Reading through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we may recoil at the fury of God’s wrath upon Judah. If we had been on the scene, however, if we had seen babies passed through the flames and sacrificed to the sun god (Jer. 19:5; Ezk. 16:20-21), our own fury might well have exceeded the Lord’s.
Here were children wholly at the mercy of their parents. They could have been raised with love, experiencing all of the joys of a caring family. Instead, they were incinerated in useless worship to a nonexistent god.
Nothing could more dramatically underscore the impact parents have on their children.
A parallel today
Literally sacrificing children today would land a person in jail for murder. Yet, as we know, evils are rampant around us which come very close to doing the same thing.
The abortion debate continues to make regular news but that is not the only example of adult conduct working serious harm on children. The unborn are harmed by mothers who smoke, drink or are on drugs. Children are frequently viewed as the primary victims of divorce. Many problems manifested by adults are attributed to their childhood experiences — abused children make abusive parents, family conditions contribute to gay adults, welfare cases continue generation after generation.
In fact, the impact parents can have on their children can be frightening.
In the ecclesia
We see it in the ecclesial world.
Some brethren and sisters will not take their children to Bible schools because they want to use their vacation time for a complete break from routine and schedules. What is this but sacrificing our children’s welfare for our own pleasure?
Some parents do not take their children to Bible class because they find it burdensome to get out after a day of work or they do not want to bother organizing activities for the children.
Some parents move their children into isolation because they can not get along in an ecclesial environment or they find it advantageous to their temporal ambitions. The children thus are almost forced to form associations with the world which frequently lead them away from the ecclesia.
Some areas of the ecclesial world have come to regret keeping their children from the memorial service. The absence of children may mean a more reverential silence but it fails to develop the ecclesial ties that later assist children in committing themselves to the Truth. Again, the welfare of the child is sacrificed by the parent.
Some parents are in a continual state of complaining about the ecclesia or individual members. The child hears this from his parents, a source he is supposed to respect, and will likely grow up with a negative attitude toward brethren and sisters and the truth itself.
Day by day
In the privacy of family life, the impact of parents on children is seen over and over.
Mothers will frequently not want to be bothered reading to or working with their children. They use TV as a convenient babysitter, sometimes without regard to what the child is watching. The little one cannot help being attracted by the sights and sounds before him and is in danger of developing a lifelong habit of wasting hours before the tube.
Fathers will often forsake leading the family in reading scripture because they don’t want to put up with the tedium of slow readers. They thus sacrifice the spiritual education of their children to their own convenience. We can even have the apparently valid excuse of working on ecclesial projects, teaching a class or researching a scriptural point. These are necessary activities, but they must not exclude nurturing our own children. Otherwise we may end up helping to save someone else while our own children never grow in the knowledge and admonition of the word.
Atmosphere of the home
Then there is the atmosphere of the home. Parents who bicker and quarrel much of the time create uncertainty, confusion and fear in a child’s mind. Many times the child feels guilt for being somehow responsible for the trouble. But what can he do about it? He cannot sit his parents down, give them some wise advice and work toward peace and harmony. All he can do is slink quietly to his own room victimized by his parents’ conduct.
What an entirely different effect occurs when the home is permeated by living faith and active enthusiasm for the ecclesia and the word of God. Without being conscious of any deliberate training, the child grows up believing firmly in God, in the Lord Jesus and in the importance of serving the family of God. Children can be the victims of our wrong conduct and they can be the beneficiaries of our right ways.
Children are mimics
Sometimes it frightens us when we see ourselves in our children. We may never have suggested they should vigorously pursue a beautiful appearance, or expensive furnishings or stylish clothing or flashy cars. We never set worldly goals with our lips; we did it with our actions and they are imitating us.
They do it naturally. From earliest years, we were the ones who could talk and walk and do all kinds of things they couldn’t do. So they grew up imitating us and in most ways, they’ll keep right on doing it. Many a time we see people marry into the same difficult situation which they experienced in their own family.
A remarkable opportunity
What a frightening impact we have on the attitudes and conduct of our children. It is frightening but it is a remarkable opportunity as well. We can figuratively sacrifice them to the gods of pleasure, convenience and materialism or we can do much to devote them to the living God. Let us be fully aware of the problems and the opportunities of parenthood and seek with our whole heart to raise our families in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One