I do too much, just sayin'... Maybe its some sort of dissatisfaction with what I currently do, or maybe its a healthy curiosity/interest in many different things...blogging just being the latest. Which ever, it doesn't really matter. I only say that to set up this little story and corresponding thought, and to let you know about my day job.
During the day I put on a uniform and work at an apartment community as a maintenance technician. It's a pretty good day job with plenty of opportunities to let thoughts role over in my mind, even small moments of silence and solitude. It has also been a place to observe many instances of natural wisdom, as hopefully you'll see in my story...
One day I was walking through some freshly vacated apartments with my supervisor, trying to determine what damages we would have to repair and charge back to the previous occupants. FYI, you're not getting your deposit back.
We have a pretty good sized property, almost 300 units and several man made lakes, and with the lakes...geese. Not ducks, I love a good duck, but federally protect, grass munching, sidewalk pooping, car stopping, hissing jerks called geese. The biblical word for geese is arrogant. Can't stand them, they just make a mess and you really can't do anything about them.
So walking from unit to unit, my manager and I came across two geese with their freshly hatched offspring; four or five cute, fuzzy little yellow hatch-lings. Too which my managers says "Oh, how cute!" And I reply "Yeah, but they're going to grow up to be jerks."
And they will, and now, some scriptures make more sense to me now. Like Proverbs 22:6 ESV "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Now I know proverbs is a pretty straight forward book, and for the most part we all get it, but seeing something simple, like baby geese, just seared it into my brain. I, as a parent, will shape my children, if not careful, they will become as stiff-necked prideful and arrogant as the baby geese will one day.
Again, in general, we get this, but I don't want my kids to be geese, and here's what I mean. Geese have more in common in size and shape with a swan, and bird that is known for beauty and grace. Geese are bigger and more imposing with greater advantages over let's say a small mallard. I know this is weird, but in humans terms, this is what we are all about. Appearance, posture, advantage, whatever we believe gives us more control.
Most of us don't care, we think that these things may in fact be good values to put into our children, "survival of the fittest" or whatever. To the Christian, however, this should raise caution in our hearts, and sadly I don't think it does for most of us.
The main danger in living your life as an example for your children is that they will copy it, and most Christian parents are only concerned, like geese, with the appearance or advantages that Jesus can give their children. This doesn't work. In the long run, externally based salvation will only make your children pharisees, who Jesus didn't play well with, and they will, in the end, look nothing like Jesus in any practical way in their lives.
Now I understand wanting your kids to have all the best advantages in life, and we as parents should seek those advantages for them. To make sure they are cared for, and that we are good stewards in our time that God gives us with them. Remember this, whatever you add to your child's life is not the point.
We can hope that, and pray for, our provision stirs in them affection for Christ, and that while that affection grows, that practical measures are put in place to help them become well disciplined adults. The caution is, if you place all the value of a child's life into the things of their life and not the source of their life. That when Christ calls them to lay those lives down, they will have learned to value that life more than Christ himself.
Assuming that your kids will "get it" just by being around it, is like playing Russian Roulette with their souls, and even if your intentions are pure, it puts the emphasis on the provision, not the provider. "Well we went to a good church, spent time with good families etc." All of which is good, but external, this is not the same as living intentionally with your children.
Jesus never had children, some who are stupid disagree, but we can pull from him nevertheless by his interactions with his disciples. Oddly enough, he even refereed to them as children from time to time. We see the disciples partaking in all of the right activities, the equivalence of church functions and trips today, but I guarantee that the moments that impacted the conforming of the disciples the most, were the times spent alone with him. If you don't agree read the story of Peter and Jesus' fireside chat after Peter betrayed Christ at his death. Intense to say the least, and if you don't think that moment shaped Peter for the rest of his life, well I don't really understand why you read this blog.
In these moments we see the disciples at their most flawed, we see Jesus at his most raw, yet still so very gracious. In the garden preceding his death we see Jesus praying earnestly for his children. It's amazing, read those private moments, study and pray, see how Jesus corrects, guides, encourages, rebukes but loves them all at the same time. Then ask how does this shape how I live with, correct, rebuke, encourage, guide and love my children?
Ultimately it comes down to the Gospel and to Grace. How molded you are by the Gospel, encouraging yourself and your spouse daily in the truth of Jesus Christ, will ultimately shape how Gracious of a parent you are, even in times of discipline. One easy measure to tell how deep the Gospel has rooted itself in your life is to observe how much time do you spend as a family confessing and repenting together? That includes you owning up to your flaws as well. That is one super huge and practical step to training a child towards genuine faith as opposed to making little pharisees. In fact, pharisees didn't like repenting that much, so repentance actively combats our tendency to drift towards stiff-necked religious performance.
