The Bishops' Pulpit: Risking your children

February 03, 2006

Risking your children

I encountered this statement in my reading for class and thought it so valuable I had to share it. It seems so startlingly different than the way most Christian parents approach child-rearing, but so obviously in line with Scripture. I pray Abby and I will have the courage to take this approach when we have children.

"Many of the opportunities my wife and I have been given to share the truth of the gospel with people have come in the context of being hospitable to the friends of our children. This kind of hospitality has to be extended not just once or twice, but repeatedly over the years. There are young men and women in their middle twenties who have become our friends and visit us who have been coming into our home for ten years or more. Some of these young people are from broken homes, from homes where there is little love, from situations of drug abuse or sever sexual sins or even serious crimes. Did we worry about our children getting to know children from such contexts? Of course we did. But we prayed and continue to pray. We talked to our own children carefully about the temptations and challenges they faced and continue to face, just as we face them. We sought to love and continue to try to love these young men and women. We've prayed and continue to pray for open doors to make the truth known to them. God answers those prayers in His own time. Your children will themselves be given opportunities to share what they believe and to discuss the Christian faith with their friends. These discussions may well lead to your being able to help with questions that your children find difficult to answer.
Other open doors will arise at weddings and other occasions. Your sons' and daughters' friends will come to their weddings, and there some of them will hear the Christian faith clearly and succinctly, perhaps for the first time in their lives. Be glad for such friends for your children. Do not be afraid. God is able to care for his children and to make them a blessing to other people, even if at times they have to struggle through some deep waters during the voyage of their faith."

Jerram Barrs, The Heart of Evangelism

Posted by currie at February 3, 2006 11:40 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Hey Guys, I can take the test again, however my confidence level is really low right now, and the actual test costs $218 to take pass or fail. So I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet. I will take it again eventually.

Posted by: Andrew Cuevas at February 11, 2006 12:42 PM

Hey! I'm sorry I haven't been keeping in touch... :( Life's been crazy around here. Classes are going well, but they are definitely tough. There's been a lot of stuff going on with my friends here at college, as well as with Alaina, Brian, and Kendall... and I mean a LOT... so if you could pray whenever you think about it, that would be awesome.

Those CDs from Covenant's chapel services are great! Thanks for letting me listen to them, they've really made me think.

I really like this quote from Barrs... It makes a lot of sense.

Anyways, just wanted to stop by and say hello! Hope everything is going well up there. And Happy Valentine's Day!

~ Kristen ~

Posted by: Kristen at February 14, 2006 02:53 PM

hmm, pretty sure its spelled "evangeLISM"

heh heh. Well, I have once again attained that transcendant existence described as "online". Buzz me sometime with what life means right now. I miss you.

Alex

Posted by: Alexander at February 21, 2006 11:51 PM

Thanks, for noticing my mistake--it should be taken care of...

Glad to hear from you, do you still have the same phone #? I'll have to give you a call (lots of changes going on here)!

Posted by: Currie at February 22, 2006 06:32 PM

Great quote- I'm reading that book right now (a free copy Christine (Lamb) Rule gave me last weekend when I was up at the L'Abri conference in Rochester. Awesome book!

Jess still wants the rest of her Covenant friends to come up there and visit her. Bekah and I have been there twice now: if it happens again for a third time, well, the rest of you know the rules in baseball, right?

Posted by: Joel at February 24, 2006 07:23 PM