When a Child Goes Astray, Who’s to Blame?
I’m continuing to work on and refine the material in my book-in-progress, When Christian Parents Hurt. What keeps coming up in my study and interviews is the issue of guilt. This is a tricky issue to address, as, in one sense, all of us were “guilty” as parents—none of us parented perfectly. And in a healthy way, we need to come to grips, spiritually speaking (as well as with our children) with legitimate guilt from legitimate shortcomings. But Scripture and the Christian classics stop well short of drawing a direct connection between an adult child’s rebellion and the parent’s parenting. So, how to be open to where we went wrong, without also taking on more guilt than is warranted? That’s the question, isn’t it?
This section will be part of a chapter that we posted last week. If faithless parents can produce faithful children, what does that say about faithful parents who produce faithless children?
Faithless Parents and Faithful Kids
Like I said, it’s tricky, so I’m welcoming any and all feedback as we try to get this right. The numbers of parents who are hurting over this is over-the-top. I’ve got people pleading with me to get this book out as soon as possible. If you know someone who could benefit, please let them know they can become a paid subscriber and read the other chapters in progress. And, as always, if someone is in financial need and can’t afford the subscription, they can email us and we’ll set them up with a complimentary one.
God warns Jeremiah that his faith will lead to family fissure: “Your relatives, members of your own family— even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them” (Jeremiah 12:6). Jeremiah isn’t told to search his heart; he’s told to stiffen his backbone. His family’s opposition is the price he will pay for being faithful to God.
This seems to be emphasized even more by the teachings of Jesus, who teaches that unfaithful ones will turn on faithful members:
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:12-13).
This doesn’t call into question what the brothers, parents, or children did wrong, but instead admits the faithful are being wronged because of their love for Jesus, not because they were bad parents.
Continue reading this blog on Substack HERE.
The post When a Child Goes Astray, Who’s to Blame? appeared first on Gary Thomas.
