Danville Enlightener

VOL. VIII, No. 24

July 1, 2007

Keeping the Way of the Lord

I want to ask every dad who is reading this a question. Can God say of you what he said of Abraham in Gen 18:19? “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

We have long left the concept of patriarchal households. Households where the father took seriously his role of patriarch; where he not only provided for and protected his family but where he also led them in seeking God. Men today seem not to understand their roles, many are more preoccupied with “big boy toys,” recreation and materialism than in seeking to raise children to know the ways of God.

Frankly, our society may be teetering on the brink of disaster because the traditional family is crumbling beneath the weight of prosperity, materialism and worldliness; often at the behest of the father. This isn’t something just plaguing the “unchurched.” It is showing up with great frequency among Christians.

Children of preachers, elders, deacons and Bible teachers are growing up with minimal religious training. They are inundated with things, with secular opportunities (band, sports, jobs); they are expected to be at a ballgame even if they have a bad cold, but they can miss church services because of the sniffles.

Often we find fathers lowering the bar when it comes to Christianity. Instead of raising sons and daughters to be men and women of commitment, sacrifice, purity and piousness they conclude “job well done” if those children attend services on Sunday. Abraham was not content to have his children sacrifice “at the appointed times.” He was committed to having them “keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice.”

Fathers (and mothers) one day you will no longer wield influence over your children; at least not the kind you have while they are young. Your window of opportunity to get it right will close sooner rather than later. Here are two proposals that might help you.

•Make God the builder of your home. “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it,” (Psa 127:1). Homes today have family rooms, game rooms, home theaters and recreation rooms; there are Play Stations, Plasma TVs, TiVo’s and iPods. There are swimming pools, four-wheelers, dirt bikes, low rider bikes, pool tables, air hockey tables and ping pong tables. Yet the Bible is nowhere to be found.

A home being built by God is one where dad, like Joshua, proclaims: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD,” (Josh 24:15). This is a home where the Bible is read and obeyed; where Christ is a welcomed guest at all times; where Jesus is consulted before decisions are made, and where each crisis is handled with calmness and faith. A God built home is one where filthy words, movies, thoughts and behavior are nowhere around. One reason, I believe, there were “family conversions” in the first century (Acts 10:24, 48; Acts 16:15, 33; Acts 18:8) was because religion was so central to those families, beginning with the father and filtering down.

If God is truly builder of your home then both father and mother will be active and dedicated Christians. Those homes where there is only a nominal or ceremonial display of commitment will not long survive in this evil world and those children will never grow up to be committed. Those families where superficial service to Christ is the norm are NOT declaring, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

•Place emphasis upon the Spiritual and not the Physical. Jesus said: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” (Matt 4:4). Too many contemporary fathers have forgotten that they and their children are spiritual creatures and not merely physical, (Gen 1:26; Jas 3:9; Heb 12:9). This means that addressing the needs of the soul must take precedence over any other pursuit “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God,” (Psa 42:1-2). This is not being done when families choose school over church, homework over assemblies, sports functions over church services, weekend recreation over spiritual consecration. And it is not being done in those homes that emphasize greed. Materialism has captured the hearts of far too many professing believers. Many families seem to have forgotten what Jesus said in Lk 12:15, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” and verse 23, “Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.” Thus, when we flood ourselves and our children  with  things,  we  have  bought  into  the  notion that saying no to ourselves or

to our children will somehow harm the psyche. It won’t! When we feed every material impulse we are not insuring good spiritual or emotional health in our children, instead we are teaching them the importance of laying up treasures on earth, rather than in heaven. This is contrary to Christianity because Jesus said “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal,” (Matt 6:20). Morality and not materialism must be what defines our homes. Lot’s grand mistake was, “Lot chose for himself” according to Gen 13:11. Develop the right attitude about things. Learn that they serve you and that you do not serve them. Do not place an unhealthy emphasis on anything temporary. Some families are more concerned with a stain on the carpet or a scratch on the car than about a lost soul, even the soul of a child. Sadly, some dads emphasize financial success over spiritual success.

Fast forward to the time your small children have finished college or have married. What have they become? Oh, I haven’t in mind their secular profession (doctor, lawyer, artist, musician, etc), I mean spiritually. Do they have, like Timothy, genuine faith (2 Tim 1:5)? If so, then it likely will be because you, like Timothy’s mother and grandmother, have that same genuine (authentic, real, true, soul saving) faith.

-- jrb

 

"As I See It"

The other day someone at a store in read that a Methamphetamine Lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county, and he asked me a rhetorical question. “Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?” I replied: “I had a drug problem when I was young.”

I was DRUG to church on Sundays.

I was DRUG to church for weddings and for funerals.

I was DRUG to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was DRUG by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.

I was DRUG to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was DRUG to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

I was DRUG outside to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad’s fields.

I was DRUG to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have DRUG me back to the woodshed.

Those DRUGS are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say or think.

They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and if, today’s children had this kind of DRUG problem, America would be a better place.

Go bless those parents who DRUG us in these good ways. (COPIED)

AS I SEE IT, parents must understand that most of the time we will have to force children to do things they do not want to do, but in doing so we are training them.