Indoctrinate

<<instruct>>

This is the concentrated teaching of a set of beliefs (political or religious) given to another person with the aim they will reject any other beliefs. Because those subject to such instruction are not encouraged to question or examine such teaching, it is often termed brainwashing. By continual bombardment or giving a one-sided view of events even the mass media can be guilty of manipulating the thoughts and beliefs of their audience.

The early believers were commended for not just blindly accepting what was taught to them, for it is recorded they diligently searched the Scriptures to confirm it was the truth (Act 17:11). Similarly, today we should not be gullible and naively take on board all the viewpoints and allegedly Christian teaching we encounter as there are many false ideas circulated which are not in agreement with the Word of God – whatever we hear or read should be evaluated against this standard. Note: Bible teachers have a very responsible task to accurately portray the truth of Scripture and they will be held accountable for spreading wrong teaching (Jas 3:1).

Because they believe Christianity is the truth, Christian parents consider it their responsibility to instill their beliefs in their children and so may be viewed by some as indoctrinating them (Deut 6:7-9; Prov 22:6). They hold to the fact that the Scriptures are pivotal for teaching about God, sin and salvation and should form the foundation of a lifestyle that pleases God (2 Tim 3:16,17). Being firmly convinced

Do I faithfully model what I teach to my children?

this is the way, they do all within their power to ensure their children embrace their own vital relationship with Jesus for without salvation they will not enter heaven. Such an encounter cannot be forced but only shared through loving actions. Society generally has no qualms about imposing its godless values on impressionable minds so parents can’t remain neutral in such an essential matter (Deut 4:9, 31:13).