BY REV PETER TURNBULL
D
THOO
N PARE
NAVIGATING N A I T S I R CH
A group set up by the Mission Board to look at support for Christian parents has commissioned the following article.
I
’m going to come right out and say it. If I hadn’t been asked to write this article, I’m
not sure I would have read it. “Hypocrite!” you may cry, and perhaps you are right. In my, admittedly limited, experience of articles on Christian parenting (see the point above), they seem mainly to be written by people whose children spend their Saturdays dancing barefoot across country meadows whilst reciting the three chapters of Scripture they have memorised that week, and never having a cross word for their siblings. Back in the real world, family life contains an abundance of chaos, many cross words, and huge piles of dirty washing which are only rivalled in size by growing mounds of guilt and regret that we, as parents, are getting it all wrong because we haven’t given little Johnny enough exposure to Scripture, sibling harmony, or barefoot meadow dancing (delete as appropriate). All of which is to say that I write this simply as a fellow struggler trying to navigate the difficulties of parenthood amid the complexities of a modern post-Christian culture. Here are four thoughts on the joy, responsibility, aim, and method of being a Christian Parent.
THE PARENT’S JOY
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This is an important place to begin. For all the struggles and challenges, children really are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127). I am preaching this to myself as one who often struggles to remember it. Kids are great fun and bring great joy.
THE RECORD
THE PARENT’S RESPONSIBILITY It’s important to remember that the education and training of our children is primarily our responsibility. Of course, many parents (this one included) choose to delegate a certain portion of this education to our schools. The Pandemic certainly taught many of us to value our teachers in a new light. However, in the Bible, children are not the responsibility of the state but of the family. It is parents who are ultimately responsible for bringing kids up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). And note the emphasis there — it is learning to know God that is paramount.
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FEBRUARY/MARCH
