I have a strong, and certainly not uncommon, desire for my child to be validated by the love of other people. Most parents want their son or daughter to be a lovable person, and it’s that desire that makes John 15:19 so important and so transformative when it comes to the way we prepare our children for the future. Christ tells His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” It’s not just John 15:19, either. There are many Scriptures that describe the adversarial relationship that God’s followers will have with those who are not believers.
Reading this, I realized that if God answers my prayer for my son to be a follower of Christ, people will hate him. People will absolutely, unquestionably be repulsed by my son.
Go read the full thing, it's well worth your time.
It's interesting how language and the framework of a conversation shapes the conclusions. It seems that the author's premise is that those who take a stand as a follower of Christ will be reviled. And, we as parents should revel in this.
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of argument, do you suppose if his son, imbued with the values imparted from his father, grew up to be a doctor that moved to Ethiopia and opened a clinic that provided daily health care to those in need that he would be reviled by that community?
If only raising children that were reviled by society because of how they label themselves were the goal, then send them to Westboro Sunday School. What if we told our children that what they TOLD others about what they believed was less important than what they SHOWED others.
Your kids don't have to be hated to show the love of God to people. Find a need and fill it. People will love you for it...or they won't, but it's the right thing to do.
I don't think we would necessarily revel in our kids being reviled, but in our kids being followers of Christ. Although I can't help but think of the apostles in Acts 6, who were arrested, beaten, and charged not to speak in the name of Jesus: "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." (Acts 6:41)
ReplyDeleteThis is about more than values or how we or our kids label themselves. Sure, in America right now, the sliver of persecution Christians face is typically for taking stands on things such as marriage or abortion. But to your argument - if the author's son grew up to be a doctor in Ethiopia, I'm sure he could have some good reputation. But if he were to make it known that the reason he was providing health care was because he had been eternally healed from his sin by the Great Physician, Jesus Christ? He would absolutely be reviled.
Christians have been facing persecution & death even in Ethiopia, where reportedly 60% of the people are Christians. (see here, including embedded links: http://www.persecution.com/public/restrictednations.aspx?country_ID=MTg%3d) And look at neighboring countries like Sudan, where 2 priests were just recently thrown in jail for baptizing a convert to Christianity. All over the world, people face persecution to the point of death just because they convert to Christianity. Not because they're standing up for marriage or innocent life. Just because they put their trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
I don't know why we play around with false dichotomies of speaking and doing. Yes, we are told to speak the truth in love. Our faith is to be a faith that works - serving those in need, sacrificing for others. But that is not ultimately done in silence. Christian doctors ought to provide the best health care that they can, and Christians in all walks of life ought to care for the needs of those around us, but if we give bread to the hungry without caring to point them to the Bread of Life (see John 6), then we're simply being moral people.
So yes, our kids don't have to be hated to show the love of God to people. But if we really believe the gospel, and let others know that Jesus is The Way, then sooner or later we will be hated by people. Because those who do not believe the gospel are in the same place that we were - enemies of God. But thanks be to God, who reconciled us, His enemies, to Himself through the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I think the reason that people 'play around with the dichotomies of speaking and doing' is because it's much easier to talk about doing things then to actually do them. People get instant feedback on inflammatory rhetoric. It's like talk radio syndrome. It's easy to take a hardline stance on something and to get someone to disagree with you. Get on a message board, blog, podcast or Jim Rome. You will find plenty of people who disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteI think modern day, Western Christians are lacking persecution so they substitute talk show style, left wing, right wing debating as their surrogate persecution. "There....*exhales* someone just called me a biggot or a homophobe. I've been persecuted for the week. Check!"
My doctor point was more implying that someone raised in the States would go to Ethiopia on a medical mission (I know 3 people who have done so in the last year). They spent their time treating leprosy, giving antibiotics, simple things that saved lives. If your going to get persecuted, let it be while doing something, not just saying something.
After all, we can't save anyone anyway right? Ask Michael Miesen :) It also comes down to when will people be receptive to your message. Generally after their basic needs have been met.