The Tragedy of Syncretism - 2 Kings 17

I have been reflecting on 2 Kings 17 for about a week or two, and their are two verses that continue to jump out at me. The first is the final half of verse 15, "They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the Lord had forbidden them to." The second is the concluding verse of the chapter, "To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did."

These two verses, though seperated by the exiling of Israel and the Assyrian policy of resettling conquered lands are connected more deeply than we might care to believe. These verses expound the tragedy of syncretism, the tragedy of individuals, families and cultures that refuse to submit to God's ways, and ultimately God's Son. Everyone of us is hopelessly syncretistic, we try to meld the worship of God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, with our worship of the gods of the land: money, power, sex, beauty, success, violence, death...The tragedy of syncretism is that we can never be free, none of us are ever truly freed from syncretistic religion, even the Christian, we fight against our flesh until the day we die and unfortunately our children will inherit many of our idolatrous tendencies, but will they recognize these tendencies? Will they be trained to recognize then and stop them, or will they continue to do as we have done? This is the question I would like to focus on for the next few paragraphs.

How can we recognize the syncretism in our own life, make the necessary changes to break the cycles passed on to us? And how can we train our children to do the same?

1. It seems paramount that if we are to recognize our own unholy tendencies, we must cry out to Jesus. We must pray for the Lord to break us free from all those things that seek to hinder and hold us back. Paul asks for the Thessalonians to pray a beautiful prayer for him in 2 Thes 3:1-5. He wants them to pray that the gospel advances over his entire life and that the gospel is honored in his life. Pray that everything which hinders me will be defeated. Pray that God will control you so that your sins are not passed on, nor modeled to others. Such is the prayer every believer must pray for himself or herself, if sinful, destructive patterns are to submit to Christ. We must be intentional about setting our life before God and seeking and submitting to His Spirit.

2) Study the Word, devoting time to meditation on its meaning in for our life. Ask God to lead and guide you into all truth, being willing to tackle the hard parts of life.  This will inevitably lead to reflection on your life and the changes that the Word is requesting of us. 

3) Evaluate your usage of time and money. Asking yourself, (for those without children, insert nieces, nephews, children of the church whom you have made baptismal vows to…)

· “What patterns of time and money management and use have I inherited from my parents?”

· “Are these consistent with the Word of God or the society around me?”

· “What would it look like to use my time and money in a more Godly way?”

· “How can I intentionally pass on God’s values to my children or grandchildren in the ways I act?”

3) Be intentional as you reflect on what you are doing to indoctrinate your children/ grandchildren into the ways of God. I use the word “indoctrinate” very specifically and purposefully. Society is trying to indoctrinate them into a worldview, and you must indoctrinate your children into a Christian view.

· “Am I aware of what my children/grandchildren are being taught in school, on tv, at sports events/camps, etc.?” “Do I want this indoctrination as part of their life?”

· “How much time do I want to directly influence the input my children/grandchildren receive?”

· “How does that compare to what I am actual doing? What changes will I make to achieve these goals?”

· “How am I training my children/grandchildren in prayer? How am I training my children in service? How am I training my children in the Word?”

4) Make a list of the character qualities you desire your children/grandchildren to have when they are 18, 35, 50, 70 years old.

· “Are these distinctly Christian qualities, or are they the qualities of the world?” Change those that need to be changed.

· “How much of my life exhibits those qualities?”

5) Finally, pray over this list regularly for yourself and for them asking God to change us and give us the power to change where we need change. 

If this passage it to teach us anything, we must remember that our children will do as their parents have done – and this is the tragedy of syncretism that only God can change in our lives and the lives of those we love.  Be intentional about your life and reflect on what is being passed on to those whom you love.  God desires to break the cycle of syncretism and false worship.  When we openly and honest discuss these changes in our lives, when we tell our children why we are making changes in our living patterns, our decision making, our lifestyle, and show then where our previous life was incongruent with our new life, we are training our children to break the chains and the tragedy of syncretism.