Lesson number three: Authority is not a bad thing, it’s how you use it…
Authority - can’t live with it, can’t live without it. No one in their right mind would advocate anarchy as the way to go. We all know that if there were no law and nobody enforcing that law, mass chaos would ensue - crime and violence would go unchecked, running their full course. We need the order, protection, and stability that authority brings us. But while we admit authority is necessary, we also often feel it is a necessary evil. Bottom line: you can’t trust authority.
Our recognition of the need for authority is matched by our disdain for it and a ‘don’t tell me what to do’ attitude. Authority is all fine and dandy until it comes knocking on your front door or, perhaps more accurately, on your card window. We disdain authority because to us it limits our freedom and autonomy. Our origins and values as a country lend itself to this perception of authority.
As a camp counselor, having authority and enforcing it was not easy, particularly with the older kids. They don’t want you telling them what to do; authority in their minds is synonymous with control. Why do we have authority over children? Is it because we are better than them? Is it because we are less sinful than they are? No. I came to see that we are given authority to discharge a trust from God, and authority is needed to discharge that trust effectively.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Love and Discipline
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Rev 3:19
Lesson number two: discipline should not be punitive or done in anger…
Admittedly, this was the one I struggled with the most this summer. Have you ever found yourself thinking that love and discipline are two separate things? I have. I know many parents would say they struggle to find a balance between loving their child and disciplining them. But, without realizing it, we are implying that love is only warm and fuzzy while discipline is cold and harsh.
Perhaps we define it this way because that has been our own experience. But the discipline of the Lord is very different from human discipline. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?…Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it…” (Heb 12:5-7,9).
I think we need to redefine the word discipline. The word ‘discipline’ comes from the word ‘disciple.’ Children are disciples - little pupils, if you will. Little pupils of what exactly? Well, of those raising them. When we raise a child, we are ultimately instructing them in the ways of life, or more particularly, our ways of life - our standards, our beliefs, and our way of doing things. We show them how life should be lived. In an interesting way, they are little disciples of, well…us.
Lesson number two: discipline should not be punitive or done in anger…
Admittedly, this was the one I struggled with the most this summer. Have you ever found yourself thinking that love and discipline are two separate things? I have. I know many parents would say they struggle to find a balance between loving their child and disciplining them. But, without realizing it, we are implying that love is only warm and fuzzy while discipline is cold and harsh.
Perhaps we define it this way because that has been our own experience. But the discipline of the Lord is very different from human discipline. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?…Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it…” (Heb 12:5-7,9).
I think we need to redefine the word discipline. The word ‘discipline’ comes from the word ‘disciple.’ Children are disciples - little pupils, if you will. Little pupils of what exactly? Well, of those raising them. When we raise a child, we are ultimately instructing them in the ways of life, or more particularly, our ways of life - our standards, our beliefs, and our way of doing things. We show them how life should be lived. In an interesting way, they are little disciples of, well…us.
Discipline
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you (Deut 8:5)
My summer has been a marvelous journey of ups and downs. I spent my summer working as a camp counselor with a local children’s ministry at a nearby church. I have worked with this ministry as a camp counselor several times before, and I always walk away learning something new. This time, I intend to chronicle what I learned. But a brief disclaimer, even as I share my learnings I can’t really claim sainthood. I don’t have it all together in these areas; if anything, this summer I came to see how I fall short of the ideal. As a camp counselor I came face-to-face with my own impatience. Coming into the summer I felt like such a gentle and patient person. Well, I was wrong. My patience and gentleness hit their limits, limits that I didn’t know were there. Children are a sanctifying fire of their own, trust me. But I am sure the Lord will continue to work on such things in me.
Lesson number one: you are never too old for discipline…
I would like to thank junior camp (the 4-6 year olds) for teaching me this lesson. I believe God made this age cute to help keep us from giving full vent to our anger. Their blatant rebellion and open disobedience would warrant greater punitive measures if it wasn’t for their darn cuteness. How can I be angry with you when your cheeks always look like a never-ending game of chubby bunny and your eyes are so googly? Still, they know what they are doing.
As my junior campers and I were walking to the classroom one kid decided to throw his lunch box across the ground, resulting in me announcing a new rule: no more throwing your lunch box across the ground. Of course, even if the urge to throw their lunchbox had never come across their mind, suddenly the desire appeared simply because you said not to. It was like a light when off in this one kid’s head: she said not, so now I want to. That’s when junior decided to test me…he threw his lunch box. And I stopped and stared at him incredulously.
My summer has been a marvelous journey of ups and downs. I spent my summer working as a camp counselor with a local children’s ministry at a nearby church. I have worked with this ministry as a camp counselor several times before, and I always walk away learning something new. This time, I intend to chronicle what I learned. But a brief disclaimer, even as I share my learnings I can’t really claim sainthood. I don’t have it all together in these areas; if anything, this summer I came to see how I fall short of the ideal. As a camp counselor I came face-to-face with my own impatience. Coming into the summer I felt like such a gentle and patient person. Well, I was wrong. My patience and gentleness hit their limits, limits that I didn’t know were there. Children are a sanctifying fire of their own, trust me. But I am sure the Lord will continue to work on such things in me.
Lesson number one: you are never too old for discipline…
I would like to thank junior camp (the 4-6 year olds) for teaching me this lesson. I believe God made this age cute to help keep us from giving full vent to our anger. Their blatant rebellion and open disobedience would warrant greater punitive measures if it wasn’t for their darn cuteness. How can I be angry with you when your cheeks always look like a never-ending game of chubby bunny and your eyes are so googly? Still, they know what they are doing.
As my junior campers and I were walking to the classroom one kid decided to throw his lunch box across the ground, resulting in me announcing a new rule: no more throwing your lunch box across the ground. Of course, even if the urge to throw their lunchbox had never come across their mind, suddenly the desire appeared simply because you said not to. It was like a light when off in this one kid’s head: she said not, so now I want to. That’s when junior decided to test me…he threw his lunch box. And I stopped and stared at him incredulously.
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