Dealing With Rebellion

Dealing with rebellion at home

Luke 15:11-31

Charlie Steinmetz was a crippled dwarf, but what he lacked physically he made up mentally. When it came to the subject of electricity, Steinmetz was a genius. No one in his day knew more about electicity than him.

Henry Ford realized this when he hired the man to help in the building of those massive generators and turbines that would run his first automobile plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Once everything was in place, the assembly line worked like clockwork.

Thanks to the electrical genius, cars began to roll off the line and profit began to pour into Ford’s pocket. Things ran along smoothly for months.

Suddenly, without warning, everything ground to a halt. Ford Motor Company went dark. One mechanic after another was unable to locate the problem much to Ford’s frustration. Finally, he contacted the brains behind the system.

Steinmetz showed up and immediately went to work. He fiddled around with some switches and a gauge or two. He tinkered with this and that one, pushed a few buttons and messed with some wires. He then threw the master switch and wouldn’t you know it? Lights blinked on, engines began to whirl, and things were back to normal.

Within a few days, Charlie Steinmetz mailed Henry Ford a bill for $10,000. Ford couldn’t believe it! He was wealthy, but paying such an exorbitant amount of money was out the question, especially for what appeared to be such a small amount of work.

He sent the bill back with a note attached, Charlie, doesn’t it seem a little steep to charge me $10,000 for tinkering around with a few wires and switches?

Steinmetz rewrote the bill and sent it back. It read: For tinkering around on the motors $10.00. For knowing where to tinker $9,990.00.

Today, the Holy Spirit wants to tinker around with your family. Have you noticed how he has an uncanny knack for knowing where to tinker? What price can you put on your family’s health? Is there anything, next to your walk with God, more important than your family?

Today I want to look at the difficult side of the family and what happens when rebellion hits your home. I have felt impressed to do a series on families from the Bible. My purpose is to look at how several families dealt with their children and see what we can learn.

The home is a laboratory where kids can move from dependence, to independence. Rebellion, we must understand this topic if our kids are going to make it into adulthood and God is to be honored.

Rebellion in the home affects everyone at one time or another. We need some insights on this painful part of parenting.

Children and Young people today live in a confused generation. Many have no respect for authority because they don’t see it in the home. Others intimidate their parents with requests and demands that shouldn’t even be open for discussion. Some transfer this lack of respect and intimidation to the school, neighborhood, and even law enforcement.

A common mistake made by many parents is that they don’t see the high cost of not confronting rebellion. But if not confronted, those in rebellion will stop at nothing.

God has given us a mandate to deal with rebellion. This can be the most unpleasant thing you will ever do. It is gut wrenching, even volatile, and you may feel like you’re losing your mind. At times you will feel like the whole family is being held hostage.

Rebellion in the family wears many masks. It could be the child who grows up in a Christian home and fails to heed the warning about marrying a non-Christian. It could be the son in high school whose parents aren’t aware of his struggle with his sexual identity, then one day he announces he’s moving out with his boy friend.

Consequences of divorce on children

When divorce hits a family, it is not uncommon for children in the home to slip into rebellion. Let me address the impact of divorce on the children.

Loss of family structure is the most immediate and damaging impact divorce makes on a child. A child’s greatest need is to know that mom and dad are incurably in love with each other. Divorce shreds the stability of a child’s life. i.e. Andy – Dick Foth

When rebellion hits a home, quite often it can be traced back to what is happening with mom and dad. As parents, let’s commit to making our marriage our priority, and then a successful family will be the natural outcome.

I want to use the story of the Prodigal Son as the background to give us a peek into a home that was touched by rebellion. I have outlined the story around six concepts: