Simi Valley, CA 2011: Arianna hides in the faux Berlin Wall waiting for rescue. Parents in Christ must first protect their children by telling them the truth that the children may make real decisions for themselves one day.
From Trent Ling:
This ministry is legendarily sharp with the Scriptures. We expect the bible to deliver us into greater and greater truth and service; and the disciples in this ministry understand this fact and calling. It is life in Christ, and we consider it pure joy, even when we wouldn’t call it “fun.”
Despite that often painful and pruning relationship with God (and with each other), the disciples are called to love. Now, love always protects. 1 Corinthians 13:7. With perfect calibration from heaven, God may appropriately slice and dice our grown-up lives. However, we are to protect our children from that spiritual carnage which remains uniquely our own to endure and survive.
The ministry children are parentally loved, and thereby protected, as the Scriptures demand. These children do not have to bear our burdens, carry our crosses, or endure our sufferings. Additionally, they should not have to monitor us, figure us out, or otherwise determine what kind of “day” we may be having.
We know the Kingdom of Heaven is already for these children. Matthew 19:14. We are the ones in need of correction, rebuke, and pruning. The last thing they need in their lives is our hard-pressed gig! Our lives in Christ are intense, but the difficulties in that should never spill over and into the laps of our underage and ill-equipped children. They need protection from falsehoods and from the burdens of adulthood. Our love from Christ must reliably flow to them by protecting them accordingly.
As you can see and imagine, the ministry kids never had it so good! If other children could know the mature secrets of the Kingdom of God, their only wish would be for their parents to be disciples of Jesus. There is no greater deal, comfort, or protection for them. For that, they would gladly surrender their overpriced trinkets.
Sadly, the essential question is whether you will forego your own embarrassingly treasured trinkets in order to seek, gain, and live life in Christ? Must your children’s chances at life and truth wait until they get out from under your roof, your rules, and your ridiculousness? Next time you tell them that you “love” them, recall that today you were afforded an opportunity to prove your words true.
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