in the joy of their Lord side by side with those that they have introduced to the Savior through their faithfulness. May the Lord help me develop the same passion for the Gospel that Deborah has, and may I help inspire my children to the same!
