Batons, Bananas, and Bagatelles

Text: Ge 18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

Introduction:

 Physical demonstration. Have three parents line up in the front of the auditorium. Give one a baton, one a banana, and one nothing. Then have one of their kids in the middle of the auditorium. On the signal, each is to pass what he has to their child.

 The baton represents passing on to your child what is really important

 The banana represents passing on unimportant or wrong values to your child

 No baton represents not passing anything on to your kids

 Also, it would be a shame to pass a baton on to other’s kids and neglect your own!

 Continue family series. We will be talking about parenting the next few weeks. This morning I want to share with you "What you should pass on." In the upcoming weeks we will get a little more practical in "How to pass the baton."

Transition: Five Truths I want My Kids to Learn 

  1. What God says is more important than what you think (Black & White)
    1. Prov. 14:12, 16:25
    2. Moral absolutes versus moral relativism
      1. Josh McDowell illus. talking to a principal about Schindler’s list and might makes right
      2. illogical nature of moral relativism
      3. Francis Schaeffer illus. pouring tea on the man’s lap
    3. Specifics
      1. sexual morality
      2. lying vs. Honesty
      3. black & white (everything is not gray)
      4. Bible versus tradition
      5. church traditions
      6. Jesus is the only way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
  1. Who you are is more important than what you are (character)
    1. principle vs. passion
    2. passion, feelings are not bad things, but they are not what you base right and wrong on

      3.  illus. Jurassic Park, there is a scene where the old man (John Hammonds) and Dr. Sattler are eating melted ice cream wondering about the two grand kids and Dr. Grant who are still at large in the park with the dinosaurs. The old man then goes on to explain his dream of Jurassic Park and how he will make it better next time. She responds, "You can’t think through this one John, you’ve got to feel it." That is how the world decides today. Remember, however, feelings can’t always be trusted. They will lie to you. There must be some objective standard outside of our feelings which we use to determine right from wrong.

    3. Do what is right, not what is expedient
      1. Bob Jones "Do right until the stars fall."
      2. Do what is right, not popular, not expedient
      3. honesty
      4. don’t quit
      5. finish the job
      6. keep your word
      7. integrity
  1. What you do is because of you (personal responsibility)
    1. Choice is a God-given responsibility that we have control over
    2. Adam & Eve were the first blame-throwers
    3. illus. "children not put to death for parents or vice versa."
    4. We have a society of blame throwers
      1. Congress points at President and the President points at Congress
      2. sexual syndrome, hypochondriacs, parental syndrome, etc.
  1. Knowing How to Live is more important than making a living (Godly living)
    1. You can go to school, vocational school, college, to learn how to make a living, but that doesn’t mean you know how to live
    2. Priorities
      1. God, Family, Career
      2. Debts, needs, wants
      3. Others, self
    3. Sacrifice
      1. Learning to live for a purpose higher than self
      2. Learning to find real happiness in helping others
  1. Everything in this life is nothing, if you don’t make it to the next life (salvation)
    1. baton is not a church, denomination, good works
    2. grace of God, substitutionary death
    3. faith appropriated

Conclusion:

  1. Some of you parents are making no effort to instill the important things in life into your kids. We want them to succeed academically, athletically, but we’ve done little to help them spiritually. You are passing Bagatelles to your kids.
  2. Some of you are passing bananas. Either your church tradition, worldly philosophies, etc., You are like the man struggling to climb the ladder of success, only to find that when he reached the top, the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Some of you are struggling to pass on to your kids banana concepts.
  3. Challenge everyone to work hard at passing the baton of faith in Christ alone and instilling in your kids a life of godly character grounded and rooted in the Godly principles of the Word of God.
  4. Eli & Samuel both lost their kids. They somehow assumed that the baton would be automatically passed to their kids. It wasn’t!