Modernism/Liberalism

You might wonder why I occasionally include something to do with the media, politics, or popular beliefs, when addressing the subject of homemaking. It is unfortunate that the homemaker can't be left in peace by these influential powers. As I see more and more influence being exerted on to the role of the homemaker from the modernist or liberal forces, I find it necessary to address them. When I say "modernist" I am not referring to these current times, as much as I am to a set of beliefs called "Modernism" which had its beginnings in the late 1800's and dominated the thinking of 20th century citizens.

Modernism, as a religion, is the same as Liberalism, and it is the belief that the Bible is too archaic to address the problems of modern man. Therefore, they say, man must be ruled by his own reasoning to find truth. The problem with this, is that once people reject the wisdom and example of the Bible in order to live right, and determine their own destiny by their own reasoning, they are ultimately going to be ruled by something else. While they imagine they are ruling themselves, if they reject the ultimate ruler, God himself, through his will, the Bible, they will become slaves to other rulers. Groups like the media, friends, false religions and government, will soon have people in their grasp. When people do not live by these eternal laws laid forth in the scriptures, they look like they are "up for grabs" and some other influence will snatch them away. We find people everywhere believing all the things that the news media spreads, and living accordingly.

For example, in the 70's the news media made several broadcasts reporting the state of the income of the average family, claiming that women no longer had the luxury of staying home and taking care of the family. They reasoned that the cost of living--the cost of the house, plus the automobile, and other things--was too high for a one income family, and that the women would have to go to work if the family was going to "make it." Many men came home to their wives after listening to such broadcasts on their way from work, and reported the "crisis" to them, putting pressure on them to find work or a second income source. Even our own mothers and grandmothers seemed to have no good way to refute this.

When the word "finance" or "income" comes into a report, it sounds very "official" and believable. Many women never stopped to think how their parents and grandparents "made it" on one income, and even a small income at that. They assumed it simply was not possible anymore because after all, times have changed. Their parents didn't have loans, mortgages, student loans or car payments. They reasoned that it was "impossible" to get a car or a house without getting into debt and having to make high monthly payments.

Fearing they would not have the security of a house, furnishings, clothing, and cars, many women went to work. In the end, the nation lost something very precious: the solid families, loyal to each other and to their country, that so characterised our nation in the past. Certainly you'll see many new houses with fine cars parked in front of them, but at what prices? And what price would you pay to have these things? Would you leave the children in the care of others in order to go to work to pay for these things? What would you trade your family for? Time spent away from them is time wasted. You can never bring back the childhoods that are so fleeting and fragile.

We are innundated with magazines showing the "ideal home" and kept quite anxious and discontent trying to keep up with a current trend. Instead of being concerned about making the home a safe haven away from the influence of the world, where all members have the same goal of pleasing God and doing good, families sometimes make materialistic priorities in the home. The perfect furniture and the new rug will not make a solid, God-fearing family. The only thing that will accomplish this, is the family spending much, much time together in the home, learning good values.

Over the years, our family has kept track of some of the families that used to question our sanity when it came to church, home schooling, mother at home, and so forth. Every single one of them who thought we had just gotten "too extreme" has sufferred terrible results in their families. Divorce, troubled adult children, adult children in prison and other state correction facilities, and many other sad experiences have befallen these people. When people reject the old, tried and true ways of family life, the world senses that they are floating without an anchor, and offers them all kinds of substitutes that seem bright and pleasant, but in the end are the wrong paths.

We've seen several families who thought having something was the best route to go, and that both parents working outside the home would be a way to teach their children the value of work. These children were "put out to pasture," a common expresson in the south, as they spent many hours away from their parents. Hard work doesn't necessarily mean working away from home for an employer and a paycheck. Children whose parents both work will not necessarily pick up the habit of hard work. It is a lesson that must be taught by example in the home, hour by hour and day by day. The mother is an essential and irreplaceable factor in this equation.

If you are working, let me suggest that you trust that God would not have told women to "guide the home" and at the same time making it impossible to do. The Bible is a guide for any era. It works now, just as it did in the past. Modernists claim that that "system" of mother being the guard of the home no longer "works," but there is an old saying worth memorizing: If you will work the Plan, the Plan will work. This naturally involves faith and trust, but any plan involves faith and trust. We can either trust in man's plan (modernism/liberalism) or go back to God's tried and true plan. Look at the results of both lifestyles and compare them. Look at the marriages, and the lives of the children. There you'll find your answers as to which plan works and which does not.