What Parents Owe Their Children
A Course of Discipline
November 11, 2001
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
I will examine the testimony of God’s people
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” Heb. 12:1
Discipline requires effort, just as anything worthwhile requires effort. One of the historic tensions in Christianity is between those who think a person can become a Christian overnight, and those who think a person becomes a Christian over a lifetime. Both are, in a sense, correct. It takes the moment of conversion, the moment of baptism, to make suddenly, a new Christian. But the process of developing Christian virtues, Christian character, a Christian life, takes a life of discipline.
There’s no microwaving yourself, or others for that matter, into mature Christianity. It takes a regular, constant immersion in the testimony of God about God
“Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.”
2 Timothy 3:16 – The Message
- Nobody drains a 17-foot putt in a million dollar golf tournament out of blind luck. For that single moment of their life, they put in hundreds and hundreds of hours worth of training and practice.
- Establish a regular regimen of spiritual exercise – and stick to it.
I will evaluate the course I’m on
- Someone once said “Careful grooming may make you look 20 years younger, but it still won’t fool a flight of stairs.”
Bill Hybels, writing on self-leadership says, “This is self-leadership. And nobody—I mean nobody—can do this work for you. You have to do this work yourself. Self-leadership is tough work—so tough, Dee Hock says, that most leaders avoid it. Instead, we would rather try to inspire or control our people than to do the rigorous work of reflection.”
All of us have some wounds, some losses, and some disappointments in our past. All that stuff has helped shape or misshape us into the people we are today. Leaders who ignore their interior reality often make decisions that have grave consequences for the people they lead. Most of the time, they’re unaware of what’s driving their unwise decisions. Who’s responsible for your interior issues getting processed and resolved? You are.
- On the trip to Atlanta I was reading an article about Tiger Woods…
“Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 The Message
I will eliminate all obstacles and diversions
“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”
“Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” Ephesians 4:22-25 – The Message
British statesman Edmund Burke argued, "men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."
During his term as President of the U.S., Lyndon Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion: "You can’t run the country if you can’t run yourself." Respecting Mrs. Johnson’s wise observation, the President lost 23 pounds.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3
I will embrace the path of Jesus
- whoever want to come after me will pick up his cross and follow me…
- the path of Jesus is a path of sacrifice
“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.” 1 John 3:16 – The Message
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ’Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait." Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
Chuck Swindoll, in his book, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity," tells about a church in the Soviet Union a few years ago that was forced to meet secretly because the holding of house church services was illegal.
They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as they gathered on Sunday to worship the Lord, so they came at different times & casually walked into the house until they had all arrived. Then they would close the doors, pull the curtains, & quietly worship the Lord.
But one Lord’s Day, right in the midst of their worship service, two soldiers broke into the room, & at gunpoint lined the Christians up against the wall. One shouted, "If you wish to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ, leave now!"
Two or three quickly left, then another, & then two more. Again the soldier spoke, "This is your last chance. Either leave now & renounce your faith in Christ, or stay & suffer the consequences." Another left, & then another, almost hiding their faces in shame as they went out.
But the rest stood their ground, children standing beside their parents, trembling, some even crying as their parents stood with their hands in the air, fully expecting to be gunned down or imprisoned.
After all had left who chose to flee, the other soldier closed the doors, looked back at those who stood against the wall & said, "Keep your hands up - but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, are Christians."
The two soldiers explained that some time earlier they had been sent to another house church to arrest the Christians there. But in the process, they had heard the gospel & had accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior, too. But they explained, "We have learned that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted."
- the path of Jesus is a path of suffering
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” 1 Peter 4:1
When our faith takes us beyond the mechanics of our discipline, when our faith takes us to relationship with Christ, we are face to face with love. We are where our disciplines are designed to lead to the perfect love of Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful and generous place, where past distinctions are not nearly so important as present love, where there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female, but where we are all one in Christ Jesus.
That is our destination, not to be achieved by punishment, but by instruction, which leads to discipline; which leads to faith; which leads to character and virtue and the life of love.
Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering. – Oswald Chambers
A group of tourists visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour then took Bailey to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly. "These trees could go without rain for another 2 weeks," he said. "You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth."
Those who know the path to God, can find it in the dark.
Suffering teaches us patience. These words were found penned on the wall of a prison cell in Europe: "I believe in love even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent." – Billy Graham
- the path of Jesus is a path of son-ship
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” Hebrews 12:7
The message you give your children when you discipline with love is “I care too much about you to let you misbehave. I care enough about you that I’m willing to spend time and effort to help you learn what is appropriate.” All children need the security and stability of food, shelter, love, and protection, but unless they also receive effective and appropriate discipline, they won’t feel secure. [Stephanie Marston (20th century), U.S. parent educator, author, “The Divorced Parent”] THIS is exactly what God is telling us – because I love I will give the time and energy and attention necessary to train you, to grow you.
[Empire Strikes Back – clip]
(Luke) “I don’t believe it.”
(Yoda) “That is why you fail.”
I will expect my life to be changed
- We have to believe that God can and will shape and form us through a course of discipline. If begin the race, or run the race expecting to fail… you’ll find every opportunity to do so.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Cor. 9:24-27
- “What we do in life echoes into eternity” (quoted from “Gladiator”)
- Run in such a way to win.
