This usually gets a chuckle, but its really not funny. Its true, and that makes it sad. Somewhere a shift in parenting has occurred. There was once a day when a child didn't dare speak to their parents disrespectfully, and now disrespect is the norm (especially from Christian students). I am still amazed when I watch a student disrespect their parent (right in front of me) and the parent just laughs it off. Many of the parents I have encountered in the last 10 years have become more focused on being "liked" by their child instead of being their child's parents. And this leads to all kinds of problems for a student pastor. When attempting to teach students the truth of God's word and bring accountability into their life, the parent wants to have a meeting so it can be explained why you are picking on their kid. And more often than not that meeting doesn't include the student pastor. It's much more common for a parent to "express their concerns" to the senior pastor or a board member. More time is being spent on justifying a student's improper behavior than dealing with the problem at hand.
When did a generation decide that parenting is about catering to kids and making excuses for them? Churches have spent billions of dollars in the area of children's and youth ministry in an effort to win this generation, but we have missed the mark. We should be investing our time and resources into equipping parents to do their job according to God's word. And for the record, Prov 22:6 (train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it) does not mean let the children's pastor or youth pastor fix your kid! It's the parents job to raise their child according to God's word. The children's and youth pastor are there to help.
And sometimes Prov 23:13-14 needs to be implemented. If parents don't start sucking it up and taking their responsibility seriously, we are going to produce the worst Christian generation ever. Let's break the cycle and use the FULL word of God in raising our children, not just the grace and mercy part.
Pastor Derek, that is such a true evaluation of our generation. Over the past generation there has been such a rapid decline in Christ Centered Homes. I call it The CCH. Why has America chosen to abandon the principles that we were founded on? How is it that teens today do not even know what truth really is? There are two books that I loved reading. Josh Mc Dowell's, "The Disconnected Generation" and "The Last Christian Generation". These two amazing easy to read books are full of fact filled information and founded on The Word of God. These books provide answers and suggestions on, what can we do about showing True Christianity to our Young people and what we (parents) are doing incorrectly.
ReplyDeleteI look it at this way. We the parents need to come "face to face" with Jesus Christ before we can expect our youth to do the same. Lead by example, provide the needed Christian morals to both our lives and theirs, and show them (young people) how to be Christlike. Today's world is a violent whirlwind of hardcore acts that this generation sees as a "No Big Deal" mentality. There is no remorse for sinning and society has given them all the justification needed to have no remorse and morals. A simple shrug of the shoulders and life goes on.
Derek, just a word of appreciation for giving yourself and your family to do God's work and to help reveal Christlikeness to our children. Love ya brother.
Chad Robbins
Music Minister
Connexion Church