The Prodigal Teapot: Loving the Unlovable - Part 2

Last time, I asked for stories of anyone who reconciled with God and their parents due to a hard-nosed, not-in-my-house attitude. I didn't receive any, but I'm still willing to share them if I do.I'm also aware that there are loving, Godly parents whose children chose to break away from them and the Lord to never return. Those kind of instances will also play into what I have to say.

I have three children, two daughters and one son. This means that I often hurt my feet by stepping on a mix of Barbie shoes, small cars, AND Lego's  I also learned that girls and boys are innately different, and that all kids have their own personalities, quirks, and issues. One child is far more compliant than another, and the third seems to be a puzzling mix of compliance and rebellion depending on the day. They are each my favorite, and I beg them not to tell the others that I have chosen them as my "number one." Two of them love and serve the Lord and go to a church that preaches the Gospel, and another stands on the brink of being an atheist. But I love them all equally and unconditionally (most of the time-I'm not perfect either).

That child on the brink, that rebellious, almost atheist child--where did I go wrong? Did I teach that child differently than the others? Did my husband and I treat that child with undo harshness? Did we fail somewhere? The answer to all three is a resounding "yes!" But these are trick questions because we failed at some point with all three of them. We're human, and our parents failed at some point with us and their parents with them all the way back to Adam and Eve. The point is as Christian parents we taught them God's word, put them in God's hands, and now we must leave their relationship with God between them . . . and God. I can't force salvation upon them as much as I want to. I have to leave it up to the work of the Holy Spirit and God's divine will.

There have been and still are many tears and sleepless nights centered around that child. Once I was accused by a rather self-righteous school administrator that I was dragging my child down the wrong path. My heart broke because I knew that I was fighting to drag that child down the right path. I also knew that I loved my child and that this administrator did not. He saw this child as a problem and a bother. It showed in his speech and in his actions when dealing with any problem child. He literally cooed over well-behaved, cookie-cutter kids, tolerated the quirky, artsy ones, and disliked and avoided the unruly ones with all the questions until it was time for disciplinary action. I also know that as his children and nieces and nephews grew older, some rebelled and others complied, and others led double lives. And each of them has their own decision to make concerning God, just as my children do.

All of that to say, as Christian parents we have a responsibility to teach our children about God, to train them to love others, and to be helpful and kind to everyone. We teach them to do their best, and to work hard. They may or may  not learn all of these things, but we should still love them. After all, God loves all of us. Christ did not die on the cross just for the cookie cutter Christian kids, the well-behaved, and the ones who never rebel. He died for my child on the brink of atheism, my compliant child, and the one who waffles between compliance and rebellion. He died for my children's imperfect parents, and that self-righteous administrator, and his children--even the ones leading double lives.

Christ loves the unlovable, the prodigal, the obedient, the whiny, the atheist, the homeless. His arms are open to all of them until they make their final decision to love or reject Him. He is the perfect parent, and he has never turned away one repentant child.

In the next entry, I want to cover the parable of the prodigal son in Luke, and share a few ideas a friend brought up about the son who stayed home.

In His Love,
Teapotjan

Assembly Line Teapots

Teapot after teapot after teapot rolls down the conveyor belt, each like the first and the one right after. One design, one plan, one mold for all the teapots sitting side by identical side on the shelf. All shiny, and clean, just like the teapot designer wanted. All the same. All the same. Maybe a different colored flower there, and a slight change of a leaf there, but pretty much the same. Ah, bliss! No aberration, no decisions, just a teapot like all others.

I must confess that if I received one of those teapots, I'd have to paint it or ding it or something to make it different. We thrive on individuality. God made each of us different so it must be part of His plan. He doesn't want His children to be "cookie cutter" Christians. He wants us to chose Him of our own, God-given, free will. And then serve Him with our unique, God-given talents.

Look at the world He created and the variety of His creations! I doubt that He expects us all to be the same and to worship Him the same way. I know I said that I would talk about how Christians should react to the unsaved today, but a few things have come up, and I feel this is a pressing matter. My heart is burdened over a schism among His children, and I want to do what I can to help close it.

Those of you that have read this blog know that I have left big "F" Fundamentalism behind me as part of my journey from guilt to grace. But I have not left Christ or His service. In fact, I feel closer to Him now than any other time in my life. I found that I don't have to be the same as all the other "good" Christians. I don't have to wear the same clothes, I don't have to use the same Bible translation, I don't have to listen to the same music, and I don't have to worship God exactly like anyone else does. 

Recently, a Christian university in the northern part of the US made the shift to allow worship style music in their chapels, camps and programs. Some of the dress standards have relaxed-not to the point of immodesty--just more casual. It's a move I applaud. There are no doctrinal compromises. There is no desire to become more worldly. It is a move to bring the the school into the present pushing aside outdated cultural preferences. Yet many pastors and many leaders in other more conservative schools have felt the need to speak out in disagreement with the change. 

Why? Will the cause of Christ suffer because a group of people who believe the same Bible and worship the same God changed their worship style? Will Christ be more glorified if we disagree publicly with others who claim His name and serve Him? Will "compromise" send the entire Christian population down a slippery slope into Hell? NO! It will not. God's love and salvation is bigger than all of our disagreements. He deals with individuals. He leads Christians differently, and we have no reason to doubt the leading of the Holy Spirit. And we would be committing blasphemy if we dare to dictate how the Holy Spirit works with anyone other than ourselves.

Will we do more damage to the cause of Christ by separating and criticizing each other over cultural differences? Yes. Most certainly. The only thing worth complete division is a corruption of the Gospel of Christ and the foundational doctrine behind it. That's really it. Seriously. Even then, we are dealing with people who are possibly unsaved, and any division should still be handled with care for their eternal soul. As for separating from those who criticize and and divide the body of Christ, they've already done that for us. But, I stil believe we should uphold them in prayer and let the Lord do His work with them.

We aren't going to be assembly line Christians. We shouldn't be assembly line Christians. God made us individuals and He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us on how to use our individuality and talents to serve Him. We are handcrafted one of a kind works of art fashioned by our Creator.

Speaking of one of a kind, has anyone seen my cow teapot?