By: John Van Der Brink
In the last issue, we briefly considered the following Biden/Harris efforts:
- Promotion of LGBTQ policies
- Promotion of radical sex education policies.
- Promotion of state approved textbooks that rewrite our nation’s history.
- Promotion of a new world view that leaves out Christian values.
- Promotion of the Equality Act.
Those policies, if left unchecked, will soon reach into almost every area of life in our country. The foundation has already been laid for more laws and policies which directly affect our religious liberties. The freedom that we currently enjoy in our Christian schools will not be protected from their impact. Here are four more issues of concern.
- New Education Secretary Education Secretary Betsy de Vos HAS been replaced by Dr. Miguel Cardona, the first Latino to hold that office as part of the Biden’s efforts to diversify his administration. He promises to return to the Obama-era educational policies which promote “equality” measures that penalize parents who cannot afford to opt out of their local public schools, and which ignore Biblical distinctions about sex in the use of public bathrooms, promote immoral sex education in health classes, and push unfair policies in competitions. Basic common sense seems to have escaped many of our leaders.
- Gay Pride Promoted Around the World American Ambassador Peter Hoekstra is being replaced by a new ambassador. Meanwhile, the US Embassy in the Netherland is already proudly displaying the rainbow colors of the sexual revolution and celebrating and promoting gay pride in it policies and on its website. What is remarkable here and in other venues is the forcefulness with which this revolution is being pushed by the Biden administration. Biden has promised to be the most aggressive LGBTQ promoter of all presidents, and he is living up to this promise. Everyone you turn, this agenda is “pushed in your face”. Business corporations, political thinktanks, even many religious organizations have become vehicles to make this movement present into everyone everywhere.
- Promoting Unchristian Ideology Before the election, groups like Black Lives Matter, Antifa etc. attracted a lot of attention for their riotous destruction of American cities and opposition to the police force, etc. These groups blamed President Trump and his policies for instigating their actions. But Americans opposed this senseless destruction, and much of this rioting has stopped. But what has not stopped in the promotion of the principles and ideologies of these unchristian groups. The principles of these radical groups emerge in all the daily public discourse and proposed legislation every day in the new Biden administration.
- Changed Immigration Policies Finally, the immigration policies of the new administration have resulted in the biggest border crises in our nation’s history. Illegal immigration from our southern border has run rampant. Waves of people, expecting to be able to cross have so flooded the borders, that officials do not know what to do. Busloads of people who are smuggled across, are literally transported across America to sanctuary cities, and left to melt into society. Some politicians are arguing that these people should be given working papers, medical attention, and even voting rights. It is likely that this influx of people will eventually change the voting demographics of our nation and turn it to a more Democratic leaning. Is this the ultimate purpose of these reckless policies?
Dear parents and friends, this is the world our children are growing up in. Soon they will take their place as an adult in this divided country. What can we do to help them in their growing up years?
1. We should help them understand not only what is happening, but also why it is happening. These are not just disconnected events. There is a secular worldview that ties them altogether. We should help them understand that what unites these events is a systematic effort to reject God and His authority.
2. We should also show them where this turmoil and confusion started. In Paradise we choose to establish our own reign. We rebelled against God, and the rebellion we see happening today is only an extension of the same. The root of what is happening all around us is within us.
3. We should help them develop a Christian worldview. That means to show them to view life in all of its movements and changes from the light of Scripture. What we see happening should not be a surprise. It is explainable. When much of our adult population has grown up outside a church or Christian school, their conscience, their sense of right and wrong is very distorted. Many times, they do not even know that actions can be sinful. There is no concept of a divine law.
4. We should point to the seeds of rebellion that are manifest in our own lives. It is easy to see the faults in society around us, but that should serve as a mirror to see our own faults. If we see that, we will not be haughty in condemning others, but there will be a certain compassion and pity for others as well as for ourselves. Our society needs to repent, but we also need to repent.
5. We should point them to the only hope there is for us in our day. That is by grace to learn to bow before our offended Maker. That is exactly what we do not really want to do even if we are Reformed and church-going people. The time of grace is given to us and to our children for that very purpose. Oh, that the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon us and our children, that we may learn to bow before it is too late.
6. Finally, we may speak of the comfort and security of those who have learned to flee for refuge to the Ark of Safety, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is One who has ascended on high in might to reign. He has promised to never leave or forsake His needy ones. He can give courage and strength for the day. He can give wisdom and discretion, faithfulness, and perseverance. In Him there is rest and safety for all the oppressed.
The Psalmist said, “Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, and a light upon my path”. There is no teacher or parent or church leader who can provide adequate direction for what seems to be on the horizon, but there is a throne of grace. There is a throne of grace – there the weary may find rest. May each of us beg and find that rest, for ourselves, for our dear children and grandchildren, for our students, and for a coming generation. He has never turned a beggar away.
John Van Der Brink is director of the Netherlands Reformed Christian School in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and a member of the Board of Directors of Christian Council International (CCI), based in Washington DC, sister organization of Transatlantic Christian Council (TCC), based in the Netherlands.