This is reprinted with permission from my friend Derek Hale from Wichita. He writes...
My election day "scream at the windshield" moment came today while driving down the street to grab a bite of lunch. It came not from conservative talk radio or from NPR. It came from Christian talk radio. Don't ask me how I ended up there.
Anyway, the host (no idea who it was) was taking calls from callers who had voted earlier in the day. The callers that I heard were all talking about how they took their children with them to their polling places and they went on and on about "how important it was that children witnessed their parents voting" and about how "instilling the desire to participate in the democratic process" needs to instilled in children from a young age. I didn't hear much else because my shouting started.
I needed to shout because I imagined the type of folks that were out there listening to this same radio program and adding their "amen" to what was being said. I imagine these are the same folks that ship their children off to "children's church" on Sunday because the children are distracting and "would never understand what was going on anyway." I'm sure these are the same people that feel no desire demonstrate to their children "how important it is that children witness their parents worshiping on Sunday." No desire to "instill from a young age" a desire to participate in the worship of God almighty with the rest of the adults of the church. Nope, it is MUCH more important for children to get excited about the "democratic process" than it is for them to get excited about hearing God's call to worship, hearing that their sins are forgiven, learning the music of the Kingdom, hearing the Word thundered, and sitting down to eat a meal with Jesus every week.
And people still wonder why evangelicalism is as ineffective as it is.
Amen, Derek!
