"I can only pray.
Because what kind of parent would I be if I let my own daughter die?
And what kind of preacher would I be if I denied Jesus?”"
from "Forsaken" by James David Jordan
I assume no one would disagree with the image at the right. While we (hopefully) joke about things like -
"do what I say, not what I do" -
I would hope that's not the core of someone's parenting strategy.
Having said that, in the interest of full disclosure - I think I learned more about how I should not treat people from my own parents than I did about how I should treat people. So it's not like this is a universal theme that every parent uses.
Which would you choose?
The thing is though -
if you were in the unfortunate position of having to choose between those two alternatives -
letting your child die -
or denying that Jesus is the Son of God - which would you choose?
It's not a position I'd want to be in.
Strictly speaking - I, like many of you, will never be in that position, because I don't have a son or daughter.
But I do have my wife.
Hopefully - we all have someone that we share a special relationship with - and that we care about very much.
So - what would we do?
Some examples
As a Christian - I think the place we should look to for guidance is the Bible.
After all - we claim to be children of God.
We call the first person of the Trinity our Father.
Based on the sentiment of modeling what's best for our children - and believing that God is a loving God - why would we not go there?
So - the example I thought of right away is not the one that came up in the book. The book went to Abraham and Isaac - as we see in Genesis -
Abraham Tested
Ge 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Ge 22:2 Then God said, “Take your son , your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Ge 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Ge 22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Ge 22:8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
Ge 22:9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
This example is even more extreme that the quote from the book. Rather than "allowing" Isaac to be killed, Abraham is in the position of being the one who's asked to do the killing of his son. To make it worse - God's the one asking Him to do the killing.
How hard would that be?
And yet - Abraham was all set to do exactly that.
Paul write this about Abraham in Romans -
Abraham Justified by Faith
Ro 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Note - Abraham was justified, not by his works, by his faith.
Abraham was justified, not because he would have killed Isaac, but because he trusted God that everything would be "OK".
There's a fine line there - but it's not the same.
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LOVE! With two kids with genetic disorders I’ve had to answer the tough questions, rely on faith, and ultimately BELIEVE God, not just IN Him, but actually believe Him. Often go back to Abraham to remind myself what that looks like! 😉 Thank you!
You are most welcome. Even more so, you are so blessed to be living so closely with Him! You will certainly hear Him tell you – “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Just reading your comment makes me want to cry (in a happy way).
Okay, now I get tears. What better joy than the thought any thing I’ll do here would be seen as a “good and faithful servant”?! Praying over this thought tonight. Thank you!
Isn’t that exactly the way our Lord said it would be –
Mt 25:37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
Mt 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’