A friend of mine posted a great little story on Facebook the other day and I thought I’d share it with you. He couldn’t remember where he first read it, so if it was in your book… I’m not stealing your work. I’d be happy to give credit where credit is due. My friend wrote:
I can’t remember what book it was in, but some time ago my wife and I read about this man having a teachable momment with his kids.
His kids wanted to go see a movie with some friends of theirs and tried to persuade him to give them the ok. “It’s a good movie, Dad” they said. “It’s rated PG and only has a couple of swear words in it.” Dad contemplated in silence for a momment before saying: “I’ll let you go to the movie, but before you go, you have to let me bake some brownies for you and you each have to eat one.” Naturally, their faces lit with excitement. “Wow, Dad, you’re the greatest” they all agreed.
So Dad buzzed about the kitchen and whipped up a batch of brownies. When he’d finished, he called out to the kids and they all came running in anticipation of their mouthwatering treat. “Now before you take a bite,” said Dad, “there’s a small catch: When I mixed up the batter for the brownies, I added in a little bit of cat poop from the litter box. But it’s just a little bit and won’t hurt you if you eat it so go ahead.” All the kids were overcome with shock and disgust as Dad explained. “You see, kids, the movie may look like a real good movie and may even be enjoyable. But having just a little bit of swearing in it is like having just a little bit of cat poop in your brownies. It looks fine and exciting on the outside, but in the end it will put something ugly and distasteful inside of you.”
Like if you agree with raising children in purity.
Well, when you put it THAT way, yeah, purity is better than cat poop brownies any day. As a former youth pastor’s wife, I love a good illustration. I have at least a dozen illustrations about purity, but I hadn’t heard that one yet.
The little things can have a powerful influence! A little yeast works it’s way through the whole loaf. (see Matthew 13:33) Teaching our kids to “draw the line” a good, far distance from the edge of disaster is never a wasted effort. We are super careful about what movies we watch, what books our kids read, who they hang out with, and what they put before their eyes. (We also don’t allow them to eat any poop.) You know, it’s the little things that define a character.
Monkeys in My Bag 