Why We Fail

It has been a strange and busy week filled with family visits and lots of issues related to my family and to the families at Good News.  As I have reflected on some of the ongoing issues inside these families I have seen example after example of adults failing to be parents.  They simply refuse to become responsible adults, leaving their children with nothing of substance except the 'image' they desire to paint of themselves.  The irony of it all is that the only person that is fooled by that image is them.  Why do these parents systemically fail?  Two reasons.
First they forget to accept the deity of Jesus (my topic for Sunday).  This sounds like a simple and foundational truth.  Jesus is fully God.  However these people have placed their image in the pace of Jesus as their God.  When stressed they choose their own path, even when they know God's path.  When challenged to be humble they become proud and all-powerful, becoming control freaks.  When life challenges them to submit to God's plan they choose what is easiest, most expedient and (short term) most beneficial to them.
Second, they refuse to be adults.  One story involves the resolve to simply love his family enough to warn them and lead them away from evils that are destroying the lives of a spouse and children.  The evils are evident and known by many inside and outside the family.  Yet, enabling them is simpler, easier and involves less effort.  I am deeply troubled that someone who has chosen to bring children into the world and has promised to love "in sickness and health" would do this.
Jesus gave a warning to those adults that continue to do these irresponsible and cowardly things.  He says "If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
This passage tells the whole story.  God is God whether we accept it or not, and those responsible for the 'little ones' will be held accountable.  God is watching.  As Jerry preached about John the Baptist, we are all called to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Believe.  Become the adult God made you to be.  Be real, not some self-created image.  And place God in the rightful position in your family.  AMEN. Pastor Randy