ASSUMPTION 3: A GOOD OFFENSE
Have you ever watched a football game and the team with a lead goes into what is commonly called a "prevent-defense?" Their strategy changes from being aggressive to a very passive defense willing to give up yardage while trying to "prevent" the big play. Football fans have seen game after game where this strategy has led to a forfeit of the lead as an aggressive offense takes advantage of this.
Dr. Tim Kimmel in his book, "Grace-Based Parenting" says that parents can essentially end up doing the very same thing which he calls "fear-based parenting." It is when we focus so much on protecting our children from the world and do not prepare them to enter and conquer the world. It is the kind of parenting that worries so much about such evil influences of holiday celebrations, cultural icons, or non-Christians being involved in the same activities that our children are such as sports teams.
Often this mind-set is the fruit of legalism which leads to a lack of confidence in the power of new-birth or regeneration. Do you ever wonder why statistics for young people leaving the faith after high school is so high? Most data-gathering organizations put it between 70-80%! William Farley proposes that many of these kids come from a home that had a defensive protection mind-set that lacked an effective offensive strategy.
Every gospel-centered home must have a defensive strategy and not recklessly open our children to evil influences. But a gospel-centered home also helps equip their child in how to overcome the world. Our children's hearts can be changed, molded, and equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit and the teaching by their parents through God's Word and the gospel in how to enter, engage, and be protected from the world.
1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
I John 5:4-5 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Are you making assumptions about your child’s spiritual new birth? To have an offensive mind-set in parenting is to assume your child needs daily the power of new birth in Christ. It is a strategy that daily addresses the child’s heart, their sin, and the gospel before worrying about their environment.
The way the heart is addressed is with the gospel. It is teaching it daily, modeling it daily, and centering your home upon it. It is showing your children that overcoming the world is not done by retreating, but by seeing the beauty and excellence of Jesus Christ. We conquer our lusts with a greater passion, Jesus Christ.
A gospel-centered home is confident in the power of the message of the cross to transform children from the heart outward. The world is not more powerful than Christ. John 16:33 states, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” Through what God can do to change our children’s hearts and by using us as parents, our children can face the challenges of the world and fight off the allurements.
Preach the gospel everyday to yourself and to your children.
Have you ever watched a football game and the team with a lead goes into what is commonly called a "prevent-defense?" Their strategy changes from being aggressive to a very passive defense willing to give up yardage while trying to "prevent" the big play. Football fans have seen game after game where this strategy has led to a forfeit of the lead as an aggressive offense takes advantage of this.
Dr. Tim Kimmel in his book, "Grace-Based Parenting" says that parents can essentially end up doing the very same thing which he calls "fear-based parenting." It is when we focus so much on protecting our children from the world and do not prepare them to enter and conquer the world. It is the kind of parenting that worries so much about such evil influences of holiday celebrations, cultural icons, or non-Christians being involved in the same activities that our children are such as sports teams.
Often this mind-set is the fruit of legalism which leads to a lack of confidence in the power of new-birth or regeneration. Do you ever wonder why statistics for young people leaving the faith after high school is so high? Most data-gathering organizations put it between 70-80%! William Farley proposes that many of these kids come from a home that had a defensive protection mind-set that lacked an effective offensive strategy.
Every gospel-centered home must have a defensive strategy and not recklessly open our children to evil influences. But a gospel-centered home also helps equip their child in how to overcome the world. Our children's hearts can be changed, molded, and equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit and the teaching by their parents through God's Word and the gospel in how to enter, engage, and be protected from the world.
1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
I John 5:4-5 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Are you making assumptions about your child’s spiritual new birth? To have an offensive mind-set in parenting is to assume your child needs daily the power of new birth in Christ. It is a strategy that daily addresses the child’s heart, their sin, and the gospel before worrying about their environment.
The way the heart is addressed is with the gospel. It is teaching it daily, modeling it daily, and centering your home upon it. It is showing your children that overcoming the world is not done by retreating, but by seeing the beauty and excellence of Jesus Christ. We conquer our lusts with a greater passion, Jesus Christ.
A gospel-centered home is confident in the power of the message of the cross to transform children from the heart outward. The world is not more powerful than Christ. John 16:33 states, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” Through what God can do to change our children’s hearts and by using us as parents, our children can face the challenges of the world and fight off the allurements.
Preach the gospel everyday to yourself and to your children.
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