My Kid did What?!?!

When Christians and "church people" begin to view and confront sin the way we would a child who has gone astray, then maybe people will be able to hear us because we won't sound like a bunch of arrogant hotheads.

My son is only 3 so I know that I haven't been through the trials many parents have faced. But I also don't believe that if he comes home after a night of drinking, getting busted for drugs, with a pregnant girlfriend, or some other stupid, bonehead mistake that I'll stop loving him.

Yes I will be angry, upset, hurt, and pretty ticked off. But he will be able to sense the love that I still have (and the anger). I will do my best to communicate my love and concern for his well-being but also my disdain for the sin that he has committed.  I'm not saying that we tolerate this continued behavior either, I'm talking his first big screw-up.  A continued breach of trust and ignoring instruction is a whole other story.

I know it's easier said than done, but that is the kind of love, the kind of compassion, the kind of passion, the kind of instruction and care that it will take to get children, friends, or strangers to turn away from a life of sin.  Someone we care about either has been or is likely in one of these categories:  sexually immoral, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, thief, greedy, drunkard, reviler, or swindler (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

We can't just scream and yell sin away, it has to be removed by love and confession.  If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9).  If our children admit their mistakes, we forgive them and continue to love them.  Why can't we allow others that same grace and compassion for their past transgressions?  Hasn't God shown us grace and mercy for ours?  I believe this is the closest we can come to truly loving the sinner and hating the sin.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let Me Drive the Car

Back in the early 2000's when I was younger, wilder, and without a wife, mortgage, and a kid, I was really into cars.  No, not working on them, my brother Jordan got all those skills.  I was into buying and selling them, driving them, fixing them up, and keeping them clean.  I never had the fanciest car in town or anything like that (though I probably acted like I did). 

But during this time, my best friend had a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with all kinds of modifications on it.  The car looked amazing and could back it up with nearly 400 horsepower.  We regularly washed cars together, cruised together, and yes took pictures of our cars together so we knew each other's cars pretty well.  I had helped wash it, ridden in the back seat before, and even ridden shotgun. 

But one night, he asked if I wanted to drive.  And like any young guy who had only driven SUV's and Hondas at the time, I said yes and was in the driver's seat before he had a chance to change his mind.  There w…
Read more

Unsung Heroes

There are people who do things everyday that seem to go unnoticed.  They may be the ones who turn the lights and AC/heat on at work before you open, the ones who clean up after hours, the ones who get the call about an issue at midnight when everyone else is sleeping.  These people often prefer to remain nameless as they do their work because it's the right thing to do and not for someone else's praise.  They don't get their name in lights and often don't receive the recognition they deserve, but their impact is always felt.

In Exodus 1:15-22 there is a similar story.  The new king of Egypt has taken reign and greatly fears the Israelite people.  He has imposed strict manual labor and harsh conditions on them but their numbers continue to grow.  Out of an increasing fear for these people, he now plans to ramp up his attack against the people.  He orders the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah to kill the sons of the people but allow the daughters to live.  But the midwi…
Read more

Why do we go through storms?

It seems like for the past few weeks all we've heard about has been storms.  The United States has been hit hard by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and meteorologists are currently watching Jose to see what it's going to do.  These storms have caused many deaths and a tremendous amount of damage.  People have been glued to computers, phones, and the news to check on the both the anticipated track of these storms and the aftermath that they have left behind.  These storms are somewhat like our lives as it has been said that there are two kinds of people in this world; those in a storm, and those heading into a storm.

In Exodus 2:23-25, there was a group of people, the Israelites, who had been being oppressed by the Egyptian king for many days.  When he died, they groaned and cried out for help.  Their cry to help came up to God.  And He heard their groaning and remembered his promise to them.

Why were the Israelites, God's chosen people, being left to live in slavery for so lo…
Read more