Why Aren't Your Kids At
Camp?
By Bob
W. Lovelace
This time of the year obviously appears to
be what some have referred to as the time for "youth summer camp,"
"youth rallies," and "FC camp" time. I offer the following
by way of warning. If you think I'm too concerned about nothing of any
importance then you may be the one who needs the warning.
Years ago I was trying out at a church that had been
recommended to me as a conservative church. They had said they were looking for
a conservative preacher.
As I talked with the men
in the church that Sunday after worship I asked them if that's what they really
wanted i.e. a conservative preacher. The majority acknowledged that was
what they wanted. I then asked them about what I had seen in their bulletin
that Sunday where the kids were going to "retreat" on a particular
upcoming weekend. I asked them what the "retreat" was that they
announced in their bulletin for their kids.
One brother said don't worry about that,
it's just that a wealthy member left some woodlands years ago for christians to use anytime they wanted to and we take the
kids there from time to time for fun. I told them I saw nothing wrong with
parents and brethren taking the kids to the mountains for a good time, but in
reading it the way it read I thought I might be hearing the language of
One older brother said perhaps they'd used
the wrong word to describe such.
I notice one younger member appeared to be
upset with me because I was questioning this. I found out that he had come from
a Liberal church a few months before and had already begun to impose their
practices upon the local church there.
I told the older brother who'd recommended
me to them, and them to me, that the church there
might be going Liberal. He was shocked. He said one of the main men in the
church there had fought the battle with Liberalism along with him many years
before and he found that hard to believe. A couple of months later he called me
and told me that another preacher he knew had gone to hold a meeting there and
had come away saying the church was going Liberal.
This is a never ending battle. The battle
goes on and on. A Liberal church is just that -- Liberal. They incorporate
recreation and entertainment as the work of the church.
While there is nothing wrong with christians getting together and
taking the kids to the mountains, etc. the different ways that some of these
events may be stated can indicate that the church is headed towards Liberalism.
Nowhere in the scriptures do we find that
such a "retreat" or a "camp" is the work of any local
church. Recreation and entertainment is not the work of the church. I don't
read where churches sponsored camps in my New Testament. Let's be sure that we
always make and keep that distinction in what we say and practice.
If you attach the church collectively (local
church) to such things, and have the local church "sponsoring" such
things then you might as well just go ahead and accept the whole Liberal ideal
that a local church can mix into its work both devotion and pure old
entertainment.
One phrase or word at times can speak
volumes! Such as the word "retreat" in a church
bulletin.
Now, concerning the topic
of this article. It is a question that was asked a sister in Christ whom
I'm acquainted with and the story bears repeating.
She said that a visitor at church approached
her after worship and wanted to know why her kids were not at "camp."
Imagine, a total stranger visits with the local church
in a particular locale while in route somewhere else and wants to know why the
kids are not at camp.
It was obvious to her that the stranger felt
that her children being at
"church" that day, and their "coming together in
the church" for worship and edification simply was not enough for her
children. They needed to be at "camp" and she needed to know that!
The sister unashamedly explained to this
visitor that neither she, nor her husband, nor her children desired that they be at camp, nor did they promote the institution that the
camp exists to promote. They were doing quite "well" bringing their
children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:1-4) in order
that they might be christians
as they themselves were. This sister who only had her children at church
happened to be the wife of the preacher (I Tim.
It is obvious that the very thought of such
"well being" among most
members
of the church of Christ appears to be more than some can accept and discern from
a study of God's word, for they express their dismay by demanding to know why
your kids are not at camp.
When we observe such behavior does it not
speak volumes with regards to the degree that a certain human organization has
been and is being promoted throughout our brotherhood?
Lets take another
example given from a brother and his wife. He, along with his wife and their
daughters were at the church building one Saturday mowing the yard and cleaning
up the grounds. That particular Saturday they had a preacher "trying
out" for the work where he serves as a deacon (I Tim. 3:8-13) and one of
the song leaders (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) in the church. He works hard at it (I
Cor.
His wife relates how the visiting preacher
and his wife pull up in front
of
building, get out, and then the wife of the preacher who is there just for the
weekend "trying out" walks up to her and right out wants to know why
her daughters are not at camp. The sister was amazed at her zeal for FC camp.
No, her daughters weren't at camp. They were
down at the church building on Saturday helping their parents mow the lawn and
clean up. Something they'll likely remember and be able to draw on and make
application from the rest of their lives. Both daughters are married to christians and mothers themselves
now. And both are a faithful wives in the Lord. Like I
said, their parents were doing quite "well" that Saturday and needed
no such questioning
and especially from one they did not even know.
This brother has been a christian many years. He brought his wife to
Christ
and then married her. He knows what is necessary to bring up his children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. At that time he'd been doing the
necessary things (given in God's word) for years. He also knows that he didn't
need "camp" nor did his children in order for him to do that. They
were both amazed at the attitude of the visiting preacher's wife demanding to know
why their kids were not at camp. Can you imagine? And she's just a
visitor.
In fact is it not true that there is indeed
a whole network of connections now throughout the brotherhood whereby
nothing about christians
building Colleges to provide worship and
edification, to protect our children's faith, to
keep students from becoming sectarian in practice.
From another viewpoint others have related
that it apparent at times that there is a "celebrity" like status
given to those who stop in on the way to the FC Lectureship.
And is this more than silly celebrity status
in the minds of some? Have our kids become a commodity? Are both parents and
children hit on by promotional schemes by virtue of the fact that a particular
human organization has sought to gain a foothold among the members of our
brotherhood? One brother tells of being quite upset when he found out that a
very handsome young man was sent to talk to his daughter about her going to FC.
It appears to be such and especially when
one considers the degree to which the institution is now promoted and the
various ways that are being used to "seed" the minds of young people
within the church.
In some places, I'm told,
some members even sing camp songs with the little ones before worship. Such is
designedly to prepare them for camp. This instills the desire in the children
to want to go to FC camp. What child wouldn't as they are being taught to sing
songs and told they are singing camp songs.
Some who go to camp are allowed by the
elders to return to the pulpit and reiterate their activities there. How that
helps!
As with most brethren my kids have never
been to a "FC camp." And in the final analysis of it all if there is
no authority for christians building human organizations
that engage in the purposes of worship, edification and evangelism then camps
designed to promote such organizations must fall along with the organizations
themselves. As one brother aptly put it, "The child falls with the
Mother!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL
NOTE: You Will Find Several Articles Answering Arguments Made For The Existence
Of