Are we raising Anti-Intellectual Kids?

By Ricardo Barber

J.P. Moreland in his book, Love Your God With All Your Mind, makes this statement, “Many people today, including many Christians, simply do not read or think deeply at all. And when believers do read, they tend to browse self-help books or other literature that is not intellectually engaging.”1 Logically it follows if adults are doing this then they are not challenging their kids to develop an intellectual life of cultivating their mind either.

Moreland has a section in his book where he discusses the empty self: which is a set of values, motives, and habits of thought, feeling, and behavior that perverts and eliminates the life of the mind and makes maturation in the way of Christ extremely difficult.2 Moreland says that the traits of the empty self undermine intellectual growth and spiritual development.3 I clearly see this in youth groups at churches. The parents themselves don’t push the importance of reading; instead they buy tons of video games and even permit the kids to bring them to church. Moreland says that television has an impact on kids that begins early in life. He is right, the cartoons and television shows that appear on the screen now flashes to different camera views every second. All that flashing in the eyes of kids gives them shorter attention spans. They always need rapid movement before their eyes, so when a book is placed before them they can’t focus long enough to read it. The pages are still, so they become bore fast (We call it ADD and ADHD). The kids at church are passive, they love to entertain and be entertained by folks. How much T.V. do your kids watch? Do they invest more time watching television than they do doing homework. If you try to engage in stimulating thought provoking bible study little response is given. Why? According to Jane Healy television weakens the ability to listen, stay focused, and encourages an overall passive withdrawal from life. I am going to redirect my focus this year to the mind and challenge the kids to think and reason out their faith. The empty self is the picture of American Christianity. We even made the gospel individualistic. It’s no longer about family, community and God, but about what’s in it for me. No wonder kids come out of service unsatisfied, they see the gospel with selfish motives. We worship the gifts instead of the giver. The immaturity of church members shows the lack of use of the mind. Hard work is shunned and spiritual growth is stunned. Knowledge is desecrated and human experience is elevated.

Parents, let’s admit we have a problem. Both our children, and ourselves. Would we rather be entertained instead of making an effort to read? If so, let’s acknowledge the problem and choose to do something different. Start exposing yourself and your kids to intellectually stimulating material. Join discussion groups; get in conversations with people whom you disagree with so you can see the need to grow. We must raise and encourage our kids to develop their intellectual abilities for the service of Christ and His people.4 The 1980 Gallup Poll on Religion best sums up the church today and the purpose behind this blog. “We are having a revival of feeling but not of the knowledge of God. The church today is more guided by feeling than by convictions. We value enthusiasm more than informed commitment.”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children” Hosea 4:6

1 J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997), 87.
2 Ibid, 88.
3 Ibid, 94.
4 Ibid, 19.