04/24/2026
Satan Is Smarter Than Us
in This One Area...
We make the mistake of handling our children and teenagers with kiddy gloves. Sometimes, we intellectually coddle them in an effort to protect them. Then, at some point in their life, they are exposed to competing ideologies, religions, and lifestyles for the first time and they do not know what to do. They are not ready; they do not have answers. Their intellectual "immune systems" are overwhelmed by the contagions, and sometimes they leave the Christian faith.
Satan does not play by the rules. He throws the kitchen sink at them as early as possible. He does not wait until they are 18 or 21 to attack them with alternatives to Christianity. He attempts to influence them as early as possible with atheism and agnosticism, hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure through s*x, drugs, alcohol, etc.), religious pluralism, and much more.
If Satan is not handling our children with kiddy gloves but instead tries to reach them as early as possible with his heaviest stuff, we have to teach and disciple and train our children as early as possible with our best efforts. We have to intellectually prepare our children by raising them in a consistent, coherent biblical worldview. We have to expose them to ideological contaminants early (such as atheism and New Age teachings), and walk them through how to answer questions that arise so that their intellectual immune systems are strengthened. We must do this early, so that they are not caught off-guard when they experience these things in the "real world."
The good news is that our children and teenagers are hungry for the truth! Everywhere I go and teach (such as when I went to Maryland recently and spoke to a youth group, pictured here), our students are passionate about being trained. They want to ask questions; they want good answers that our faith provides. Christianity has an unbelievably robust intellectual foundation, built upon the Bible. Let us share this rich heritage of thought and practice with the next generation. They are ready, and they are willing. Let's take off the kiddy gloves. ARC is here to help!
