idea of freedom of expression. Many don’t believe anything is inappropriate if
someone wants to say, show, or do it. As Christian fathers we must not allow our
homes to have that same kind of anything and everything is allowed atmosphere.
The Bible teaches us that we should only say those things that are good and
profitable (Ephesians 4:29) and that we are to take even our thoughts captive to
the will of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Our children may think that we are
intrusive, snoopy, untrusting, not respectful of their privacy, etc., but that
is our job. If we are to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
(Ephesians 6:4), then we must correct them when they are wrong and discipline
them when they need it. The only way to do that is to know what is going on with
them.
A few years ago when the movie Moulin Rouge came out and the main
song from it was on the radio there was a young girl who would go around the
church building singing phrases from the song. It had a catchy tune I must
admit. The phrase she seemed to like best was part of the chorus and it was in
French so she probably had no idea what she was singing. That is dangerous. I
asked her mother about it and she didn’t know what it said either, but I did
because I have had two years of French. I don’t know all the plot of the movie,
but it was apparently promoting immorality and the phrase in the song was a
loose woman (possibly a prostitute) asking a man if he would like to go to bed
with her that night. That song was inappropriate for anyone, but certainly not
good for a young Christian girl to be singing, yet that and much worse are on
the radio regularly. We can’t just allow children whose consciences have not yet
been fully trained to freely listen to all that is out there.
I have a little quiz for you. I have a cd of kid’s Christmas songs. It has
the following songs on it.
1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
2. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
3. Do You Hear What I Hear
4. I Want Candy
5. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
6. Jingle Bell Rock
7. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
8. A Holly Jolly Christmas
9. All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
10. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Now the quiz question. Only one question with two parts: Which of these songs
is completely inappropriate for young children to listen to and Why?
I know there are some who do not celebrate Christmas at all and would not
allow their children to have such a cd and I am fine with that as the head of
your family you have to make those decisions for your house. There are some who
would be offended by the fact that "Do You Hear What I Hear" is a somewhat
religious song and either they don’t want to mix Jesus with Santa Claus or don’t
want religious songs with instrumental music. Others would take offense to the
fact that "A Holly Jolly Christmas" Uses the euphemism "By Golly". Others might
not like Santa Claus or think that Grandma being run over is cruel. Those may
all be valid concerns, but most people would not give a second thought to "I
Want Candy". You may even now be asking, "Why should that one bother me?"
Let me explain why that is quite probably the most offensive song and the
one that should have been left off the disc. Regardless of your feelings about
the other songs, "I Want Candy" is totally inappropriate for children. I am not
a dentist or a health nut, I probably let my children eat more sweets than is
good for them. If the song were about candy I would not have near the problem
with it even if it might be showing a selfish, give me kind of attitude. The
problem is that the song is a boy singing about how he wants a girl named Candy.
Maybe you don’t have a problem with your 10-year-old boy wanting a girl, but I
certainly do. You can’t tell by the title of things what they are about
sometimes. Things that at first glance may seem innocuous have enough poison to
kill after a few doses.
As good fathers we should not give a snake instead of fish or rocks instead
of bread (Luke 11:11). We must consider the books, magazines, music, internet
sites, movies, TV shows, games, etc. that we are allowing our children to be
exposed to every day. We need to periodically examine them again to see if there
may have been something we missed or if perhaps we have learned more about
something that could be poisonous to our children’s spiritual health.