The Last Days Of The Church XIII

 Children being disobedient to parents is self-explanatory enough that it does not need to be plumbed. Once again, we see the fulfillment of Paul’s prophetic warning playing out before our eyes. Rebellious children are not only a heartbreaking tragedy for the parents in question, but they are also a sign of the last days of the church. It seems as though the age range when children begin to think that they know better than their parents is decreasing perceptibly with each passing year.

Since the aim of the godless is the corruption of innocence and destruction thereof at as early an age as possible, seemingly out of nowhere, there is a chorus of voices insisting that a three or four-year-old has the mental wherewithal to decide upon issues that they will have to contend with for the rest of their lives, and acquiesce to irreversible procedures which will haunt them until they breathe their last.

The world encourages parental disobedience, from former Vice Presidents telling auditoriums full of preteen children that their parents know nothing and that it is their responsibility to enlighten their mothers and fathers to entire governmental bodies being created with the singular purpose of negating wise counsel and stripping parents of the ability to teach their own progeny.

There is a well-thought-out, concerted, and diabolical effort afoot to circumvent and nullify parental counsel. Laws are being passed in certain states that prohibit teachers and counselors from reaching out to parents if their child is troubled and encouraged to keep the knowledge of the child’s problems hidden from them. The state now deems itself the defacto parent of every child and encourages the aforementioned disobedience shamelessly and vociferously.

Unless the parents are fully engaged and are wise to their child’s emotional instability, by the time they figure out what’s happening, it’s too late to do anything about it. Even then, if attempts are made to reason with their offspring, the state is quick to swoop in and go as far as removing the child from the home because they deem a loving parent who wants the best for their child a threat to their health and happiness.

The enemy is fully aware that if the pattern of being disobedient to parents can be established in the hearts of the young, they are more likely to be disobedient toward God when they are grown. God is not the author of confusion, but the devil surely is. If he can plant the seeds of rebellion early, they are likelier to be deeply rooted by the time the individual in question is called upon to make choices of eternal consequence.

Access to technology by kids barely out of diapers has given them a false sense of omniscience, and they’ve come to believe that Wikipedia is a suitable replacement for life experience. Due to an increase in children being disobedient to parents, they refuse to listen to the voice of experience when it comes to practical life matters and suffer the consequences of the choices they make needlessly. It’s no longer enough that mom and dad say you shouldn’t touch the stove when it’s hot; they have to confirm it for themselves, and many have the scars and burns to prove it.

The gray hairs around your father’s temples prove that he knows more than you and is wiser than you. It’s not me saying it; it’s the Bible. Proverbs tells us that wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

It is foolhardy to reject advice and counsel from someone twice your age because although they’ve been where you are, as yet, you’ve not been where they’ve been. Disobedience also begets dishonor, and the Word is clear regarding the honoring of your father and mother.

Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

Think back on how many heartaches and heartbreaks you would have been spared had you listened and obeyed your parents in the Lord. Think back on how many pitfalls you could have avoided, how many tears you would have never had to shed, and how much disappointment you wouldn’t have had to wrestle with.

That whole nonsense about not doing anything different given the chance is nothing more than a coping mechanism for people who refuse to admit they made mistakes. Most people can think of a dozen things they would have done differently off the top of their heads, perhaps not life-altering, but likely beneficial to their overall well-being.

Conversely, most people can think of a dozen things they’re thankful for having heeded when it came by way of counsel from a mother or a father.

I remember being in my first year of Junior High, and the electives I had to choose from were either typing or wood shop. I got home from school and offhandedly mentioned it to my mother, to which she said that typing would be the better choice since it seemed more useful to her than carving your initials into a block of wood with a band saw. Plus, typing didn’t pose the risk of cutting off a finger if you weren’t being careful.

I was all of eleven at the time, and the idea of taking typing classes was not at all appealing to me. I explained to her why I thought the wood shop class was a far better idea. She retorted with why she didn’t, and we went round and round for a solid half hour with nobody making any headway.

Finally, exasperated, she sighed and said, “Do what you want, but I’m going to pray that you get put in the typing class.”

I thought nothing of it until I went to school the following day, excited to pick wood shop as my elective. I was told that the class was already full, and the only option left to me was the typing class. Having resigned myself to the idea, there was no point in getting angry or complaining, and a week later, I was the only boy sitting in a classroom full of girls banging away on selectric typewriters.

In hindsight, it was the best decision I made at any point during the entirety of my junior high years, even though, technically, the choice was made for me. At the time, it was grueling, and I didn’t much like it, especially the first couple of weeks when you had to get comfortable with the finger positioning on the keyboard.

A few months later, when I started translating my grandfather’s autobiography and typing out the ministry's newsletters, I had to admit to myself that my mother was right, and it had been the best decision for me.

At the moment, a parent’s advice or counsel might seem antiquated and old-fashioned, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we will realize that however it may have seemed at the time, it was good, solid advice that would have paid dividends had we followed through.

Unlikely as it might be that I have a gaggle of young readers, children, obey your parents. It is a Biblical mandate, and as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the first commandment with promise.

God doesn’t make empty promises, nor does He promise something He can’t deliver on. Do what God says, and watch what He does. Obey your parents in the Lord, honor them, and the fruit of this obedience will carry you through life.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.