by Pastor Jeff Duncan, Director of Mission and Ministry
Certainly, we live in contentious times. The level of rancor and abusive language and how one addresses his neighbor must be of great concern. What is the witness we are teaching our children when it comes to disagreement and differences of moral and biblical understanding? Where is the hope that people can get along, even when the lens through which they view life and responsibility are in opposition? And who is the moral judge to decide which opinion is correct?
These divergent thoughts are at the root of many of the life issues that we debate in our homes, churches, and communities. Those who want abortion to continue unregulated and unabated are voicing their concerns: “You care only that a child is born and have no concern for how it is raised, lives, or is provided for in the future.” Comments like this, though arguably untrue, must be addressed with gentleness and respect. Just answering, “That’s a lie!” and then listing all the activities that Gospel-motivated voices For Life do to support not only the child but the mother, the father, and the families of these children will not address the underlying hurt of the accuser. Real love for your neighbor seeks to listen to the neighbor and then, in love, sacrifice for that neighbor. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth! (See 1 Corinthians 13.)
So how are we to teach the next generation? It must begin with a proper understanding of raising godly children according to the precepts of Scripture and to the glory of God! Hear Martin Luther on this very subject:
But this at least all married people should know. They can do no better work and do nothing more valuable either for God, for Christendom, for the entire world, for themselves, and for their children than to bring up their children well. In comparison with this one work, that married people should bring up their children properly, there is nothing at all in pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem, or to St. Jacob [James], nothing at all in building churches, endowing masses, or whatever good works could be named. For bringing up their children properly is their shortest road to heaven. In fact, heaven itself could not be made nearer or achieved more easily than by doing this work. It is also their appointed work. Where parents are not conscientious about this, it is as if everything were the wrong way around, like fire that will not burn or water that is not wet. 1
There is no more valuable work for God and for all of Christendom than bringing up your children in the faith and trust of Jesus! It’s not hard to believe that if this were our primary aim, that our children would not question their gender, that they would respect their neighbor and love their spouses, that they would welcome the opportunity to serve the public with politics that reflect solid biblical values, and that they would continue to attend church well after confirmation!
By contrast, what does Luther say of those parents who neglect this first vocation and even spoil the child to do or think whatever he desires?
By the same token, hell is no more easily earned than with respect to one’s own children. You could do no more disastrous work than to spoil the children, let them curse and swear, let them learn profane words and vulgar songs, and just let them do as they please. What is more, some parents use enticements to be more alluring to meet the dictates of the world of fashion, so that they may please only the world, get ahead, and become rich, all the time giving more attention to the care of the body than to the due care of the soul. There is no greater tragedy in Christendom than spoiling children. If we want to help Christendom, we most certainly have to start with the children, as happened in earlier times. 2
If you are a mom or dad, take the time to educate yourself on life issues and the Scriptural response to the debates on social media and in the news cycle. Get into church. Set your house in order. Admit your errors and confess sins, receiving and trusting in the forgiveness won by Jesus upon the cross for the world—and most especially for you! Share this same love and truth with your children, no matter how old or young! Reach the world for the joy of your neighbor and to the glory of God one child at a time, beginning with your own. Divergent thoughts don’t happen in a vacuum. They exist because of apathy. They grow under lack of concern and care. They nurture false philosophies and follow the wisdom of man instead of God because they are not challenged and redirected to the truth of Holy Writ. Be the instrument of change in the world, the church, your home, and with your children through the exercise of proper parenting under the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Plummer, M. E. (1519). A Sermon on the Estate of Marriage Revised and Corrected by Dr. Martin Luther, Augustinian at Wittenberg. In H. J. Hillerbrand, K. I. Stjerna, & T. J. Wengert (Eds.), Christian Life in the World (Vol. 5, p. 29). Fortress Press.
- Ibid., (Vol. 5, p. 29). Fortress Press.