WHERE IS THE POWER TO CHANGE?
The news over the last week or so has been dominated by the case of Jon Venables. There are many issues that have been raised about his case ranging from those who think he should never have been let out of prison, to the Children’s Commissioner saying that he should never have been prosecuted. There is one issue however that should claim our attention. While at Red Bank, a secure unit where Venables and Thomson were held, they received the best rehabilitation and psychiatric help. It was also said that relationships within the Venables family had greatly improved and they provided good support to him. After his release from prison on license he was given considerable support and help. But as this was reduced he clearly began to run into problems. We do not need to begin to question the quality and effectiveness of the rehabilitation and support he received. What we need to note is the fact that even the best treatment cannot, in the end, effect a change in a person’s personality and give a man the strength to cope with the pressures and temptations of life.
A second issue that has arisen is illustrated by the sad death of David Askew. Mr Askew was a man with learning difficulties who had suffered considerable harassment by local youths over a protracted period of time. Similar incidents have occurred in other places over recent years. Several years ago the Government introduced what has been called the ‘Respect’ agenda. At the heart of this programme are ASBOs (anti-social behaviour orders). The aim is to restrict the behaviour of offenders and so try to encourage more responsible thinking and conduct. But there have been considerable incidents where this approach has been found to be wanting in effectiveness. The problem is that the measures are meant to reduce the numbers of people being taken into prison and to modify behaviour by deterrent and some form of education. Again, it is found to be lacking in that innate power that is necessary to fully change behaviour and thinking.
At the heart of the thinking in the approaches being adopted in these two cases is a common view of human nature. The Children’s Commissioner expressed that by saying “None of us is born a good person or an evil person. The backgrounds from which we come, and whether we are nurtured and secure, will shape our character. The adults who role-model for us — or don’t — will change who we become, for better or worse. I’m far more a believer in nurture than nature.” This ‘blank-sheet’ view of human nature is foundational to the thinking that informs almost every policy and practice towards children in our society. So there is nothing to be changed in a child or young person who does wrong except the influences and environment around them. They become seen as victims and not responsible. Issues of parental discipline, school discipline and the exercise of authority all have to be built around the idea that in the end children and young people are not ultimately responsible for what they do.
There can be no doubt that family and social background, the influences children encounter and the role-models they follow all have powerful influences on attitudes and behaviour. But to completely exclude human nature and to suggest that children are not capable of being aware of right and wrong is to both ignore reality and normal experience, and to reject the testimony of God. Every parent is aware of how young a child can be when it first starts to show signs of temper or behave petulantly. Who hasn’t seen a child try it on and see how far he can push his parent with wrong behaviour? Even in the most balanced home with the best environment possible children are still naughty. It is endemic to human nature.
The fact is that man is a fallen creature. There is a principle of sin within every human heart. We do not do wrong merely because of the influences to which we are exposed, we do wrong because there is a bias within our very beings. That is why we need a power from outside of ourselves to enable us to seek after righteousness. The words of the Bible are solemn, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”1 That means that in our discipline and training of children we must retain an awareness that we are dealing with a defective mentality within every child and person we encounter. It is true of each of us as human beings.
It is the glory and significance of the Christian Gospel that there is a promise not only of forgiveness for sin and rebellion against God, but also there is a promise of change. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”2 When God works in a person and they come to faith in Christ what happens is that a new principle of thinking and behaving is implanted within the soul. It is only this supreme power of God that can effectively change people. That is why the need in our nation is the powerful preaching of the Gospel. That should be the very priority of the prayers of all God’s people. If it is not, it shows that the Church itself has declined to very sad levels.
The tragic events we see happening around us must surely remind us that we live in a fallen world. That realisation should drive Christians to prayer and seeking God. Our sad land is showing signs of its moral decline every day. We need to hear the cry going up to God. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down.”3
1 Romans 3v23
2 2 Corinthians 5v17
3 Isaiah 64v1