Meditations on God, His Word, and His World (under the grace found only because of Christ Crucified)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Drinking Beer and Reading Romans
Great article by Abraham Piper about his rebellion and God's grace to bring him home. Also, fantastic advice for believing parents of unbelieving children.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
You may want to check the link to the article. . . it's not working for me.c
As I read this article I couldn't help but think of students I know that have made a profession of faith in high school but when they get to college they turn their backs against their faith and begin to live a life of sin. So what is a parent to do when their child (now an adult) takes this path. Do they confront the sin in the life of their son/daughter and if they don't repent then follow Matthew 18:15-18? Or do they do as Abraham Piper suggests? In this situation, I lean towards tough love and church discipline as outlined in the Bible
Yes, if they are a member of a church, you certainly practice church discipline. I think the article assumes a parent/child relationship rather than a elder/member relationship.
what happens when that member of the church is a child of a parent (both members at the same church)? How is that parent to treat that child then? Matthew 18:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 5 speak of how a members as well as elders are to deal with another member caught in sin.
Personally I think if the wayward child is a member of the same church the parent is a member at, then it is the parents responsibility to confront their child of their sin and if no repentance is shown by the child then the parents has to go to an elder and if necessary to the church.
I realize this is hard when dealing with your own child, but I see no where in scripture where the parent is told to do otherwise.
In this situation I think the church did have to exercise discipline on Abraham. In fact, John Piper even prayed about whether or not he should step down (from what I understand). I think that a parent has responsibility over their children, but when they're an adult (or a member of the church) then the elders also have responsibility over their souls. Most of us do not like this because it is a very uncomfortable situation. The principles remain though, a parent responsible for their children and an elder responsible for their members. These are two drastically different scenarios with basically the same hope for an outcome.
Dallas sent me this article just this week. There were some things that I didn't agree with. I do think that we have a responsibility as parents to love our children and they should always know that they can come home. But there are rules. They need to see that the way of the transgresser is hard. THey should not be able to be under our roof and living however they please and we just say and do nothing. (He made the point that we shouldn't hound our kids or say anything if they come home smelling like pot)We have to show them grace and mercy yes, but enable them- NO.
If our kids choose to live a life of sin and rebellion there may come a time where we let them go and face the consequences of their sin. We will love them and seek them out and share Christ with them always- but not allow them to "come and go as they please" and recieve help from us if they choose a sinful lifestyle.
God does this sometimes with us. HE is a loving father.
I totally agree about the whole church discipline thing- I don't think it should be over children- young adult teenager maybe depending on circumstances. Someone brought up 1 Cor. 5- we just went through church discipline in our church with one of my family members- it is the most beautiful process I have ever seen in the life of our church. There is nothing harsh about it. It is the most God-honoring thing that we can do with a "so called brother" given into sin who is unrepentant. Keep in mind this process is long- Even if this person never repents and comes to Christ, which we hope and pray for- God was glorified and our local body was purified.
We still love this person and share the gospel with him- and show him as much grace and mercy as we can, but there are certain comforts that he doesn't recieve anymore- like coming and going however he pleases in whatever condition he pleases...and I think this is wise to have these rules...
on my part...it's gonna be working. even though i'm still single and have no experience in raising children but base on the experiences of those devoted parents whom i have witnessed who continually show love and care to their children not to the extent of the negligence of reminders and rebukes, but in a gentle manner with no people around. As you pray to God sincerely and persistently. Thank you for your article Abraham.
12 comments:
You may want to check the link to the article. . . it's not working for me.c
I just checked it and it seems to be working fine. Sorry you could not access it.
I got it to work. It was probably a poor connection on my end. Sorry for the earlier comment. Now I'm off to read the article.
As I read this article I couldn't help but think of students I know that have made a profession of faith in high school but when they get to college they turn their backs against their faith and begin to live a life of sin. So what is a parent to do when their child (now an adult) takes this path. Do they confront the sin in the life of their son/daughter and if they don't repent then follow Matthew 18:15-18? Or do they do as Abraham Piper suggests? In this situation, I lean towards tough love and church discipline as outlined in the Bible
Yes, if they are a member of a church, you certainly practice church discipline. I think the article assumes a parent/child relationship rather than a elder/member relationship.
what happens when that member of the church is a child of a parent (both members at the same church)? How is that parent to treat that child then? Matthew 18:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 5 speak of how a members as well as elders are to deal with another member caught in sin.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
I have heard of dads who were pastors having to practice church discipline on their children.
Another benefit of a plurality of elders!!!!
Tough subject. I liked the article a lot. Hard to do either way.
Personally I think if the wayward child is a member of the same church the parent is a member at, then it is the parents responsibility to confront their child of their sin and if no repentance is shown by the child then the parents has to go to an elder and if necessary to the church.
I realize this is hard when dealing with your own child, but I see no where in scripture where the parent is told to do otherwise.
I speak with experie
In this situation I think the church did have to exercise discipline on Abraham. In fact, John Piper even prayed about whether or not he should step down (from what I understand). I think that a parent has responsibility over their children, but when they're an adult (or a member of the church) then the elders also have responsibility over their souls. Most of us do not like this because it is a very uncomfortable situation. The principles remain though, a parent responsible for their children and an elder responsible for their members. These are two drastically different scenarios with basically the same hope for an outcome.
Dallas sent me this article just this week. There were some things that I didn't agree with. I do think that we have a responsibility as parents to love our children and they should always know that they can come home. But there are rules. They need to see that the way of the transgresser is hard. THey should not be able to be under our roof and living however they please and we just say and do nothing. (He made the point that we shouldn't hound our kids or say anything if they come home smelling like pot)We have to show them grace and mercy yes, but enable them- NO.
If our kids choose to live a life of sin and rebellion there may come a time where we let them go and face the consequences of their sin. We will love them and seek them out and share Christ with them always- but not allow them to "come and go as they please" and recieve help from us if they choose a sinful lifestyle.
God does this sometimes with us. HE is a loving father.
I totally agree about the whole church discipline thing- I don't think it should be over children- young adult teenager maybe depending on circumstances. Someone brought up 1 Cor. 5- we just went through church discipline in our church with one of my family members- it is the most beautiful process I have ever seen in the life of our church. There is nothing harsh about it. It is the most God-honoring thing that we can do with a "so called brother" given into sin who is unrepentant. Keep in mind this process is long- Even if this person never repents and comes to Christ, which we hope and pray for- God was glorified and our local body was purified.
We still love this person and share the gospel with him- and show him as much grace and mercy as we can, but there are certain comforts that he doesn't recieve anymore- like coming and going however he pleases in whatever condition he pleases...and I think this is wise to have these rules...
on my part...it's gonna be working. even though i'm still single and have no experience in raising children but base on the experiences of those devoted parents whom i have witnessed who continually show love and care to their children not to the extent of the negligence of reminders and rebukes, but in a gentle manner with no people around. As you pray to God sincerely and persistently. Thank you for your article Abraham.
Post a Comment