Think about it friends. When a culture, even our so-called American “Christian” culture, alters the status of children into choices - does it not undermine our entire understanding of Scriptures’ references to them? At the moment there is still enough ingrained understanding of the family left from generations past to lend us an historical Christian understanding of children - but those notions are no longer the prevailing norms of contemporary culture. We can only survive off of their example for so long. Devoid of our own cultural experience in valuing children as God and Scripture values them, we may indeed lose any bearing to what verses like this really mean…
“…keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
(Exo 34:7)“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children– “
(Deu 4:9)“Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!”
(Psa 31:19)
“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
(Psa 34:11)“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.”
(Psa 103:13)“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
(Pro 17:6)“The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.”
(Isa 38:19)“Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
(Jer 3:14)“gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.”
(Joe 2:16)“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
(Mat 7:11)“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
(Mat 19:14)“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
(Joh 1:12)“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
(Rom 8:16)“my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”
(Gal 4:19)“And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
(Heb 2:13)
When you lose your understanding of the doctrine of children, what then can be said for the doctrine of sonship, adoption, new birth, the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and on and on? By no means is the doctrine of children the linchpin of our theology; but make no mistake, there was one child who was born, who is in fact the linchpin of our theology, Jesus Christ, the revealed Son of God. In fact, He’s not just the linchpin, He is everything (period).
Therefore, we must take great care to guard our doctrine closely brethren, because it is indeed a child-rich gospel that we preach. It’s not just your family - it is God’s, and he’s got plans for it to testify of his grace and his gospel.
Think about it.
‘BH
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…”
(1Jn 3:1)
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As Beloved Children
(W.Hank Balch © 2007)
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” - Ephesians 5:1
“As beloved children, you say?”
“But, what is a child?”, we ask and reply,
“Oh, yes, a child. We know about children.”
Those are burdens.
Those are challenges.
Those are time.
Those are money.
Those are hungry.
Those are dependent.
Those should be planned.
Those should be few.
“Oh, yes, a child. We know about children.”
Those are discernible miracles.
Those are prudently sought gifts.
Those are optional blessings.
“Oh, yes, a child. We know about children.”
Those are after-thoughts.
Those are by-products.
Those are secondary.
“Oh, we know about children, but we don’t know children.”
To “know” is to love. To be known is to be-loved.
Adam knew Eve.
But we do not know children.
We know ourselves.
We are primary.
We are central.
We are autonomous.
We are independent.
We are the decision-makers.
We’ve become the lords of our bodies.
We’ve become the suppliers of our wombs.
We’ve become the author and finisher of our offspring.
We’ve become the alpha and omega of our intercourse.
We’ve become reluctant fathers, and unwilling mothers.
Oh, we know about children, but friends, we don’t know children.”
4 Comments
July 14, 2008 at 10:04 am
brother, keep singing this note.
this is a hard saying that needs to be said.
July 14, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Wonderful poem! ….
I always cringe when Christian couples proclaim that they are “done” having children. It makes me want to come back with “So, are you ‘done’ having sex with your spouse?” An acquaintance of mine recently told our mom’s group that her IUD had fallen out and she was pregnant. I don’t know what shocked me more - that she was actually using such an abortifacient method of birth control, or that she was so comfortable proclaiming that this newly conceived child was unwanted, a mistake. How must it feel to have it be known among family and friends that your birth was not heralded as a wonderful thing? That could lead to some pretty twisted thinking on God as Father and we as His children - if some children aren’t “wanted” here in our human families, could that mean that God doesn’t really want some of us?, etc. I think it would be frightening to know that you weren’t wanted as a baby and that your mother could have chosen to kill you. I just don’t understand how we’ve gone so far away from our historical Biblical understanding of children as a blessing, not a curse. I know that historians like to point out that in an agrarian society, children were a useful commodity as they could be used as free labor. I don’t completely buy that - from my experience so far, children take an awful lot of care and time to get to an age where they are actually helpful.
I think you can see the same mentality reflected in today’s cultural references to women’s fertility, especially menstruation, i.e. The “curse”. Newer birth control pills promise to reduce your bothersome periods to just 4 a year, if at all. What happened to society celebrating a girl’s transition to womanhood and the wonders of what her body can accomplish once she has reached maturity? I have always been excited to see my menses return after breastfeeding my latest newborn, as that meant God had possibly given me another chance at motherhood if He so willed it. I feel sad that so many have lost sight of the amazing feeling that occurs when you co-create with God to conceive a child. Think about it - God actually (in normal circumstances) allows us to enter into His powers of creation by requiring our cooperation in order to make a new human being. What a gift God has given us - one that most thrust back to God (figuratively speaking) with a “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want your blessings.” No wonder that this has trickled down into such acceptance of abortion, another rejection of God’s gifts….
July 15, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Dear Charitymomoffour ,
I really, truly am blessed by what you’ve shared here. I resonate with your attitude toward your cycle and the magnificent way in which God has created us. It is a monthly reminder that we ARE (regardless of age, not just in the womb, it doesn’t stop there.) fearfully and wonderfully made. Woman is His only creation that can bear and sustain new life. It amamzes me!
You mentioned before that you’re expecting your 5th child. When are you due? We’re due with our 8th child(9th really, we have a little guy waiting for us in Glory from a miscarriage 2 years ago) in February.
I also wanted to add that it is always encouraging to hear and see what God is doing among families that are open to (not thwarting or “planning”, just available) His blessings. I hear of more and more families like ours and it makes me excited and anxious to see what God is doing.
BH,
Ditto on the poem! It’s one I’ll share with a select group of friends. It’s funny, as your family grows larger, and if you express to people that you are trusting God to determine your family size, people slap a mountain of assumptions on you. From: you stand in judgement of their choice to use BC (although they’ve never bothered to ask why you believe the way you do); you’re prideful about your family size or ‘holier than thou’. To: your life MUST be chaotic with SOOOO many kids around; and what you said here in the poem:
“Those are burdens.
Those are challenges.
Those are time.
Those are money.”
It breaks my heart and sometimes makes me angry.
God has used your blog as such an encouragement to me. To God be the Glory!
Your Frozen Chosen Sister,
Genoise
July 15, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Genoise,
I am due in October with another little girl. Thanks for the feedback - love reading your responses, too. Helps me to be a little less discouraged about the future. Take care of yourself. - Charity
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