They’d be involved in HomeTeams, probably in the parking crew, or the usher’s ministry. They’d go on mission trips. The kids would be involved in youth activities.  WOW!  The ultimate culture. Here’s the question.  Is that what is happening in today’s world?  Is that what it looks like?  Is that what the family is dealing with?  Do you have all these entities highlighting and supporting those transcendent values?  Do you?  Are the structures really supporting the framework of the family?  Before I answer that question, let me give you a quick history lesson.

From the Roman Greco times until about the 18th Century, man looked outside of himself for truth.  Man looked outside of himself for values, for those transcendent truths.  Christians would look to the Old and New Testament.  Jews would look to the Old Testament.  Even those who didn’t follow Christ would look outside themselves for those transcendent values.  All this was going on.  All this was rolling. Until the 18th Century.

In the 18th Century you have something called the Enlightenment. And for the first time, watch this now, you have man looking not outside himself for the transcendent values, but inside himself.  There are three big dogs you need to understand who kind of came to the forefront during the Enlightenment.  Emanuel Kant.  Kant said it’s all about the mind.  Kant said, “Don’t look outside yourself. Forget those transcendent values, if there are any.  It’s in the mind.  You can do it.  It’s all right up here.” The next one was Russo.  Russo said, “It’s not the mind. It’s not outside yourself. It’s your heart.”  And Russo said this, “Every child is born with a perfect heart.”