Children are under sexual attack in several ways today! That, unfortunately, is nothing new. Adults have been abusing children sexually, emotionally, and using them as basically slaves or to further their interests or agendas since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden! In the Roman Empire in Jesus’ day, fathers treated their children like possessions and could actually have them killed if they wanted to!

When parents brought children to Jesus to bless them, even his disciples didn’t think they were worthy of his time, and rebuked the parents!

¹³  Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, ¹⁴  but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵  And he laid his hands on them and went away. – Matthew 19:13-15 (ESV)

Apparently the disciples had forgotten Jesus’ teaching on the value of children just a day or two before!…

¹  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²  And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them
³  and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶  but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

¹⁰  “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 18:1-6, 10 (ESV)

So, what is Jesus trying to tell us about children in this passage?

a) They have a wonderful innocence about them, even though they are born sinful as all of us were. They haven’t yet seen, heard, and been taught all the variations of sin and it’s destructive effects that have broken us as adults and caused our souls to be lost in sinful confusion.

b) With that innocence comes a wonderful sense of trust in parents and other adults, and they believe that we really love them and always have their growth and best interest at heart! That’s why Jesus says we have to have that innocent trust and humility of children to fully trust God for salvation and enter his Kingdom, no longer trusting in our own good works or character to save us!

c) Because Jesus loves the tender hearts of children so much, he issues an awful warning to those who would take advantage of and abuse children in any way, and warns child abusers of being thrown into the fire of Hell!

So, how are children being abused and exploited today?

1) Human sex trafficking (slavery)!

This has been going on since the beginning of time, but now worldwide sex trafficking of women and children has reached record numbers! This is second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable business in the world, and may soon overtake that. Recently the movie “Sound of Freedom” came out about a true story of a government agent who quit his job to rescue kids from sex trafficking in South America. I hope that all adults agree this is evil incarnate, but strangely many politicians and media downplayed the movie! Why? Even they know this is evil, some are involved in this sexual abuse and others are making big profits from this business. As in any generation, lust, money, and power speak louder than decency and morality!

If you want to support this fight, check out Operation Underground Railroad, the organization that grew from this story to fight human trafficking!

2) Sexuality and gender confusion forced on children!

This is derived from some in the current LGBT movement, and the “Trans” part of that movement in particular. Now, whatever your view of this movement, it is important to understand that it began because many of these folks were being bullied both physically and emotionally for what they were going through. That should never happen to anyone, and followers of Jesus should be the first to protect any person from bullying! After all, ALL people are made in the image of God and of ultimate value to him. Jesus died to offer salvation from sin and redemption to all of us. (and we ALL need it!) Now laws have been passed to protect them from these attacks, and that is certainly just for anyone.

  The concern today is that the LGBT movement has now been combined with new gender theory studies in universities, high schools, and even elementary schools. These gender theory ideas say basically that there are many different genders and that people can discover their gender identity at any point in life, and that gender is fluid, so you can change genders as well. This contradicts traditional understanding of all of us being born either male or female, and having only those 2 sexes. ( For those who don’t know, that is also the Biblical concept on sex. God created us make and female in the Genesis story, and Jesus confirmed that in his teaching. And, there was no concept of “gender”.)

This new gender theory began primarily in the 1950’s with the Kinsey sex study, and then a professor named John Money who redefined the term gender to lead to all the new, confusing gender ideas we see happening today. Both of these men had very flawed, controversial research, and both were known to have experiments that were deviant in many ways and exploited children. Today, even the leading doctors and proponents of “gender affirmation” care admit that these ideas are very subjective and based on an individual’s feelings about themselves and their perceptions of who they are at this time. It is not based on biology or any objective science.

Now, as adults in a free, secular society, we are free to believe what we want about these things and make decisions for ourselves about what we want to do with our bodies and our lives. (and live with the consequences of our actions).  However, I hope most adults, of all backgrounds, can believe these ideas should NOT be forced on children! Parents, doctors, and counselors have known for centuries that children’s brains and discernment patterns don’t develop fully until they are somewhere in there 20’s generally. All parents understand their children, up through high school at least, are constantly changing how they feel about themselves and trying to figure out who they are. Sexuality is always one of the most puzzling things for kids to deal with, and even the best of parents tread lightly and carefully when discussing this with their children. I mean, most kids struggle with what they want to eat for dinner and what clothes they will wear tomorrow! Do we really want to make them responsible for life-altering decisions that could mutilate their bodies and change their future permanently?

