The kids and I did a Bible study together this summer. It was a really cool time.
We started out studying the word "truth." What is the truth? What is a lie? What does it look like to be people of integrity?

These are all massive issues and we didn't figure it all out. Come to think of it, these issues might take a lifetime to figure out.

One of the conundrums was this. The Bible says, "Thy word is truth." But if you don't believe the Bible, is it still truth? Does the Bible depend on us to believe it, in order to make it true? I say no. It's truth whether we acknowlege it or not. But the kids need to figure that out for themselves.

They still like to pick the parts of the Bible that best favor them. It's just what they do when serving ice cream. They take the best parts. When they serve cookies & cream, they all go for the big chunks of cookies, leaving the plain parts on the side of the carton (for me.) Same with Moose Tracks. Like a diviner looking for water underground, they have an uncanny ability to dig through the carton, finding the Tracks of Moose. Again, leaving me with the slimy bits on the edge.

And with the Word of God. They certainly like the yummy bits. Like, "God loves me with an everlasting love." Well, DUH, of course He does! They have no problem believing that God died for their sins. He loves them! With an everlasting love!

But when it comes to the responsibility part, their part, then it gets dicey. Be obedient? Follow His commands? Die to my own desires and serve Him only? It's like the ice cream on the side. It's not the desirable treat. They want to eat what tastes best to them, with no burden, no sacrifice, no responsibility. But that can't happen. Life on this earth is much more than a bowl of ice cream....and the stakes are much, much higher.

I explained it to them this way. There are two teams. God's team, and Satan's team. Now, most people are not Satanists. There are very few acknowledged Satan worshippers on our planet. So, Satan is clever. He's okay with his team being called "The World." If there were team shirts, one would say, "God's Team." The Other would be called "World's Team." One day God's team will completely trounce the World's team. In the meanwhile, the game in on. Everyone has to be on one team or the other. We can't play for both sides.

This is why the James Scripture makes sense. "Anyone who chooses to be friends with the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4).

We can't have it both ways. We can't play for God's team and for Satan's team. An example: The World tells us "if it feels good, do it." But just because something feels good doesn't mean it's honoring to God (or to ourselves, for that matter.) We can't just go along, even if most of the world is going along. The Scripture is crystal clear: If we choose to be friends with the world, then we become an enemy of God. Or as I say to my kids sometimes, when they make a bad choice: "You are batting for the wrong team."

We would all do well to recognize that there are two teams. In this current world, Satan is the ruler*. Yet according to Baylor University's 2005 study, almost 90% of people say they believe in God, but only 73% believe in Satan.

And that's just the way Satan likes it.

*1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 1 Corinthians 2:1-3