Quote:
Originally Posted by Truth
Another point I have been thinking about is whether 6th grade baptism is too early. This is what most LCs have been doing. Maybe we need to put all this in another thread. But I would love to have some discussion on how to raise our children in the Lord.
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Moderator:
Is there a way to merge these posts with the thread "Raising the Children of Christians"? If not, to merge them onto a new thread?
That said,
Truth, I know what you're talking about all too well. My memory is faulty as far as how judgmental of others I got (I'm not sure I was - though readers who knew me can correct me on this...
). That said, I definately felt a self-importance. I was "good" at being Christian. I prided myself on sitting in the front row and getting picked on by Titus. It was an implicit badge of honor. Really, I had just mastered a set of cultural norms (with a healthy dose of "heavenly language" thrown in).
And, important (for this discussion), I felt and did all these things
despite how my parents were raising me:
I remember coming home from a night of the summer school of truth. There were a lot of kids staying in our home (in Cleveland). We had had one of those sessions of "crazy hallelujah praise" where everyone was shouting for 20 minutes. It was a euphoria! We came back to the house that night just euphoric! We couldn't say about what. We relayed these things to my parents around a round of ice cream at the table. My father said "That's great. Maybe you'll also eventually learn how to love Jesus in your life."
(MAJOR CAVEAT: this is TOTALLY my memory and my own internalization - not a statement about my father's view of things).
But the point I internalized is that euphoria is great, but its not the LIFE OF LIVING WITH HIM in myriad human situations that He's called us to. That sort of euphoric "calling" can be inspiring, but don't mistake it for a real life with Christ (this wasn't internalized for a number of years).
All that said about the "cold water" often poured on my zealousness, I wanted to be zealous anyways. I wanted to be "good" at this Christian thing.
The irony: of those I grew up with, some of those who were the "worst" at being "good" ended up with an utterly remarkable faith that humbles me.
Its only been in the last few years, I've begun reconnecting with peers from my youth in Cleveland. I'm almost in tears as I write this as I think about some of things they've been through. Many were "write offs" in my high school years as far as "being Christian" was concerned. And yet these "write offs" now have testimonies that would bring any believer to tears.
What awes me as I talk to them today, as adults, is a utter humility. And a quiet, but astounding faith.
They humble me.
We can't script these things. He can and does.
What feable part do we play in the interim.... THAT'S a question.
In Love,
Peter