Tag: children

Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation

The righteous who walks in his integrity - blessed are his children after him. Proverbs 20:7

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 KINGS 20

POETRY: PROVERBS 20

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 4

I have had a few different titles and roles in my life, pastor, reverend, spiritual director, chaplain, doctor.  Of all of them, the one that I am most proud is Dad/Papa/Grandpa.  If you do not know me from Adam, I have eleven children, six sons/daughters in law, and fifteen, soon to be sixteen grandchildren.  Along with my wife Karen who I talked about earlier this week, these are my greatest loves and joys on this whole earth.  One of Proverbs we looked at earlier this week included the following: “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” (Proverbs 17:6).  This speaks of the importance of our families to our lives.

In today’s Proverb, I want to look at verse 7, which also speaks of the importance of family: “The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!” (Proverbs 20:7).  Growing up in the United States I have been exposed to important words like freedom.  As a person who has spent the majority of my life in more conservative institutions I have been surrounded by ideas of “rugged individualism.”  Since the emergence of neoliberalism in the 1970’s there has been this ongoing emphasis of personal responsibility.  I grew up when the threat of Communist expansion was at a high point.  Being surrounded by that cultural mindset it is easy to drift over into hyper-individualism.  But is this what the Bible teaches?

There is a sense in which ultimately we are all responsible for the decisions that we make in life.  If I make the decision to sin, I am the one who is answerable to God for my sin.  I can’t say “it was my parents’ fault” or “it was my wife’s fault”.  If you go back to the beginning of the Bible and the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, you can see how quick everyone was to try to shift the blame onto someone else.  Adam famously tried to blame Eve, (or was he really blaming God?)  “This woman that you made, she gave me the fruit”.  The woman in turn blamed the serpent.  God was having none of it.

A clear spiritual principle of the Bible is- each individual is accountable for their sins.  Ezekiel 18:19-20 spells it out in very clear terms:  “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

You could have the most wonderful, godly, spiritual parents in the world, but you do not automatically get to ride their coattails into the Kingdom of God.  Once you reach a place of accountability, you alone are responsible for your commitment to follow Jesus Christ, or not.  There are no legacy Christians.  At the opposite extreme, you might have had the worst parents in all the world and suffered abuse or deprivation, maybe they never taught you about God or brought you to Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.  You are still responsible when you grow to maturity.  There are many people who came from terrible childhoods with not good parental spiritual support who meet Jesus Christ and allow him to transform their lives.  From a spiritual/legal accountability standpoint, you are ultimately responsible for your sins and accepting Jesus Christ and following him.

Having said all of that, let me also say that we do NOT live only for ourselves.  All of my children are now adults and they are accountable to God, but as a parent, I am accountable to God for how I parent my children.  This was a clear principle give to God’s people, Israel from a very early time. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  Parents are instructed by God to diligently instruct their children in the teachings of God. 

 It became fashionable in the 1960’s in America for parents to say “I’m not going to impose my religious faith and values on my children.  I’ll let them decide for themselves.”  That is one of the stupidest ideas in the history of ideas.  The world is constantly trying to impose its values on children.  It begins with some of the baby books designed to be read to babies and toddlers, children’s television shows, childhood education in schools, social media, the music and entertainment industry, advertising, their peers etc…Everyone tries to impose their values on children, especially those who try to tell parents not to impose their values on children.  God says to parents, you have got to start indoctrinating (aka teaching good doctrine to) your children with God’s teaching from the time they are small.  Talk about God and God’s teachings to your children all day long.

I’m writing to some of you who are now or soon expect to be parents, and even for you younger ones, file this away so that if you do become a parent you will remember it.  How you live your life and how faithfully you teach your children will have a major influence on them.  Proverbs 22:6 says that we should “train up a child in the way he (she) should go”.  Should is a word that contains judgment.  You need to decide what is right and wrong in God’s word and you need to train your child to adopt those same values.  There is no 100% guarantee that you will be successful and that your children will choose to follow your training and God’s Word when they grow up, but you can do all that is in your power to set them up for success.

