Entry #8
This series was originally published on my socials in 2021. My beliefs and opinions have changed in some ways since then, but these words are still meaningful and relevant to who I am and what I believe today.
Parenting in light of Jesus instead of Religion is hard. It's an impossible balance I've wrestled with for 10 years.
In Matthew 22, the Pharisees and Sadducees are asking Jesus theological questions about the Law in an attempt to prove Him a heretic.
A lawyer amongst them poses one simple question: BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT’S THE MAIN THING?
And Jesus replies,
"‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is quoting the Shemah here, the cornerstone verse of the Old Testament found in Deuteronomy 6, and saying it is the foundation of everything. The whole law. Our whole lives.
Everything boils down to those two things: loving God and loving others.
Everything we do and believe and build our faith on should be filtered through that sieve.
The rest is fluff, the pulp that collects at the top, the excess nastiness we discard. It will not fulfill, complete, or sustain. In the subtle words of Paul in Philippians 3:8, “I consider it all garbage.”
I think Satan has pulled a fast one on us.
He’s convinced us that the main thing is this blinding pursuit of a righteous, chaste, sweet, Christian family.
And not only that, he’s convinced us that achieving that goal will satisfy us.
In Matthew 7:14 when Jesus says, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it,” he probably isn't referring to a white picketed gate and narrow brick-paved walkway leading up to a two-story modern farmhouse (which is almost exactly my home--I'm making fun of MYSELF).
It’s in this bubble we raise our children, protecting them from all the outsiders, the no-gooders, the “least of these.” Shielding them from the destitute, the addicted, the desperate. Surrounding them with “Christian” people. Listening to “Christian” music. Sending them to “Christian” camps.
And then expecting them in eighteen years to have seen God and know God in real, tangible ways.
But in reality, they just know a lot ABOUT him. It’s hard to develop a faith in something you never need, much less encounter. Someone you learn about, but never experience.
We shelter them and protect them because we are so fearful of all the bad. But what happens when our fear of the bad is greater than our faith in the Good? We strip our kids of the opportunity to see God.
They've never experienced the ADVENTURE of following Christ, just the rules.
What if producing a Good Christian Family (GCF, since we millennials love a good acronym) was not my primary goal but spreading the gospel through radical love by passionately seeking justice for the oppressed, sacrificially caring for hurting people, and shamelessly embracing those shoved to the margins was?
What if our kids saw that? What if they participated in that?
Rather than shallow, rule-abiding, religious robots, would authentically seeking, authentically humble, Christ-pursuing children be a byproduct?
Would our children see the way we lived and think, “THIS. This is good stuff. This is a good God. This is something I want to be a part of.”
I'm still trying to figure out what this looks like for our family. It starts with making sure they approach every kid at school with empathy, not judgment.
Would love some input from you guys -- I have a feeling so many of you would have some incredible thoughts on this.
