Attack on the Homes
By Travis K. McSherley

In this battle for the collective soul of the world, and of America in particular, Satan has many targets from which to choose.  Attacks have come against science, in which a belief in a Supreme Being is dismissed as foolish or naive.  Schools and government have been attacked; entire organizations exist whose sole purpose appears to be removing God from these institutions.  Even the church is unable to avoid the pursuit of lies and temptations, weapons from evil's arsenal.  This vulnerability has been amplified in past weeks, as the news has offered daily updates of the pedophilia and homosexuality that has infected members of the Catholic clergy.

The battle wounds from these attacks are easily spotted.  They appear in newspapers, on television, in the government -- in its laws and in its scandals, in the movies, in music, in the business world.  The traditional values and character that built this nation have fallen by the wayside, victim of the brutal assaults on education, law, faith, and even truth itself.  Those who still cling to relics like morality and Creation are often shunned, mocked, and dismissed as radical "fundamentalists."

Yet of all the battlegrounds being sought by the evil one to destroy society, probably no battle is so fierce, so emotional, and so dangerous as the one for the world's most sacred filter for truth and values: the family.  Nearly every major issue on the debate table at any given time relates at least indirectly (and usually directly) to family values and concerns.  Abortion.  Homosexuality.  Anything dealing with education or kids.  Marriage and divorce.  All issues related to sex.  Taxes.  Health.  All of these are interweaved among family relationships and family values.  And mishandled or misapplied, all have the power to rip apart the very foundation of a society.

If one thinks I am exaggerating, he need merely look at the consequences of this unraveling of the family culture.  AIDS, rape, teenage pregnancy, countless psychological problems, and many other woes can be attributed to the continued destruction of the home and the devaluing of family relationships.  It's a devastating cycle.  Further breakdown is inevitable, however, if current trends and ideas are not reversed.  How can we expect divorce, abuse, sexual deviance, or disease to go down if all we are ever told is that promiscuity, adultery, and pretty much anything else one wants to do are acceptable?

Parents must realize the important, the vital role they play in raising children with moral integrity and common sense.  "Train up a child in the way he should go," says Proverbs 22:6, "and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  We can likewise infer that the converse will be true as well.

Husbands and wives must also learn to value and cherish each other and their very special relationship, paying heed to the commitment that the relationship demands.  Marriage is not something to be thrown away the moment things start going rough, especially when children's lives are also at stake.  It is a covenant signifying a beautiful -- and permanent -- bond between a man and a woman.

Sex must cease to be viewed as a toy meant to give pleasure to anyone who desires it, at anytime they desire it, with anyone they desire to share it.  Treating sex so flippantly is not only physically dangerous, but it also robs it of the beauty it has within a proper context.  For whatever reason, this seems to pretty an extremely touchy issue, though.  Groups have come up in arms over ideas or bills suggesting that we teach "abstinence-only" sex education.  Why?  Probably because it is becoming taboo in our culture to tell someone (even a child) that he should deny himself anything that seems good at the time.  Some have even taken to this to unconscionable extremes, offering that sex should be accepted between any two consenting parties, be they man-woman, man-man, woman-woman, man-child, man-animal, or any combination thereof.

As I am developing in another article, sexual sin in itself has been a key factor in the moral decay of many a great empire, including ancient Israel.  Though God made specific warnings to His people against following the perverse sexual appetites of their neighbors, time and again, sexual sin became their downfall.  Balaam used the women of Moab to seduce the Israelites.  They fell in sexual sin while worshipping Baal.  Even great leaders like Samson, David, and Solomon became downtrodden by their lust.  To say that today's America is failing in that regard seems apparent.  Even U.S. News and World Report recently ran a cover story about teens and sex, though pre-teens have come under similar attack.

Thinking strategically, it is not difficult to see why the devil would target the home for his most debilitating attacks.  The family provides the backbone of our society -- of any society.  It is both a training ground and a safe haven for comfort and rest.  If this structure is destroyed, we can be sure that rest of that society will crumble.

I'd like to think we still have hope, though.  For two months this summer, I will be in Colorado Springs, Colo., to study at the Focus on the Family Institute.  Among other reasons for attending the Institute, I am hoping that it will provide spiritual training as I seek to contribute, with God's will, to the fight for the family.

And I happen to believe that our families are worth fighting for.  One need not take extra schooling to be involved in the war effort, though.  We all have homes.  We all have relatives and friends who need to be supported and encouraged to hold strong to integrity.  And we all have personal temptations and struggles that must be dealt with.  As I've referenced many times before, Scripture provides the gear with which to fight this important battle.  The armor of God in Ephesians 6 is just as applicable to the battle for the family as it is for any spiritual warfare.

The family is under full-scale assault.  Will we put up a fight, or are we doomed to surrender?