Dear readers, sadly Blogger has again made decisions for me with regard to font and format! The text as I have it in my Word document is uniform, but somehow got rearranged once I exported it to my blog. Thanks for putting up with the inconsistencies; Blogger has been a good platform for me over the years, pretty user friendly, but does have this one glitch. But, hey, it's free!
Thankfulness
Thankfulness has no meaning without an object.
It saddened me then, even as it does now.
Entitlement
Thanklessness and its evil twin, entitlement, have
become commonplace in our youth, as the postmodern, post-Christian
generation is raising children who have no idea why they should give thanks, or
to Whom it is due. Nor should it come as a surprise when individuals who have
never received instruction in a moral code based on absolute values struggle
with concepts like respect and concern for others, both of which are outgrowths
of morality.
Conscience
It naturally follows that a thankless society has
little reason to develop a conscience.
Reliable old
Merriam Webster offers this explanation of what the word conscience actually means:
“Conscience… derives
from… Latin roots—the prefix com- (‘with,’ ‘together,’
‘jointly’) and the verb scire (‘to
know’), and the combination, conscire, means 'to
be aware of guilt’—and… relates to… a state of… moral awareness.”
It seems clear that internalization of a basic moral
code is a needful prerequisite to the operation of conscience. Just as
thankfulness requires an object, conscience needs a reason to exist. In other
words, development of that internal voice goes hand in hand with the inculcation
of moral principles in daily life.
This brings to mind an incident I recall with bewilderment.
Years ago in my day care career, one of our students was misbehaving. The staff
was instructed to try to curb the behavior without causing the child to feel
any remorse. Since then, I have raised my own family, and noted an interesting
phenomenon in school evaluations. When behavioral interventions became
necessary, documents often contained the following kind of language:
Johnny struggles to control his impulses.
Susie struggles to stay focused. Benny struggles to (fill in the blank).
I humbly suggest that the child in question is doing
the very opposite of struggling, as he or she has likely been deprived of the
very impetus which would bring about inner conflict in the first place – a feeling
of remorse based on a rudimentary moral understanding.
Disclaimer: I am NOT recommending instilling
pathologic guilt or shame in our youngsters. I, myself, am a recovering shame addict
(not brought on by my parents, just residing in my brain for as long as I can
remember), and it’s no fun. Rather, what’s needed is a sensible, balanced
message of morality and awareness of other people’s rights. Basic religious
underpinnings are helpful, as they provide the rationale for following a moral
code. Our country was built on this foundation, and requires nothing less to
continue.
The Three C’s – Confirmation, Conviction
and Causation
One of my church leaders recently preached on the
subject of conscience. He broke down the Bible’s teaching on this topic into
the following “three “C’s,” stating that conscience:
·
confirms the existence of God (Romans 1:20-22 and 2:14-16)
·
convicts of sin (John 8:4-11)
·
causes or enables people to take hold of
salvation (Hebrews 9:7-14 and 10:22; Titus 1:15; 1 Timothy 1).
The Fourth C – a Clear Conscience
This same gentleman followed up with a second sermon
explaining how one can enjoy a clear conscience. Rather than summarizing
these two excellent sets of teaching, I have linked them as resources for my
readers, especially those who may be experiencing guilt about choices they have
made. It is worth noting that one of the points he emphasized is the fact that
the conscience can become defiled or “seared” when not
cultivated or, even worse, once it has been squelched. That still, small voice can be snuffed
out rather easily and, once stifled, can be surprisingly resistant to reawakening.
The Shaping of Conscience
There
are many ways to categorize humanity, some of which have been called into
serious question by an unbelieving world in a frighteningly brief period of
time. The very idea of categorizing has come under fire in recent years! Nevertheless,
along with basic groupings such as ethnicity and religion, let us consider the
less obvious distinction between conscience driven versus conscience deprived
individuals.
It seems to me that most meaningful activity is
governed by the absence or presence of conscience, which, in turn, is
often shaped by consequences. Inborn curiosity is bridled or unbridled by
consequences – do consequences matter enough to check the behavior? Who is
issuing the consequences, and is that person a solid role model, someone whose
behavior is worth emulating?
One caveat: I am an enthusiastic proponent of positive
training of children, i.e., linking positive feedback and rewards to desired
behavior. I am fully on board with using this technique in conjunction with
consequences – but therein lies the key. It is the combination of two vital
ingredients that makes for success.
Soup without salt is flavorless. Salt without a medium
to disperse it is overpowering. Likewise, consequences without praise may lead
to devastation and hopelessness; praise without consequences can result in
egocentrism and entitlement.
Balance is essential.
Takeaways
As
the United States has ousted God from such basic institutions as education, family planning and most recently, marriage, our country seems to have lapsed into ever more dangerous behavior. If we want to stem the tide
of rebellion and destructiveness that we are seeing in our youth, we must start
with the end in mind with our children.
Instilling
the sister virtues of thankfulness and conscience isn’t a guarantee that all
will be well. Sadly, the numbers of religiously trained kids caught up in the
world’s system closely mirror those of the unchurched. That’s
because the human heart remains just that – human – and we live in a
fallen world in which temptation and instant gratification are the desirables
du jour.
Furthermore, we can’t, nor should we attempt to remove
the Pandora’s box of technology from the public square. The tools it offers are
vast and beneficial. However, knowing most of our kids have the equivalent of
an adult bookstore at their fingertips before they’re old enough to cross the
street independently ought to give us great reason to instill the counteragents
of conscience and accountability from the moment they can mouth syllables. Realizing
the daunting array of choices available to their little minds, we must at least
give them a fighting chance to combat the impulses of entitlement and
self-gratification.
A Happy and Hopeful Ending
I love the old Dick Van Dyke show. This classic sitcom
is a product of its time and, therefore, assumes some sex roles that have
become outdated, but it sure found a way to combine humor and principles
without ever uttering a four-letter word or even taking the Lord’s name in vain.
One
episode in particular illustrates the point I’ve
been trying to make in this article. Rob has the opportunity to work for Drew
Patton, the equivalent of Hugh Hefner, and the job will come with all the
fringe benefits of Playboy Mansion. Laura is understandably fearful that her
morally upright husband will “crumble” under the pressure. Her relief is
palpable when she overhears Rob opine to his would-be employer that “marriage,
like a lot of other things, has boundaries, and to some guys, those boundaries
represent walls, and that makes marriage a prison to them. But to other guys,
those boundaries hold everything that’s good and fun in life.” Our hero turns down
the job.
This is the kind of thinking that conscience begets –
the idea that boundaries, be they in marriage or any avenue of life, need not be
viewed as prisons. They are, rather, safeguards that offer security and protection, so
that those who abide by them may proclaim with the psalmist, “The lines have
fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” –
Psalm 16:6
For more like this, check out: Entertainment-itis Series
and
Thoughts on the Suicide/Addiction Epidemic Among our Youth
