Parenting in a Broken World

I have been thinking a lot about parenting lately. What the ideals of a God-fearing parent should be....In what ways should my parenting strategies look different than those of the world? How do I teach my son to follow the narrow path? Well, soon I will share some of the thoughts I have accumulated about Godly parenting but today I found this blog post from a women's speaker I have great admiration and respect for. Her specific topic she addresses is sexting, but don't let her advice fall on deaf ears just because your children don't own a cell phone yet...She offers up some serious food for thought for anyone who's children will grow up in this broken world, ie all of us.
I hope you enjoy this youth pastor's wife as much as I do,
~Laura


Sexting

I was emailed an article from one of our parents this week and thought I would share it here on my blog to get your thoughts and perspective. The article is about “Sexting.” If you are not familiar with the term, it is a prevalent trend with young people these days. Sexting involves sending pornographic pictures and text messages via camera phones and if your child is a JH or HS student I guarantee you that they have heard about it, been exposed to it, or are actively participating in it. So what should our response be? This article explains the horrific details of this “craze” and the huge consequences involved. Did you know that teenagers passing around pornographic pictures of themselves or their girlfriends/boyfriends can actually be prosecuted for distributing child pornography and serve prison time? Check out this article for more information.

http://scribbit.blogspot.com/2010/08/sexting-one-more-thing-for-parents-to.html

This situation demands our attention and our response. What a sad and depressing state our society has come to that so many unacceptable things are considered “part of the norm.” We have to raise our voice, but what should that look like?

I saw many comments on the above article stating how they would not be allowing their teenagers to have phones, or they would never allow their children camera phones…but I’m not sure that this is the answer. To me this seems like the legalistic approach of the 80′s and 90′s that, though well-intentioned, drove many young people away from church and searching for grace.

To think that taking away cell phones or not allowing your kids and teenagers to be a part of our technologically advanced world is to protect them, I believe is naïve. Legalism has never worked. It breeds rebellion.

Consider the fairy tale of “Sleeping Beauty.” You know the story. The well-intentioned parents tried to remove their daughter from society and raise her in the countryside. They destroyed every spinning wheel in the kingdom because that was the one thing that they considered a danger to their daughter. They had wonderful intentions to protect her so that she could become the beautiful young woman she was created to be but…as we all know, when she rejoined the kingdom, she stumbled upon a spinning wheel and pricked her finger.

Perhaps her parents could have taken a better approach in teaching her what a spinning wheel looks like and why it was a danger to her. Maybe, equipped with the wisdom on how to live in the kingdom she was born into, she could have made a wiser choice.

I think we have a responsiblity as parents and leaders to “train up our child in the way they should go.” I am not advocating we expose them to all the horrors of society but we cannot be naïve to think that they won’t be confronted with some of the evils of this world, such as “sexting.” I think if we began to have open, honest discussions with our young people to teach and equip them with wisdom for how to respond to the dangers that are out there, we might see a better response.

We live in a world that is devoid of morality and devoid of God. We must begin to “respond” with wisdom and not “react” with fear. We must begin to bring God back into the picture because He is the only hope for this generation. This starts personally and begins to trickle out to all of those in our sphere of influence. We are supposed to be “the salt of the earth and light of the world.” We need to provide real solution to a hurting, confused world and I believe that will come through the knowledge of Jesus Christ and not a list of rules and regulations enforced by our own strength from our own fears.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and He will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5)

When we trust in the Lord He will equip us with wisdom and knowledge for how to handle any situation we face. He will give us the words to speak and the wisdom to teach.

We must respond…we must raise our voice for what is right and be advocates for truth and justice but we must do so by bringing the truth of God’s love to the world around us and teaching our children to do the same.

XOXO

Meghan Robinson
Life Link Church in AZ

You can find out more about Meghan at meghanrobinson.wordpress.com