Grace, Honor, Courage
Dear Jesus, give my children a pure and holy passion, a glorious ambition and one magnificent obsession - to run hard after you.
The following excerpt is from a sermon entitled "Discerning God's Call - When the Will of God is Scary" given by Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission in October 2006. As a father of three young children, I have big dreams and ambitions for them. I am learning, however, that wanting them to simply get a good education, a good job, and being happy and comfortable is such a low target to aim for. These aren't bad things, but there's a part of me that is increasingly being disatisfied with being too safe, too comfortable, and too regulated. And pursuing a life running hard after Christ will often lead to great risks and discomfort. Ask any of the disciples. But as Haugen powerfully states, "I think Jesus is encouraging us to raise them up to be brave, to raise them to be loving, and to raise them to be significant." I, too, want this for my three children, Hana GRACE, Sei HONOR, and Tomoki COURAGE.
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Haugen says:
"Are we raising our children to be brave or to be safe? Are we raising our children to be loving or to be smart? Raising them to be successful or significant? How does God raise his children? This marvelous quote from C.S. Lewis I’d like to have you look at for just a moment: “Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness...Kindness merely as such cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering.” My vulnerabilities as a parent are such that sometimes I just want my kids to escape suffering. But then they just can’t be good or brave.
IJM’s almost 10-years-old now, and one of the privileges I’ve had is ten years of interns at IJM. There are hundreds of them now who have served with us. And one other thing I’ve had a chance to connect to is hundreds of intern parents. We take these very young, earnest, incredibly sharp, brilliant Christian young people and send them off to these very tough places to go serve some very needy and hurting people. And this is a tough step of faith for the young people, but this is a leap of faith for the parents. It’s incredible to watch because all their life these parents have been plowing faith into their children, and the love of Jesus, and it turns out their children actually believe it! [Laughter.] And they go do it! And the parents are out of their minds!
Sometimes I wonder, because I think there comes a time when the child asks his mom and dad, “Mom and dad, why are you giving me all this stuff? Because you’ve given me food and shelter and clothing and great education and discipline and faith and structure and all these things, but mom, dad, why are you giving me all this stuff?” And the honest answer for me is that I’m giving you all this stuff so you’ll be safe. And I think my kid looks up to me and says, “Really? That’s it? That’s your grand ambition for me? That nothing bad happens?” And I think something inside them dies. And they either go away to perish in safety, or they go away looking for that adventure for which they were created, but they go away looking in the wrong place. I think Jesus is encouraging us to raise them up to be brave, to raise them to be loving, and to raise them to be significant. Sometimes I just want my kids to be safe, but I think they smell my fear and it builds little tiny prisons that can last a lifetime. On the other hand, I think I can help my kids choose to be brave, to be loving, and to be significant. And it’s the stuff that will actually dangerously change the world."
The following excerpt is from a sermon entitled "Discerning God's Call - When the Will of God is Scary" given by Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission in October 2006. As a father of three young children, I have big dreams and ambitions for them. I am learning, however, that wanting them to simply get a good education, a good job, and being happy and comfortable is such a low target to aim for. These aren't bad things, but there's a part of me that is increasingly being disatisfied with being too safe, too comfortable, and too regulated. And pursuing a life running hard after Christ will often lead to great risks and discomfort. Ask any of the disciples. But as Haugen powerfully states, "I think Jesus is encouraging us to raise them up to be brave, to raise them to be loving, and to raise them to be significant." I, too, want this for my three children, Hana GRACE, Sei HONOR, and Tomoki COURAGE.
----
Haugen says:
"Are we raising our children to be brave or to be safe? Are we raising our children to be loving or to be smart? Raising them to be successful or significant? How does God raise his children? This marvelous quote from C.S. Lewis I’d like to have you look at for just a moment: “Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness...Kindness merely as such cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering.” My vulnerabilities as a parent are such that sometimes I just want my kids to escape suffering. But then they just can’t be good or brave.
IJM’s almost 10-years-old now, and one of the privileges I’ve had is ten years of interns at IJM. There are hundreds of them now who have served with us. And one other thing I’ve had a chance to connect to is hundreds of intern parents. We take these very young, earnest, incredibly sharp, brilliant Christian young people and send them off to these very tough places to go serve some very needy and hurting people. And this is a tough step of faith for the young people, but this is a leap of faith for the parents. It’s incredible to watch because all their life these parents have been plowing faith into their children, and the love of Jesus, and it turns out their children actually believe it! [Laughter.] And they go do it! And the parents are out of their minds!
Sometimes I wonder, because I think there comes a time when the child asks his mom and dad, “Mom and dad, why are you giving me all this stuff? Because you’ve given me food and shelter and clothing and great education and discipline and faith and structure and all these things, but mom, dad, why are you giving me all this stuff?” And the honest answer for me is that I’m giving you all this stuff so you’ll be safe. And I think my kid looks up to me and says, “Really? That’s it? That’s your grand ambition for me? That nothing bad happens?” And I think something inside them dies. And they either go away to perish in safety, or they go away looking for that adventure for which they were created, but they go away looking in the wrong place. I think Jesus is encouraging us to raise them up to be brave, to raise them to be loving, and to raise them to be significant. Sometimes I just want my kids to be safe, but I think they smell my fear and it builds little tiny prisons that can last a lifetime. On the other hand, I think I can help my kids choose to be brave, to be loving, and to be significant. And it’s the stuff that will actually dangerously change the world."
posted by ERuss at
1:14 PM
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