Its about your child's heart, thats what God wants from them, and you should pray for all the help of the Holy Spirit to help grow that heart in affection to Christ who will lead them to the Father.
So next time you see a geese think pharisee.
During the day I put on a uniform and work at an apartment community as a maintenance technician. It's a pretty good day job with plenty of opportunities to let thoughts role over in my mind, even small moments of silence and solitude. It has also been a place to observe many instances of natural wisdom, as hopefully you'll see in my story...
One day I was walking through some freshly vacated apartments with my supervisor, trying to determine what damages we would have to repair and charge back to the previous occupants. FYI, you're not getting your deposit back.
We have a pretty good sized property, almost 300 units and several man made lakes, and with the lakes...geese. Not ducks, I love a good duck, but federally protect, grass munching, sidewalk pooping, car stopping, hissing jerks called geese. The biblical word for geese is arrogant. Can't stand them, they just make a mess and you really can't do anything about them.
So walking from unit to unit, my manager and I came across two geese with their freshly hatched offspring; four or five cute, fuzzy little yellow hatch-lings. Too which my managers says "Oh, how cute!" And I reply "Yeah, but they're going to grow up to be jerks."
And they will, and now, some scriptures make more sense to me now. Like Proverbs 22:6 ESV "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Now I know proverbs is a pretty straight forward book, and for the most part we all get it, but seeing something simple, like baby geese, just seared it into my brain. I, as a parent, will shape my children, if not careful, they will become as stiff-necked prideful and arrogant as the baby geese will one day.
Again, in general, we get this, but I don't want my kids to be geese, and here's what I mean. Geese have more in common in size and shape with a swan, and bird that is known for beauty and grace. Geese are bigger and more imposing with greater advantages over let's say a small mallard. I know this is weird, but in humans terms, this is what we are all about. Appearance, posture, advantage, whatever we believe gives us more control.
Most of us don't care, we think that these things may in fact be good values to put into our children, "survival of the fittest" or whatever. To the Christian, however, this should raise caution in our hearts, and sadly I don't think it does for most of us.
The main danger in living your life as an example for your children is that they will copy it, and most Christian parents are only concerned, like geese, with the appearance or advantages that Jesus can give their children. This doesn't work. In the long run, externally based salvation will only make your children pharisees, who Jesus didn't play well with, and they will, in the end, look nothing like Jesus in any practical way in their lives.
Now I understand wanting your kids to have all the best advantages in life, and we as parents should seek those advantages for them. To make sure they are cared for, and that we are good stewards in our time that God gives us with them. Remember this, whatever you add to your child's life is not the point.
We can hope that, and pray for, our provision stirs in them affection for Christ, and that while that affection grows, that practical measures are put in place to help them become well disciplined adults. The caution is, if you place all the value of a child's life into the things of their life and not the source of their life. That when Christ calls them to lay those lives down, they will have learned to value that life more than Christ himself.
Assuming that your kids will "get it" just by being around it, is like playing Russian Roulette with their souls, and even if your intentions are pure, it puts the emphasis on the provision, not the provider. "Well we went to a good church, spent time with good families etc." All of which is good, but external, this is not the same as living intentionally with your children.
Jesus never had children, some who are stupid disagree, but we can pull from him nevertheless by his interactions with his disciples. Oddly enough, he even refereed to them as children from time to time. We see the disciples partaking in all of the right activities, the equivalence of church functions and trips today, but I guarantee that the moments that impacted the conforming of the disciples the most, were the times spent alone with him. If you don't agree read the story of Peter and Jesus' fireside chat after Peter betrayed Christ at his death. Intense to say the least, and if you don't think that moment shaped Peter for the rest of his life, well I don't really understand why you read this blog.
In these moments we see the disciples at their most flawed, we see Jesus at his most raw, yet still so very gracious. In the garden preceding his death we see Jesus praying earnestly for his children. It's amazing, read those private moments, study and pray, see how Jesus corrects, guides, encourages, rebukes but loves them all at the same time. Then ask how does this shape how I live with, correct, rebuke, encourage, guide and love my children?
Ultimately it comes down to the Gospel and to Grace. How molded you are by the Gospel, encouraging yourself and your spouse daily in the truth of Jesus Christ, will ultimately shape how Gracious of a parent you are, even in times of discipline. One easy measure to tell how deep the Gospel has rooted itself in your life is to observe how much time do you spend as a family confessing and repenting together? That includes you owning up to your flaws as well. That is one super huge and practical step to training a child towards genuine faith as opposed to making little pharisees. In fact, pharisees didn't like repenting that much, so repentance actively combats our tendency to drift towards stiff-necked religious performance.
Its about your child's heart, thats what God wants from them, and you should pray for all the help of the Holy Spirit to help grow that heart in affection to Christ who will lead them to the Father.
So next time you see a geese think pharisee.
No comments:
Post a Comment