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Someone I love believes Nietzsche’s statement: Religion is the opiate of the masses. I’ve been on both sides of this so I would like to unpack my interpretation of the statement.

To state the incredibly obvious, Nietzsche was condescending to Christians. They were stupid, easily-led fools who self-medicated their unthinking, worthless existence with the “opiate” that when they die everything will be made right. They don’t think enough to understand “science” and that evolution is fact, not just theory, and so there is no after-life. This is all you get, and you had better get it now while you can.

According to Nietzsche Christians are wasting their lives.

Now that I am a Christian I realize Nietzsche was reasoning out of ignorance. In frustration of not understanding Christians he condemned their behavior using human reasoning. Amazingly the Apostle Paul had the same reasoning as Nietzsche. “If this life is all there is, then we Christians are to be pitied above all people.” Without surrendering to Jesus, without knowing Him and His eternal power, without a relationship with him, you are not able to trust His guarantee of everything to come.

The someone I love lives for this world, what you can see, have, control. They are proud of their possessions and accomplishments. It is an attempt to create the appearance of value, hoping that others will be impressed and give them the value they long to have for themselves.

But they are already INFINITELY valuable. Just the way they are.

Jesus, the one they don’t trust because he could have stopped all the pain they have endured, is the only one that truly loves them and proved it by suffering to pay for all their sins; offering forever life with him and offering meaning for all the pain they have endured, so they can know the joy of loving and helping others who have been hurt as they have.

Thousands of years ago God taught us through Moses to teach our kids through daily life.  How can we do that today?

Get them hooked on VeggieTales and sing with your kids to a closer relationship with Jesus. And the best part is, VeggieTales is for “grown-ups” too! (Also, AutoBgood, 3-2-1 Penguins, Adventures in Odyssey…).

When they lose a toy ask them to pray with you, that Jesus would find it and show you where it is. Ask them if Jesus is going to bring the toy to you or whether he wants you to go to the toy. (Use birds and worms as an example… God feeds them, but they have to go out and work for the worm). Let your kids loose to learn Jesus is reliable. I encouraged but did not help my kids look. “My development” was not “helping” Jesus. I had to risk “Jesus failing” and what that would do to my relationship with him.   In twenty years we have lost many things… and only not found less than 5 of those things we prayed to find.

One time my kids lost a toy truck… Mater… in the lake 50 feet from shore. They yelled to me that they lost Mater and looked everywhere and can’t find it and should we Pray? I have never found ANYTHING I’ve dropped in a lake if I couldn’t see it immediately. With a dozen people I didn’t know near us on shore I yelled, “Dear Jesus, please find Mater.” My son’s next step landed on Mater.

When your mower or snowblower won’t start ask your kids to come over and pray with you that Jesus would start your machine. (if you know your machine takes 4 pulls to start, don’t pull 3 times and call your kids to pray. This is for when you have tried everything you know and it won’t start.) More than once it would start the next 1/2 pull.  My pulling hand would fly back to me away from the engine…  But spectacular or not it ALWAYS eventually started.  (Yes, I know about flooding an engine and it draining and starting, remember, if you DON’T think it will start then call your kids to pray and watch God work).

We started doing this twenty years ago.. YOU MAY HAVE BETTER OPTIONS NOW!… Go out and use them!

In the comments tell me how you have taught your kids about the reality of Jesus in our lives: