We read a news article this week from pediatricians suggesting students with lice should not be sent home, because 1) it's not really poor hygiene and 2) it can cause pyschological stress to a student because of the stigma. Um, what? So 1) Yes, parasites crawling in your hair is poor hygiene, and 2) so we just ignore the problem and let is spread because a student might get embarrassed? Wrong answer. Well...don't Christians often treat sin the same way? We try to lessen the danger of sin by classifying it as other things, calling that which is evil good or indifferent. Secondly, because we are afraid to offend, we say nothing or pretend the problem doesn't exist. Well, it does. And if we do nothing, it only gets worse.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
We read a news article this week from pediatricians suggesting students with lice should not be sent home, because 1) it's not really poor hygiene and 2) it can cause pyschological stress to a student because of the stigma. Um, what? So 1) Yes, parasites crawling in your hair is poor hygiene, and 2) so we just ignore the problem and let is spread because a student might get embarrassed? Wrong answer. Well...don't Christians often treat sin the same way? We try to lessen the danger of sin by classifying it as other things, calling that which is evil good or indifferent. Secondly, because we are afraid to offend, we say nothing or pretend the problem doesn't exist. Well, it does. And if we do nothing, it only gets worse.
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together.
Alright, I know it’s Wednesday and not Tuesday again. We are still getting into the swing of our new routine and schedule with me going back to work full time and having three at home. So I thank you for your patience once again, and we’ll get back on track next week with our regular routine. Anyhow, let’s proceed with this week’s podcast. So a little bit about me – I almost never, ever watch or read the news. I’m just not a political guy, and that’s what almost all news has become nowadays. However, both my wife and I will get notifications for big headlines on current events from time to time. Well, Monday morning my wife and I were sitting on the couch and enjoying our morning coffee when her eyes got big as she read something on her phone. “What is it?” I asked. She looked at me stunned and read me the following headline, “New Guidelines: Students with lice should not be sent home because of ‘stigma’”. “What?” I exclaimed, “There is no way, read the article.” I figured that had to be some sort of catch, as many click bait headlines are. It’s not until you read the article that you actually get the full story. Well, in this case, what it said is actually what it was. The article went on to explain that the American Academy of Pediatrics are now suggesting that schools should not send home lice infested children, but allow them to remain at school in close contact with other students and teachers. They give two lines of reasoning for this new amendment. The first is that they claim students with lice are not a “health hazard” or even necessarily practicing “poor hygiene”. Okay, first of all – no. While lice are not known to carry any kind of disease, the itching can be unbearable and cause bacterial infections from excessive scratching. While an adult might be able to restrain themselves, try telling an 8-year-old not to scratch. Lice cannot jump or fly, but they are transferred by close contact, clothing, cubbies, lockers, etc. In other words, pretty much every part of school for kids will result in spreading lice if a child is allowed to stay. And I’m sorry but having hundreds of tiny biting bugs climbing through your hair I would absolutely classify as poor hygiene. If a pediatrician tried to argue to the contrary, I would challenge them to try and go into work with head lice and treat parent’s children and then get back to me on how they felt about that. But the second reason that they noted is what made me laugh out loud. The article went on the suggest the following, “Sending children home due to head lice can result in ‘psychological stress’ and ‘significant stigma’.” Um…what? This has got to be some sort of a joke. Because a student might be embarrassed about getting head lice, we’re just going to pretend it doesn’t exist and let them spread lice to other children & their families? Here's an idea – maybe just don’t share with the rest of the class why the student had to go home! To suggest that being sent home to deal with a problem like lice is going to result in some kind of deep seeded emotional trauma, and therefore we just need to ignore it, is by no circumstances the right answer. Pretending a problem does not exist because you don’t want to deal with it or cause offense does not make the problem go away, it just makes it worse.
When did we as a society start believing that a problem is not actually a problem, but how we feel about the problem is the problem. Imagine if a doctor refused to tell his patient that they have cancer, because he did not want to cause them ‘psychological stress’ – would you call him a good doctor? Of course not! And yet, this is the direction our culture is headed. But what is worse, far worse yet, is that this culture has rubbed off on the church regarding much more serious issues. In many churches, leadership has sought to “remove the stigma of sin” so to speak. Timothy Juhnke has written a book titled The Mischief of Sin: Recapturing the Stigma of Sin in Preaching. He suggests, “While many may still associate Christians as being against sin, mainstream Christianity has undergone profound changes on the subject. The language of sin is being jettisoned in favor of psychological labels like ‘compulsion’ or ‘dysfunctions’ that ultimately lessen the stigma of the evildoer.” I believe he is absolutely correct, and I would suggest that what he sees happening now is nothing new among God’s people. It begins in much of the same way, by suggesting that what is a problem is not really a problem. In Isaiah 5:20, we read the following, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” What Isaiah prophesied against God’s people still very much exists today among those who call themselves Christians. Rather than recognizing the seriousness of sin and it’s eternal consequences, many have changed the way that they look at or discuss what God condemns. By labeling Scripture as “archaic” or “culturally irrelevant”, things we should condemn and refuse to practice in our lives now are justified and not seen as unholy. Adultery, homosexuality, immodesty, course jesting, or foul language are all justified and overlooked by many who profess to follow Christ or lead his church – and yet these have no place among believers. They, and things like them, are sin – and must be called what they are. We cannot call that which is evil good and pretend to have fellowship with Jesus, we deceive ourselves in such cases. Trivializing these sins is like trivializing having a parasite infested head and suggesting there is nothing wrong. There is something very wrong - and pretending there is not or suggesting it’s not a big deal does not change the grave reality of the situation. Not only this, but there must be discipline from church leadership when sin is persistent among God’s people. If we choose to say nothing because we “don’t want to offend,” then sinful habits will only spread among God’s people. This is what Paul warned about to the Corinthian church that glossed over a serious sin that was taking place among them, in fact they boasted about their tolerance of this man who was committing adultery with his father’s wife! Paul warns, “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) As Paul writes, “a little leaven will leaven the whole lump.” When sin is tolerated and not dealt with, it will cause problems for the entire family of God. Sinful attitudes spread, and soon the problem has grown exponentially from what it originally was. My friends, we cannot ignore sin. We cannot ignore its serious nature or the consequences it brings. Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, cost you more than you wanted to pay, and keep you longer than you wanted to stay. Don’t ignore the problem…deal with it.
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday(ish) for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.