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| Photo courtesy of glogster.com |
There's an urban legend that goes something like this...
A teenage babysitter is watching television, waiting for the parents to return home. The kids are all tucked in, the house is quiet, and it is pitch black outside. Suddenly the phone rings and she answers it. She hears heavy breathing on the other line. She is tempted to hang up the phone but then she begins to make out a voice. Her blood runs cold as a man's voice proceeds to threaten to kill her. Frantically, she begins to run through the house, making sure the doors and windows are locked, still staying on the line. Suddenly, the killer begins to describe what she is wearing. He can see her! She begins to close the window drapes and then her worst nightmare is realized as she pivots around to discover that the killer is IN the house! She drops the phone...and well...that is the part of the story where I run upstairs, hide under the covers, and proceed to stay awake all night with the lights on!
You see, for me, the WORST part of this story is when we learn that the killer is IN the house. I mean, evil is evil, wherever it is, but it takes on a whole different dimension when it is in your neighborhood, on your street, or in your house. But the truth is...it is inside each and every one of us. Even as born-again believers, our flesh still resides in our hearts to lure us away from serving God and instead serve ourselves. So often, we as churches have this "us" vs. "them" mentality. The evil is out "there"--it is in behaviors such as drinking, smoking, cursing, having elicit sexual relationships, the list could go on and on. But we as the church largely ignore the evil that is right in our very church pews, and in our hearts. Pride. Legalism. Favoritism. Self-reliance.
As I was reflecting upon the reasons we choose to homeschool, I discovered a few reasons that do NOT factor into our decision to homeschool. One such reasons was to protect our children from the influence of evil. While we recognize that the secular world offers our children plenty of opportunities and temptations to sin, the Scriptures are clear that sin begins from within our hearts and its deep desires to rebel against God's law (James 1:14-15). You see, my children may appear to be "better" as they go to church, study in our homeschool environment, and play outside with neighbor friends...instead of cursing in the back of the school bus, misbehaving on the playground, or cheating on tests. But the truth of the matter that the blackest of black sin is embedded in their hearts right now--it just might not have as many opportunities to be manifested to the outside world as it would be if they lived every moment in a secular world. The scariest truth IS the present reality. We live with sin IN our hearts every moment of every day. A flood couldn't stamp it out (Gen 6). A confusion of languages and a separation of the peoples of the Earth couldn't stop it (Gen 11). Christ's blood covers it...but it will only truly be done away with in all its manifestations when Christ comes again and judges all of mankind, and we live in glory with Him.
So, let us not live with the misplaced notion that sin is "out there." And let us not stay in the paralyzing realization that sin is IN our hearts. Instead, let us fall upon the grace and mercy of Christ as we live out every moment of every day, realizing that our ONLY hope is found in Him! For only in Him can we move and live and have our being, as He declares victory over sin and death as "it is finished!"
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?" --Jeremiah 17:9
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