The discussion on Facebook this week was about people who serve as an alternate Father/Mother figure in our lives. It was fun to hear about those people who are wonderful blessings in your lives
Digging In:
Take a look at 1 Timothy 5.
1 Timothy chapter 5 is teaching Timothy how to organize the
care for widows in the congregation. A
lot of time in the chapter is devoted to that. But, the beginning of the
chapter also set the tone for the way that God wants the church to function as
a family. The chapter starts this way:
“Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but
exhort him as if he were your father.
Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers,
and younger women as
sisters, with absolute purity.”
-1 Timothy 5:1-2
When I walk into a church, the variety is
beautiful to me. It always seems like The Holy Spirit is at work when I see a
church with a contrast of ages, and stages of life. I love seeing in person
what I know to be true of the invisible church. In God’s family, some are
healthy and some are sick. Some are richer and some are poorer. Some are 4.0 students,
and some are struggling to get by. Some are beautiful by the world’s standards,
and some are beautiful in spirit. There are leaders and followers. There are people
who are thinkers and people who are feelers. Introverts and extroverts sit next
to each other in the pew. And a spiritual family connects all of these people.
Jesus Christ walked on earth and he was
surrounded by the whole spectrum of people. We see him showing love and caring
for people of all “walks of life”. And because the leaders of his day paid
special attention to themselves and those people like them, Jesus paid special
attention to include average people and rejected people in his family.
We are loved by that same God, in that same
unbiased, all-inclusive way. What a blessing that is. I so often want to
celebrate that when I see it in an earthly church, or in a spiritual community.
In the next verses, God wants to make sure
that the presence of this spiritual family does not destroy the earthly family.
He writes this next section so that we don’t leave behind caring for the family
we have here, just because we have an eternal family:
“Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in
need.
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of
all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so
repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”
-1 Timothy 5:3-4
I talked to some middle schoolers last week. We talked about
what it would be like when they had to apply for jobs and they went to the
interview. One girl responded by saying, “I’m not gonna work. I’m gonna live at
home and enjoy everything my parents worked for.” This might seem funny to an 8th
grader. But the real, adult truth in this world is that our parents and
grandparents take care of us when we are young. Physically, and hopefully
spiritually, they pave the way for us so that we can grow up in a safe and
smooth environment. Then it is our responsibility to put ourselves in a
position to care for them when we are able to.
There was a time in the world (and this still happens in
other countries all the time) when there was no such thing as a teenager. You
went from being a child to being an adult (around age 13-15). You got married,
farmed, had babies, went to war, and matured, until you were ready to be the matriarch
and patriarch of your household sometime between the age 25 and 35. In current American
culture, some of you will be in school that long. And certainly we consider
most of you “adolescents” until you get to age 25. That’s one of the things
that I have always loved about junior staff. We give you a real job to do. You
can contribute. You have an important responsibility. You have gifts to use,
and you use them.
The message has two parts then.
- First, respect those people who are older than you or younger than you. God’s church is beautifully made up of all types of people. Let our lives be the same way.
- Second, wisely and unselfishly care for those who are in your family. Take responsibility for them. This includes your earthly family, and your spiritual family.
Reflection:
What is one part of your life where you regularly spend time
with a group of adults in your life right now? What impact does that have on
you, and them?
If there is not a part of your life like that, what
opportunity do you have to become a part of that sort of community?
Bonus question:
In what part of your life have you already had to shoulder
the burden of a grown-up? What effect has that had on you?
As a homeschooler, and -huge- part of my time is spent interacting with adults. At most social gatherings I go to, the kids join in on the adult's conversations and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteParents also play a major role in the planning of everything. And sometimes that gets a little smothering, to be honest (especially with things like prom).
For the most part, however, interacting with adults isn't too bad. They have more life experience, they've already been through things that I go through, (and better stories) so they do give better advice when you really need it.
Since I for sure decided to be a pastor, my church has given me so many cool opportunities and most of them involve being with adults. Sitting in on church council meetings and going to conferences with my pastor really opened my eyes. Through these times that I get to spend full days with just adults I've learned how they think about my generation. It's nice to have conversations with grown ups because I learn their side of issues. Sometimes as a teenager I often fall into the temptation of thinking I just know everything, but God shows me that I am still learning through these times I am with them. I get to understand how adults talk to each other, treat each other, and behave over all. It is way different than how I act now, but they set a fantastic example for me to strive for.
ReplyDeleteWell, I really appreciated hearing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I was thinking about is the fact that the stories that i loved, and continue to love often have the aspect of a youth, coming into adulthood with a special adult mentor.
Besides the obvious ones like Luke SKywalker with Obiwan, and Frodo with Gandalf, there are adult mentors in books like stargirl, The View From Saturday, and the professor in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe.
In movies, there are robin william's characters in Good Will Hunting and Dead Poet's Society, and Sean Connery's character in Finding Forrester.
I'm sure there are many more, like Proffessor X in X-men that i also found compelling.
I guess I just treasure the mentoring relationship idea....
One of the struggles Jerry is how to spend time with people who have less experience than us (old people) and not treat you poorly because of it.
ReplyDelete