Redeeming Parenting: Parenting has been recognized as a blessing across societies and times. But how does the gospel change our perspective on parenting compared to society's beliefs and practices? Christians believe that children have inherent value as image-bearers of God, not because of what value they will provide to us or society. But raising children (and people) is not just limited to parents but is the responsibility of the entire church. Recorded on Nov 20, 2022, on Ephesians 6:1-4, by Pastor David Parks.
"Redeeming Regular Life" is a sermon series from the Epistles of the New Testament in the Bible. The Epistles are letters from the Apostles to the early Christian churches helping them understand and apply the gospel to life. "To what part of life?" you might wonder. The answer is: to every part! The way of Jesus changes everything, including marriage, sexuality, singleness, parenting, work, politics, friendship, and more. In Christ, regular life is a gift.
Sermon Transcript
This year, the annual theme of our preaching ministry is Learning the way of Jesus. And right now, we’re in the middle of a series called Redeeming Regular Life. This series is from the household codes found in the epistles/letters in the New Testament in the Bible, from the Apostles of Jesus to various churches around the Roman Empire. Now, in their day, household codes were common and addressed the way our basic relationships (regular life) ought to work. But the apostles wrote on these things from a uniquely Christian perspective, showing how the gospel and the way of Jesus changes everything. So far, we’ve covered redeeming marriage, sexuality, and singleness. Today, we’ll move on to the very important topic of parenting. For my wife, Holly, and I, parenting has been a source of the greatest joy in our life, but also of confusion, anxiety, and stress. Everywhere in the Bible, children are described as a blessing — maybe a chaotic and exhausting blessing (especially when they’re young), but a blessing nonetheless. But as far as I can tell, this is true no matter what you believe about God/faith/bible. So how does the way of Jesus impact and transform the work of parenting? What would a uniquely Christian perspective be on the relationship between parent and child? If you have a Bible/app, please open to Ephesians 6:1.
Ephesians 6:1-4 (NIV), “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” So, as we said a few weeks ago in our marriage sermon, the book of Ephesians is an epistle/letter from the Apostle Paul to the Christians in and around the city of Ephesus in the modern country of Turkey. And in this section of his letter, he addresses these basic household relationships. Look back at v.1.
Ephesians 6:1 (NIV) says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Let’s pause here. Interestingly, it seems as if Paul was expecting kids to be in the church congregation when his letter was read because he addresses them directly here. So kids! Do you want to know what it looks like for you to follow the way of Jesus? You should obey your parents. Now, this isn’t new. Almost every culture forever has come to this conclusion. Kids are the responsibility of their parents, kids need to grow up and mature in every way, and their parents, presumably, are further on in that maturity process, so kids should obey their parents. Learning obedience should help in the primary task of childhood- of growing up. However, there are always some parents who get the command backward, thinking it to say, “Parents, obey your children.” Obey their every desire, meet their demands, let them run the show. This never works for the parents or for the kids ...