Paul must have found it far from easy to give advice to parents about the upbringing of children. It is one of those duties that are thrust upon us when we lack the training and the perception to do a job well, if at all.
We see this in Ephesians 6.4. Paul says: ‘Children, obey your parents for it is only right that they should.’
Translations vary. ‘Don’t goad your children,’ says one translator. ‘Don’t be hard on them,’ says another. ‘Do not exasperate your children,’ says another If it is hard to find a good translation for Paul’s words, it is harder still to implement the right policies.
Frances Alexander, bishop’s wife, followed Paul’s lead. ‘Christian children, all should be /Mild, obedient, good as he.’ The difficult is that mildness does not come naturally to a growing child. Being dutiful has its problems too.
We know very little about the upbringing of Jesus. We have the almost ecstatic summary at the end of Luke 2: ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man. We find the idea of a boy growing up without dissent, disappointment or testing the boundaries beyond the imagination.
But then we have to remember that Jesus told us to be perfect. (Matthew 5.48) That was the Father’s expectation. Perfection does not become any more accessible as we mature. Doubtless being even-tempered is part of it. Somewhere a sense of humour must prevail. And then there is the balance to be struck between the ambition of the mature and the fumbling of the immature. There is the little matter of how far encouragement should go in urging risk-taking and record-breaking or applauding others as they have achieved their goals.
THE YOUNGEST … BUT
‘There is still the youngest, but he is looking after the sheep’ replied Jesse. He was hardly worth a mention in his father’s view but Samuel knew better. David proved to be the man to be king. It was he who had felled Goliath (1 Samuel 16.11). He must have learned a thing or two looking after those sheep.
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