Saturday, February 20, 2010

A man who owns an Acura is not interested in a Geo Metro

Here's a great passage I read this week. The context is that the author is discussing whether parents should be offensive or defensive in their efforts to bring about change. "Defensive" parents try to protect their children from the world and bank on their efforts to bring about change. "Offensive" parents hold out the gospel--Jesus Himself--and bank on showing His value as the key to their children being changed. Here it is:

"...The best way to overcome the world is not with morality or self-discipline. Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world: Christ, 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col. 2:3). A man who owns an Acura is not interested in a Geo Metro. In the same way, Christian parents try to make Christ and his kingdom glorious. Their children conquer the lusts of this world with a higher passion: the moral beauty of Christ.
"By contrast, defensive parents have little confidence in the attractiveness of the gospel. They think the world is more powerful. Fundamentally, they are not confident in the gospel's power to transform their children from the inside out. They do not believe Jesus' words, 'Take heart; I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). They have little confidence in the world-conquering power of new birth." (Gospel Powered Parenting by William Farley, 24-25)

Great book so far. You should check it out.

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