I’ve written here repeatedly about the importance and influence of the family. The media recently gave us a startling reminder of these truths. By now many of you have probably heard of the teen twin-sister singing group known as Prussian Blue. The recent online ABC News piece begins: “Fourteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede have two albums, music videos, a DVD and devoted fans. But unlike most other pop sensations, their fans are not your typical teeny boppers — they’re white nationalists.” Among the more mild things they have said, the girls have been quoted as saying:

“We’re proud of being white, we want to keep being white,” said Lynx. “We want our people to stay white. … We don’t want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race.”

You read that right. For those of you who have not heard of these girls yet, you probably soon will. They are putting a new spin on the “singing girl” sensation and using it as a propaganda tool to spread their message of white supremacy, racism and hate. Lynx and Lamb have been using their vocal talents as a platform since the age of nine. This brings up a seemingly unavoidable question. If they have been preaching a message of race hate for five years, where did they learn it? They are not old enough nor have they amassed enough life experience to become embittered by anything other than being taught such thinking at home.

Their father says that is exactly what’s happened. Their father says that his estranged wife, their twins’ mother has been filling the girls’ heads with hate since the day they were born. In defense, the mother has said:

“They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening, I’m going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would.”

The girls believe and proclaim that Hitler was a good man and have appeared in publicity photos with Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke. The girls’ father says: “”It’s just horrible, I want it to stop. I want them to not say ‘Heil Hitler.’” While it’s easy to decry the evils of racism, for Christians there is a deeper lesson in these facts: we possess tremendous influence over our children.

We must be clear and remember that we cannot ensure anyone’s salvation. We cannot talk anyone, not even our children into salvation; we cannot secure such things for anyone. However, with that being said, we can never minimize the importance of the home in the Christian life. We can never underestimate the truly high calling of parenthood. If two twin sisters are able to have such an impact for evil, think of the impact to be had if Christian parents truly appreciated the weight of parenthood. In fact, Scripture often adopts warfare imagery when referring to the raising of children. Consider Psalm 127:4-5:

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Though not using warfare imagery, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reiterates the extent to which we are to take the biblical training of our children:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As Jay Younts says, we are to make biblical instruction part of our “everyday talk.” We must understand what a privilege and what a responsibility it is to raise children and we must take the home seriously. Though I don’t want to denigrate our country without cause, having travelled to China and Africa last year, one of the things that struck me was how important other cultures consider family while Americans do nearly all they can to minimize family. We turn our children over to public schools as soon as possible, we farm them out to organized sports and we use television as a babysitter.

The facts of Prussian Blue serve as a stark reminder of what’s possible when parents take their influence seriously. Churches must equip parents and parents must step up. There is no greater ministry than the home and our children are the test of whether or not we believe this to be true.

• Read the ABC News story on Prussian Blue
• Visit the official Prussian Blue website
• Read “Everyday Talk” by John Younts
• Read “Thoughts on Family Worship” by J.W. Alexander

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