Day 1: We all need to ROAR!
1 Thessalonians 5:21, “But test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the early 2000s, there was a popular craze among tweens about a new book that had just hit the shelves. In it there was adventure, mystery, drama, and a new world told of people with magical abilities. The new book series was called Harry Potter. American Christianity did not know what to make of it. Troubled by the wizard and witchcraft-like elements, many parents decided that it was not appropriate for their children to read. Other parents were okay with it. I was not really told one way or the other if I could read it, so trying to be a good Christian boy, I did not read it.
Later in college, I decided to pick it up. In it I saw two things I didn’t expect. The first was that the book did not focus on sorcery as much as it touched on magic and the idea of the existence of the supernatural. The second is that this whole saga was a tiny refraction of a familiar story. It’s about a nobody boy who is treat- ed with disrespect and contempt. And it’s this nobody boy that ends up giving his life to save people who didn’t care about him very much. In short, I saw a reflection of the Gospel of Jesus in the book series. Why bring this up? All of this is about discernment.
While there are some things that are black and white, much of the life we live is in the gray. For example, what should Christians watch or not watch, read or not read? What type of schooling should you have for your kids? How should we vote? How do we navigate social media? The list goes on. It turns out that there is no specific biblical command about these things. So what does one do? We practice 1 Thessalonians 5:21. We are to test all things, hold to the good, and reject the bad. By this, we show the light of Christ to a dark world. But the question is how. How do we practice discernment in our lives and our kids’ lives?
A simple acronym from the book Mama Bear Apologetics to help us is ROAR. Recognize the message.
Offer discernment (affirm the good and reject the bad).
Argue for a healthier approach.
Reinforce through discussion and prayer.
To help us recognize messages means that we discuss music, art, books, and movies with our kids and grand- kids (R). We ask what they think about the message. Then we ask them what they think God and His Word says about all of it. What is the good stuff and what is the bad stuff (O)? We then discuss what the best approach is, according to Jesus and His Word (A). Finally, we practice discernment continually through later discussion, good questions, and prayer (R). In the next 4 devotionals, we will be using the ROAR method together. Get ready to ROAR!
Reflection: How can you grow in your ability to practice discernment?
Prayer: God help us discern the good from the bad. Help us live holy lives that honor You and bring light into this dark world. Amen.
