June 28, 2007
Unapproachable
We often see public service commercials encouraging teens to talk to their parents about sex and drugs. I can think of a few reasons teens won’t talk to their parents - fear, intimidation, or maybe a history of not being heard. I’ve known authority figures in the church that are unapproachable for the same reasons. When Jesus healed a man who was born blind, the Pharisees demanded some answers. Not satisfied with the man’s response they turned to his parents. The parents dodged the questions, “…because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 9:22 NIV) Sadly, similar situations still exist. I can identify with these parents. I hate feeling someone is lording their authority over me – it makes me feel like I’m back in high school.
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Gail;
-----I always thought my children would find me very approachable. But as I grew deeper into parenthood, I found myself too sure that my kids should be showing signs of “getting it”, in particular, those signs of which I understood and knew. After I had spent too many years trying to steer, divert, funnel, or simply scare them into the behaviors and attitudes I thought should produce those signs, I began to realize that, in the long run, they were going to take the paths they best understood. The only way I would have to effect their understanding is to spend time with them just talking and listening and then demonstrating Biblical attitudes by making Biblically directed choices. That is harder than yelling at them. And if I don’t yell at them, I have to do it even more. Somehow they become a lot more open. Thanks for the reminder.
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