Respecting the 'rents

This Wednesday I have the privilege of talking to my students about respecting and obeying their parents. Colossians 3:20 puts it pretty plainly: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to God." No students are exempt. The command is pretty blunt. The scope is rather broad. And the reason is very clear.

I can recall plenty of times as a child where I chose to test the disciplinary limits of my parents. Now, I wasn't one of those kids who was out of control or went on crime sprees, but I did have a pretty quick tongue that lashed out with sharp wit and sassy talk back that had me running from certain punishment on a regular basis. My parents would quickly remind me of the pecking order in our house, a ladder whose rungs I had really yet to climb. As I seek to raise my own children to be respectful I am all the more grateful for the lessons (sometimes painful) that I learned about obedience and respect as a child.

Sometimes I question whether or not I am too hard on my own children when it comes to obedience and respect. But then I imagine how horrified I would be if my kids spoke to adults like I see so many other young people doing today (no, I'm not shaking my cane at all the whipper snappers out there - I'm just calling it as I see it). Let's be honest, there are a lot of young people today who have zero respect for their parents and this trickles down to all others areas of their lives.

I've overheard the phone conversations that students have with their parents, the way they raise their voice and speak to them as if they were their little brother or sister caught stealing stuff from their room. I've been an eyewitness on many occasions where the requests of parents have fallen on the deaf ears of children who choose to live by their own agenda. And I've seen parents broken down and defeated by children who refuse to listen and obey.

Truth be told, my parents never beat me as a child but then again they never had to. I learned quickly that mom and dad meant business and if I wanted a long and healthy childhood then I had better learn from my mistakes and get used to doing as I was told. Ask my own kids how many times they get "the look" from daddy when he makes a request and it doesn't get followed. The number one goal for two of my four children has been fulfilled - the two oldest are followers of Christ. Yet if I succeed at nothing else as a father let my children at least be respectful of other people.