As we bring up our children in the training and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), how can we confidently address the hot button issues in our culture? When the world says humanity is a cosmic accident, society is nothing but structures of oppression, and personal autonomy and self-identification are the highest good – how do we respond?

In part two of our conversation with Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis and author of the new book Will They Stand, we talked about how our educational choices for our children have a major, critical impact on their spiritual development and training.

We talked at length about forming a worldview – the lens through which you see and interpret the world around you. Ken uses the example of building a house. “You don’t build a house by starting with the roof and walls,” he said, “you start with the foundation.” He said that 95% of children in Christian homes are being taught in the public school system, where they are told that all things have a naturalistic cause and explanation – “which is atheism,” he pointed out.  All week they are taught a philosophy and worldview which is not just un-Christian but actively hostile to Christian teaching. Then on Sunday we attempt to teach them about Jesus and Christian doctrines.

“We try to put the roof and walls on a foundation that won’t make that structure stand,” he said. “And we wonder why they leave the church, and build a new structure based on secular thinking.”

“Ultimately we have to understand there are only two foundations to build your way of thinking. You start from God’s Word, [God] Who knows everything. That’s the only way to come to right conclusions about anything, is starting from Someone who knows everything, Who’s given us the key information we need. The Bible is a revelation from God giving us [that] key information.

“If you don’t start from God’s Word, there is only one other starting point — that’s man’s word.”

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Answers in Genesis is best known for its presentation of Biblical, young-earth creationism. But Ken explained that so many of the “giants” our children will face, the most controversial issues in the public arena, are addressed in the first eleven chapters of Genesis – the act of Creation is only the first part.

“How do you teach your children about marriage? The gender issue? The abortion issue?” he asked. “You’ve got to start with Genesis 1 through 11.  If you don’t have Genesis 1 through 11 as the foundation, you can’t build the structure.”

Just on the example of marriage, Ken pointed out that Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 demonstrates God’s design for gender, marriage, and family, and when Jesus was asked about marriage and divorce, He referred back to those passages – without hedging or apology. When Paul deal with relationships between the husband and wife, he did the same. God’s word is clear, and we can stand on it with confidence.

God also gave instructions to His people on teaching their children, Ken said – in Deuteronomy 6. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them [God’s words] when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (v. 7)

“Education is not just an hour or two that you do on Sunday,” he said. “Education is twenty-four hours a day. …

In the first part of this interview (episode 255, “Building a Legacy”) we talked with Ken about the importance of being intentional in teaching and training our children to know and love Christ. Our personal example is crucial; so is the educational system we chose to occupy so many hours of our children’s lives. As Ken says in Will They Stand, “You will leave a legacy … the question is, what kind?”

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