process of church building. The
family, as the foundation of the
church, is to be active in helping the next generation to see
the “goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living” (Psalms
27:13). Part of the responsibility of parents in this generation
is to prepare the responsible
adults for the next generation.
No longer can members live for
today with the idea that Jesus
is coming back to rescue them
from this miserable world, thus
having no responsibility for the
future.
Christians have and
always will have a responsibility
for the future generation.
The Lord wants His children to
keep all of His statutes that the
life of the believer might be prolonged as would the children’s.
Then it says, “Oh, Israel you
should listen and be careful to
do it. That it may be well with
you and that you may multiply
greatly just as the Lord the God
of your fathers has promised you
in a land flowing with milk and
honey.” What a wonderful promise from the Father.
Verse 4 says, “Hear Oh Israel,
the Lord is our God, the Lord is
one. And you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with
all your soul and with all your
might. These words which I am
commanding you today, shall
be in your heart. And you shall
teach them diligently to your
sons, to your daughters, and
shall talk of them when you sit
in your house, when you walk by
the way and when you lie down
and when you rise up. And you
shall bind them on as a sign on
your hand, and they shall be as
frontlets on your forehead and
you shall write them on the door-
post of your house and on your authority. Many adults who were
gates.”
raised in the fifties and sixties,
before all of the craziness of the
God’s intention is for the believer “Me” generation, had parents
is that they be fruitful in all areas that were very concerned about
of their lives, especially in family what others thought. They taught
life. To see this promise come to such things as not to walk across
pass, is to hear and understand somebody’s yard, not to touch
the Lord and His purposes, and somebody’s car, never to take
act on these purposes, espe- someone else’s possessions.
cially and primarily when the If a child of the 50’s and early
children are young. If the love of 60’s took something from a local
God is the central focus of one’s store, they were marched back
heart, soul, mind and strength, to the store, made to apologize,
and the love of neighbor as one- so as to set things right. Unforself, and if these principles are tunately, that is an era gone by.
taught to one’s children, the par- Beginning in the mid-sixties, the
ents will see from this sowing a parenting style changed, much
positive, abundant harvest. The of it influenced by Dr. Benjamin
teaching of these principles must Spock and the interpretation of
be repeated over and over and his writings. (Some of what he
over again to become a part of a wrote was actually quite good
child’s lifestyle. Essentially, what and most practical). To parachildren will learn and emulate phrase with prejudice his primary
comes from the themes that the philosophy, children were to be
parents act upon on a consistent seen as wonderful creatures,
basis, less by what a parent says by nature good. The belief was
than by what is demonstrated that to correct or punish a child
daily.
would damage their budding
self-image. Encouraged by this
As stated above, marriage is philosophy, and the guilt placed
the foundation for family life. upon parents who went against
God’s purpose is to indoctrinate the philosophy of the day, parHis people into His Word and ents allowed their children to
incorporate His principles and do whatever they wanted, with
concepts into their lives. With the assumption that they would
this indoctrination will come naturally grow to be wonderful
the ability or power to model to responsible adults. In the sevone’s children a Godly lifestyle. enties, with drugs, “do your own
Thus, they will learn the fear of thing” and “nobody can tell me
the Lord or the respect of God what to do”, the restraints were
and His authority, by seeing the removed and authority disresame principles acted out and garded. This has produced the
discussed by observation in the fruit of today’s parenting style,
parents. Of course, this is the and much of the disintegration
ideal, no one does it perfect; no of moral national values. Evanone ever will.
gelical churches have reacted to
the liberal, permissive parental
As a parent teaches by exam- style in an opposite direction. In
ple and word, children learn a reaction to the more permissive
balanced respect for legitimate philosophy of do not disciple