I Wonder What Kind of a Father David Was…

If Solomon were alive today, I wonder what he would look like.  Perhaps he would be covered in tattoos or piercings.  His writing is pretty “emo”. To hear him tell it in Ecclesiastes, he had “been there, done that, and had a massive collection of T-shirts“. 

What do we know about Solomon, anyway?  Sure, he was wise.  But what a tragic thing to be remembered for turning his heart away from God.  He was the son of David and Bathsheba.  His father had been a man after God’s own heart, but he had also been a man of many faults.  It seems that in some ways, Solomon was questioning everything his father believed.  Ironically, at the same time he was falling into every trap that had ensnared David.

 Clyde’s lesson today was about the molding of our children-a “twig-bending ministry”.  I was reminded what my mother said about children:  “When I was a young mother, I thought God gave parents a lump of clay to mold; by the time we had you, I realized God tossed down a chunk of granite for us to chip on until you turned eighteen”.  I think I am somewhere between the two views on the nature of parenting.  Sometimes I think I’m molding or bending, sometimes I know I need a chisel.  

I wonder what type of father David was. 

 It is amazing to me that David could be a man so close to God, and yet be the father of Amnon, Absalom and Solomon.  Amnon raped his sister, Tamar, Absalom killed Amnon and later would try to take his father’s kingdom, and Solomon would squander the favor of God and cause Israel to permanent split.  When Solomon was young, he showed such promise with his request from God for wisdom.  How could this young leader become the man with a thousand women and a heart that turned toward other gods?  Could it be that he lacked good parenting?

 David was so dedicated to God, yet his family was a mess.  I am mindful every day that our kids see our faults, and seem to follow those examples more consistently than the godly decisions we try to model.  I wonder if David sang and played the Psalms to his children when they were young.  I wonder if he taught them; or if he relied on his servants to handle the parenting.  I wonder if David died with regret about how his children-and grandchildren turned out.  God help us as we try to instill in our children the devotion for God that will shape their eternal destiny. 

Agape-or at least the best I can do,

Chris

What We Can Do…

 

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

                                                                                                          -Colossians 4:2-6

The theological debate between free choice and predestination is filled with all kinds of arguments with individual “proof text” scriptures.  In searching for practical application either side, I am drawn-or maybe simply choose to go-to Colossians for some insight.  Here’s what I come up with:

Regardless of the extent of our choice, we are to

• 1. Be prayerful, watchful, and thankful. This is a lifestyle we are to embrace, and it will lead us down a path toward the peace discussed in the previous chapter.
• 2. Ask God to open doors for the message. This assumes we are looking for the doors in the first place, not just cursing the walls.
• 3. Proclaim the Message. Speaking clearly, as if revealing a mystery-because that’s what we are doing.
• 4. Exercise wisdom in speech and action, especially toward outsiders. Remember the Miranda Rule. Anything you say (or do) may be used against Christ in the court of public opinion.  

Permit me to dwell on that last thought for a minute.  I have been so struck throughout my life by the nostalgia expressed by so many that the “church of Christ” was filled with people who “knew their Bible”.  I have never heard an outsider describe our fellowship this way.  I have talked to people with relatives who were part of our fellowship (one described her grandfather as the meanest man in her family-and the only COC).  My wife and I have been passed over as potential adoptive parents by birth mothers because of how someone from our fellowship had treated them.  This has happened at least three times.  Somewhere, somehow, “salt” was lacking in the speech of the brethren.  

Admittedly, it is often the negatives that stick out in my mind when I ponder our fellowship’s future. Yet I continue to worship within, and love the brotherhood.  I embrace the vision of restoration.  I am thrilled when I see the church reach out to the community with events in the park or hear someone discuss a teacher who is one of our members as being a loving, caring, and effective educator.  I am excited by the focus of our shepherds on the mission we have adopted as a congregation, and I dream of the day that the church of Christ is known by our love for each other.  

Until then, I want my life to reflect Christ through Paul’s admonition to the Colossians.  I won’t live up to it; and so the grace He extends to me I will try to pass on to all I encounter.  And while I trust in the sovereignty of God to guide our future, I see an exhortation to individual action by each of us.   

Agape-or at least the best I can do,

Chris