The greatest danger to children today comes from a small radical activist part of the “trans” community that, in many people’s eyes, has become the bullies themselves, and perhaps the most powerful and intimidating lobby group in the country. They have successfully intimidated politicians, businesses, education, research, and the medical communities. Yes, gender dysphoria is a real condition where people feel uncomfortable and dislike being in their body and want to be the other sex. It used to be considered a mental disorder treated with therapy and counseling, and most children overcame those feelings after puberty and went on to live normal lives. Today, however, these trans radicals are pushing the use of body-altering drugs that block puberty, the use of drugs for chemical castration that are also given to pedophiles and rapists in prisons, and now “gender affirming” surgeries that lead to young girls having their healthy breasts removed, and boys being chemically and sometimes physically castrated. Doctors and researchers who disagree with these methods and fired or threated with losing their jobs and never getting hired in those fields again if they speak out. Young men and women who have already had these treatments and surgeries and have suffered terrible side effects are silenced and threatened if they tell their stories.

Perhaps the most insidious problem is in our public schools. Many, but not all, schools today are not only pushing the gender theory ideas and encouraging young children to question their sexuality, they are also encouraging children who feel they “may be” trans to consider taking puberty blockers and moving toward mutilating surgeries, often without the parents’ consent or knowledge. Every week the news covers stories where teachers are trained to, in some cases, openly lie to the parents about what is happening to their children! Some states have passed legislation even allowing the schools to take children for these controversial treatments without parental knowledge and consent. And in some cases where parents protest this happening to their children, they have been arrested for child abuse against their own children, and threatened with having their own child taken from them!

I don’t believe most teachers want to have anything to do with this whole confusing, manipulative movement! I was married to a wonderful teacher for 42 years, I have a son who is a teacher, and I know many, many wonderful teachers. I don’t think any of them want to take over a parent’s job of teaching their kids about the topic of sexuality and all the confusion every child will feel about this area.  But sadly, this is happening more and more, and teachers have to stand up and fight back against being used in this manipulative, and I think EVIL, movement to use a young generation of kids as their experimental guinea pigs. Too much is on the line! In 20 years, we may have tens of thousands of young people who have been drugged and mutilated, suffering terrible side effects and unable to live normal, healthy sexual lives. And if that’s the case, they will really be “pissed off” at those who did that to them, and those adults who allowed it to happen!

3) Because of the above movement, an unfair side effect today is that young girls are forced to compete in athletic events against boys who declare themselves as trans girls/women.

 Not only will the boys win most if not all of those events because of their physical advantage, but the girls are forced to share locker rooms with them and undress in front of them and be subjected to seeing the boys genitalia as well! And when college female athletes complained about this, they were told THEY were the problem and were “transphobic”, and were offered counseling to change their minds!

So, what can and what should we do?

Pray, and protect our children….

Pray for parents of all backgrounds to unite and take back the moral education of our children to the home and not the classroom or legislatures!

We already see this happening: a group called “Gays against Groomers” has teamed up with a group called “Mothers of Freedom” to protect their children. In another region, there was clergy from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other faiths coming together to resist this movement.

Pray for teachers! Most teachers, from all political backgrounds, are parents themselves and truly love their students and want a healthy future for them. Pray these teachers can resist this experimental sexual manipulation and instead work closely with parents to raise healthy, well-adjusted children!

There is a well-known Proverb (22:6) that says “Train up a child in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not depart from it”.

This was written to Hebrew parents implying first of all to raise them according to God’s teachings, but also recognizing that God has a unique path for each child and it was the parent’s responsibility to help the child recognize that future path and steer them into that future that God had planned for them!

Now, of course, Hebrew communities worked together to support the parents, but that was also under God’s direction and moral teachings. Parents need other parents’ support, as well as grandparents and good teachers, coaches, pastor, etc. But it was the parents who were given the ultimate responsibility for their children. Today, we often hear the secular proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. Well, maybe yes, but often no! We don’t want a village raising our kids when the village is run by village idiots!

Finally, (and I know this is a long blog…sorry!), we Christians should know we are not to hate those we disagree with on this or any other issue, and they are never our ultimate “enemy”!

Paul reminds us:

¹⁰  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.-  Ephesians 6:10-13 (ESV)

This is ultimately a spiritual battle, and our true enemy is Satan and his evil demons who always want to destroy us all! He is the author of confusion, deception, mistrust, and hatred, and we should never go there when thinking about those we disagree with in any situation!

Therefore, remember, we are ALL broken by sin, we are all misguided at times, and yet Jesus loves us all and died to offer us forgiveness and power to overcome that sin and see the wonderful future he offers to us all.

Pray for, speak out and protect children from any and all harmful situations…

Pray for those who you disagree with, that they might also turn to God for his healing, forgiveness and love as well!

I close with this prayer for you from Paul in Ephesians 3: 14-19

¹⁴  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)