A Reflection on “Kingdom Parenting”
Joshua 24:15, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 31:12, “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and the stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law.”
Ephesians 6:4, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up by training and instructing them about the Lord.
Family is one of the cornerstones of society and of the Kingdom of God. God is clearly a family God, as demonstrated from the first family in the Garden of Eden, to the church as the Body of Christ and through our relationship with God as “Father,” and with one another as “brothers and sisters.” In Galatians 6:10, the Apostle Paul called believers a “household of faith.”
Marriage is modeled on the relationship of Christ and His church. Mutual care, responsibility, accountability and instruction, all motivated by love, are guiding principles in family and marriage. Parenting is the means by which children, and children of God, are developed and nurtured to maturity.
Along with Kingdom truth and activities related to our spiritual connection and community, comes the mandate to be "the light of the world” and “a city set on a hill." God destined us, as His church, not to be placed out of sight, but in full view of the world. We are intended by God to show the world the definitive example of family.
Through our best examples of Christian family, to our imperfections and crises in life and family, we reach for God's best and hold up a standard higher than ourselves. This is in contrast to a society where the answer to sin and failure is to lower standards and revise definitions of family and right living. We hold forth the “Word of Life” and “shine as lights” in the midst of a “crooked and perverse” generation. (Phil 2:15)
Weekend for Winners "Kingdom Parenting" (April 21-22, 2012) is an exploration of life-changing, family-enriching and parent-developmental principles. Weekend for Winners is not only a weekend for parents with children, but for believers who carry the heart of Jesus to our communities of neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and churches. Today parenting is both primary and secondary. Primary parenting is represented by ideal two-parent households and single biological parents of children. Secondary parenting involves grandparents, other adult family members, and foster parents taking responsibility to nurture and train children.
Secondary parenting, on another level, may also include mentors, pastors, coaches, teachers, community workers, and those who feel the responsibility to step in and provide parental-style oversight for times and seasons. This may include caring for “the stranger that is within your gates.”
No one can fully replace the essential and ideal role of a child’s parents, but we cannot be content to allow the absence of parenting to condemn a boy or girl to a life "at risk."
Kingdom-minded men, women and believers can serve in an intercessory role. Our presence and the power of Christ can help save a child from failure and mediocrity.
Psalms 68:6, God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
~ Rev. Bryan Hudson, Th.B, B.S., M.S.
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