I was blessed with a mother and father who loved God, brought me to Church throughout my childhood, practiced prayer in the home and demonstrated their faith in God and taught me to do the same.  Were they perfect?  No, no parent is.  But they helped to prepare me to choose to live a life of faith as an adult.  Did I have failures and setbacks in living as a follower of Jesus.  Absolutely.  I am 100% responsible for my sinful choices both as a teenager and now as a 60-year-old man.  But I have been the blessed recipient of having had parents of faith.  I have tried to pass along those benefits to my children.  Was I a perfect Dad?  Are you kidding?  I have eleven eyewitnesses who could tell you stories about some of the stupid and sinful stuff that their dad has done. (Good thing they have a really good mom).  And yet, I hope that I was able to teach and model faith to my children diligently, and continue to try to live out my faith today (I think I’ve gotten a little better at figuring out how to be a good dad as I’ve gotten older).  Now, some of them are parents and having to navigate the same thing in their lives.  Now they are responsible for how they parent their children.  

Sorry, but when you stand before the Lord, you can’t blame your parents for your sinful choices, you are responsible.  You are also responsible for how you parent any children God gives you, and you can help to better set them up for spiritual success by teaching them diligently God’s Word, until the time that they themselves are accountable to God.  Faith is learned and lived in a community.  We are responsible for how we live it in our families, in our churches, and in our world.

~ Jeff Fletcher

QUESTIONS:

  1. How have your parents influenced you to follow (or not follow) God?
  2. What values do you want to pass on to your current or future children?
  3. What responsibility do parents have to pass on their faith to their children?
  4. How can you prepare yourself to pass on this faith well to the next generation?
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The Path to Life

Tuesday – May 25, 2021

1 Kings 1-2, Acts 22

1 Kings opens up with David’s final moments. His health begins to decline as turmoil grows in his kingdom. David’s sons had a history of defiance and wrongdoing, culminating in the story of Absalom’s revolt described in 2 Samuel 15. Absalom dies, and David mourns for him. In 1 Kings, we meet another of David’s sons, the next in line after Absalom – Adonijah. Adonijah is the heir apparent, the oldest surviving son. He begins to exalt himself in 1 Kings 1:5, saying “I will be king!” This Lion King-esque refrain has a darker tone to it. Adonijah was never truly promised the throne, and at the time he was saying this, his father was still alive. Instead of waiting for a peaceful transition of power, Adonijah seizes the moment of David’s weak health and begins amassing forces to take the kingdom by force. Adonijah’s greed for power leads to sin and death, as the revolt eventually spirals into his own demise. 

Adonijah walked down the path of foolishness. His rash actions were compounded by sinfulness and a total disregard for the law. He had to pay for all of his actions. But, in verse 6, there is an interesting statement: “But his father had never once reprimanded him by saying “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah did not commit these actions in a vacuum; he had a family, court, and religious leaders surrounding him. Who was speaking wisdom into Adonijah’s life? Encouraging him to make wise choices and reminding him of Absalom’s life – and what might happen if he doesn’t show patience in his potential ascension to the throne? David ‘never once reprimanded’ Adonijah, calling into question his wrong behavior. Instead, he allowed Adonijah to do what was right in his eyes. In doing so, Adonijah eventually walked towards his own death. David needed to provide guidance and discipline for Adonijah, and because of his refusal to do so, Adonijah caused turmoil and pain to himself and others. 

Discipline can seem like a scary thing. It’s definitely one of my least favorite parts of being a teacher. It’s complicated and sometimes painful to discipline others and be disciplined ourselves. But, discipline is a crucial part of being a disciple of Jesus. Hebrews 12:10-11 says, “10 [Our parents] disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Discipline is such an important part of our sanctification. Essentially, discipline is the way that we call each other back to the way of righteousness and holiness. And, it’s the way that God calls us back to him. 

How have you experienced God’s discipline in your life – through his hand or those of your parents or church leaders? Remember, discipline can keep us from becoming an Adonijah, someone with no guardrails or guidelines for the right, wise way to live. Let’s pursue a righteous life together. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading at Biblegateway.com: Job 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2 .

download the seekgrowlove 2021 Bible reading plan

He’s Serious

Matthew 18-20

matt 18

Wednesday, May 3

I think most people think of Jesus as a mild-mannered, humble, loving person.  They believe he is full of mercy and mostly thinks kind thoughts about people.  I think all of these things are true about Jesus, but there is another side to Jesus that I think many overlook.  He can get really ticked off, especially when it comes to sin.  He hates sin!  In Matthew 18 alone he has this to say:

  • If anyone causes a child who believes in him to stumble, it would be better for them to have a heavy millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the sea.
  • If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, it is better to cut it off than to be cast into the eternal fire.
  • If your eye causes you to stumble, it is better to pluck it out.
  • If a brother sins, go and reprove him. If he doesn’t listen take one or two more with you to talk to him.  If he still doesn’t listen, tell the whole church.
  • He told a parable about a man who would not forgive a debt so the master was so angry that he handed him over to torturers until he would pay the debt. He then said his Father will do the same to you if you don’t forgive your brother.

