In his book "Crazy Busy" Kevin DeYoung writes a short chapter on parenting. It's one of the most liberating and wise takes on parenting I have ever read.DeYoung suggests that one reason parents are so busy is they are too “freaked out” about their children’s future. We think it all depends on us - that our children are saved by parenting. No. It all depends on Him. Our children are saved not by parenting but by grace. Yes, we are called to take responsibility for our children, but the sort of parenting the Lord calls us to is not complicated. Parenting is just another area in which He wants us to live out the gospel of grace.
I have five kids and, besides the Lord’s grace, I’m banking on the fact that there really are just a few non-negotiables in raising children. When you think about it, what does the Bible actually say about parenting? Child rearing is hardly the main theme of Scripture. God doesn’t provide many specific instructions about the parent-child relationship, except that parents should teach their children about God (Deut. 6:7; Prov. 1-9), discipline them (Prov. 23:13; Heb. 12:7-11), be thankful for them (Ps. 127:3-5), and not exasperate them (Eph. 6:4). Filling in the details depends on the family, the culture, the Spirit’s wisdom, and a whole lot of trial and error.
There are ways to screw up our kids for life, but thankfully the Happy Meal is not one of them. There is not a straight line from Ronald McDonald to eternal rebellion. Much like there is not a direct correlation between doodling loudly in the service as a toddler and doing meth as a teenager. Could it be that, beyond the basics of godly parenting, most of the other techniques and convictions are just nibbling around the edges? Certainly, there are lots of ways that good parents make their kids a little more manageable from day to day, but even the kid hooked on Angry Birds who just downed a pack of Fun Dip and is now watching his fifth Pixar movie of the week still has a decent shot at not being a sociopath.To read more of Kevin DeYoung's liberating biblical wisdom on parenting click Parenting
