WE BRAINWASH CHILDREN

“What are you going to do, brainwash the kids?” Ethan said. His sarcastic laughter revealed his non-approving bent. I didn’t respond.

I had just informed Ethan; because of Saturday’s commitment to lead the children’s service at the Free Church, attending a family get-together would be impossible.

He was half-joking, half-serious when he referred to our gathering of children to study God’s word and engage in some wholesome activities as a brainwashing session.

If I would have responded to Ethan, I might have said, “Yes we brainwash children, that’s exactly what we are doing.” I’m serious. There’s even a Biblical mandate to do so: “Do not be conformed to this world—fashioned after and adapted to its external and superficial ways. But be transformed, changed by the entire renewal of your mind.”

Even Ethan knows this is not by force. Actually, it’s very common for the kids to come running full tilt towards my vehicle when I arrive in their neighborhood for pickup. But he probably hasn’t fully considered this; everyone is being brainwashed in some way by everything they encounter daily. TV, music, computer feed, books, people---the list is nearly endless.

Yes, we brainwash the children. To follow the ways of God, to love God, to love people, to say kind words, to respect authority, to be generous, to be truthful, to honor their parents…

And like the children, we all need some degree of brainwashing-- some renewing of our minds. It’s an ongoing procedure. And like the children, we decide which sources will be the instruments of this life-changing process. The children are choosing to let God and His Word be their brainwasher.

The Bible offers a superb goal: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ.” Yes, let us all start thinking the way Jesus would.