Millstones around necks to drown people, cutting off hands and feet, plucking out eyes, telling the whole church that someone refuses to stop sinning, and handing people over to torturers if they don’t forgive tells me one thing.  He’s serious!  He’s not messing around.  Sin really makes him upset.  So my advice to you is:  Don’t sin.

I chose to write devotions for the book of Matthew because I knew it would be easy to find something to write about.  Matthew is loaded with nuggets to help you in life, but that has become my challenge to narrow down what to write about.  I can’t pass up this little nugget in Matthew 19:9.  It is about a subject that there is much disagreement about, but I believe this verse should not be ignored.  Jesus said, “whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”  We can debate what is meant by immorality or if this applies to someone who doesn’t want a divorce, but it seems pretty clear to me that you shouldn’t divorce your spouse and get remarried, unless your spouse has committed immorality (likely sexual immorality).  I know some will say you can’t base the whole argument on a single verse and there is more to the story, but I would warn you that you better make sure this verse fits with your view on divorce and remarriage.

Another little nugget I want to mention has to do with children in the kingdom.  I have struggled to understand if children who are not baptized will be in the kingdom.  In fact, what happens to children who died at a young age, including those who were aborted?  What about the children who are young when Jesus returns?  Do they have a chance?  How will their salvation be decided?  I can’t say I have the answers to these questions, but Matthew 19:14 gives me some hope for their eternal wellbeing.  Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  It sounds to me like there will be some children making it into the kingdom.

I won’t spend a lot of time on my last nugget (I’m pretty sure I already lost Mackenzie), but it is such a key concept that it needs to be mentioned.  The last will be first, and the first will be last.  Similarly, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.  I am not going to spend a lot of time explaining this to you because it is so simple to understand.  Ditch the selfishness.  Start living for God and others.  Be honest with yourself and ask yourself this question, “Who am I living for?”

-Rick McClain

(Photo Credit: http://indulgy.com/post/znFZhGDqr2/matthew)

New Favorite Verse

Matthew 15-17

matthew-15-19-202

Tuesday, May 2

So…my daughter, Mackenzie, informed me that if my devotional is more than a few paragraphs long, it is likely she will not have the perseverance to read it all.  Therefore, I am going to need to jump right in to the part for my kids.  I always told my children that one of my favorite verses was Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”  But now looking at that verse a little more closely, I don’t think it has the same impact as the new verse I found.  Matthew 15:4 says, “For God said, “Honor your father and mother, and, he who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.””  I think this could have been more influential in their younger years.

In Matthew 15, the Pharisees were annoying Jesus as usual.  They said to Jesus (in a high-pitched whiny complaining voice), “your disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate.”  Jesus explained that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and gets pooped out (Rick’s Non-Standard Version).  Furthermore, the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile man (evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and slanders).  Therefore, you can try to control what comes out of your mouth, but a better idea is to “get your heart right” since that is where your words come from.  So how do you get your heart right?  The simple answer is to become unselfish.  I am convinced that every sin comes from selfishness.  We steal because we want something.  We lie to try to protect ourselves or get something we want.  We have sex outside of marriage because it feels good.  Go ahead; try to think of a sin that doesn’t have to do with our selfishness.

I am about to lose Mackenzie so I want to make this final point quickly.  Jesus summed this all up really well in Matthew 16:24-25.  He said that if you wish to come after him, you need to deny yourself and take up his cross and follow him.  He went on to say that whoever wishes to save their life shall lose it; but whoever loses their life for his sake shall find it.  You need to become unselfish if you want to save your life for an eternity.  You need to get your heart right and live your life for God and others, not yourself.  And to bring this full circle, if you get your heart right, good things will come out of your mouth about your parents and we won’t have to put you to death.

-Rick McClain