This is probably another one of those posts where I verbally vomit up all of my thoughts. But what else is new?
My husband and I have a habit of reading a theology or Christian living book together in the evenings. Last night we finished John Piper's very short Just Risk It. I'll be honest, normally I am not a huge fan of Piper. He is a bit too emotive for me. But for all of that, he has a genuine desire to risk all for the sake of Christ. Of course, the context of most books like Just Risk It is missions of some sort. Local missions, third world missions, hard to reach places missions. But what if we applied it to the mission of parenting?
Like most parents, I went into motherhood ridiculously optimistic. At 22 with a newborn, I knew everything. At 38 with two teens and one pre-teen, I know nothing. It's funny how you seem to know less as you get older. Anyway, teenagers have a way of letting you know how little you know. They also have a way of reminding you how limited your influence on them is. Sometimes to the point of asking, "what is the point?!"
If there was one thing I wish someone had driven into me as a young mom who was pretty sure she was doing it all right, it would be that parenting is risky business. There is a risk that I am going to pour 18+ years into raising each of my children and they are going to choose to engage in destructive behavior. There is a risk that I will spend years pointing them to Christ (albeit in a fallen way) and they will choose to walk away from the faith. There is a risk that I will invest in them emotionally and they will choose to cut contact with me. So what is the point?
There wouldn't be much of a point if it weren't for God. The reason that parenting is worth the risk is that we have a Father who is good and has chosen a people for himself from before the foundations of the world and there is a good reason to hope that your children are among those. The reason that parenting is worth the risk is that we have a Savior who knows His own and His sheep always follow him. The reason that parenting is worth it is that the Spirit will move among the elect regardless of our parenting. The reason that parenting is worth it is that God is sovereign and we are not.
Just like a missionary goes into a risky situation to share the gospel not knowing whether he will be alive at the end of each day, much less succeed in converting anyone, we go into parenting not knowing what the outcome of our children will be.
Good parenting isn't what saves our children. God is. Safety in parenting is an illusion. Your "good" child could just as much be faking it as your "bad" child is wearing their heart on their sleeve. Your hope HAS to be in the goodness of God. Your hope HAS to be in the fact that the Judge of all the earth shall do right.
So let us parent our children to the glory of a God who delights to save, but let us also say with Samuel, " It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to him" and with Joshua, "let the LORD do that which is good in his sight" even where it concerns our children.
My husband and I have a habit of reading a theology or Christian living book together in the evenings. Last night we finished John Piper's very short Just Risk It. I'll be honest, normally I am not a huge fan of Piper. He is a bit too emotive for me. But for all of that, he has a genuine desire to risk all for the sake of Christ. Of course, the context of most books like Just Risk It is missions of some sort. Local missions, third world missions, hard to reach places missions. But what if we applied it to the mission of parenting?
Like most parents, I went into motherhood ridiculously optimistic. At 22 with a newborn, I knew everything. At 38 with two teens and one pre-teen, I know nothing. It's funny how you seem to know less as you get older. Anyway, teenagers have a way of letting you know how little you know. They also have a way of reminding you how limited your influence on them is. Sometimes to the point of asking, "what is the point?!"
If there was one thing I wish someone had driven into me as a young mom who was pretty sure she was doing it all right, it would be that parenting is risky business. There is a risk that I am going to pour 18+ years into raising each of my children and they are going to choose to engage in destructive behavior. There is a risk that I will spend years pointing them to Christ (albeit in a fallen way) and they will choose to walk away from the faith. There is a risk that I will invest in them emotionally and they will choose to cut contact with me. So what is the point?
There wouldn't be much of a point if it weren't for God. The reason that parenting is worth the risk is that we have a Father who is good and has chosen a people for himself from before the foundations of the world and there is a good reason to hope that your children are among those. The reason that parenting is worth the risk is that we have a Savior who knows His own and His sheep always follow him. The reason that parenting is worth it is that the Spirit will move among the elect regardless of our parenting. The reason that parenting is worth it is that God is sovereign and we are not.
Just like a missionary goes into a risky situation to share the gospel not knowing whether he will be alive at the end of each day, much less succeed in converting anyone, we go into parenting not knowing what the outcome of our children will be.
Good parenting isn't what saves our children. God is. Safety in parenting is an illusion. Your "good" child could just as much be faking it as your "bad" child is wearing their heart on their sleeve. Your hope HAS to be in the goodness of God. Your hope HAS to be in the fact that the Judge of all the earth shall do right.
So let us parent our children to the glory of a God who delights to save, but let us also say with Samuel, " It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to him" and with Joshua, "let the LORD do that which is good in his sight" even where it concerns our children.
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