Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo
A Sermon Series by Douglas Wilson for Christ Church
Child Discipline in Community (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #6)
June 2, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Numbers 12:14–15
When we baptize a child, one of the things we do is ask the congregation to take a vow together with the parents of the child. “Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child? If so, then signify by saying amen.” #ere is a very real sense in which we are all in this together. While each of us should make sure we are carrying our own load (Gal. 6:5), at the same time we should also be careful to carry one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), thus ful"lling the law of Christ. One of the things we should conclude from this is that there is a strong social component to child rearing.
Discipline as Genuine Love (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #5)
May 12, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Proverbs 13:24, Hebrews 12:5–10
In our message last Lord’s Day, we defined what we mean by the word discipline. Our subject this week is “discipline as genuine love,” and so it is important to begin with a definition of love. What does it mean to love God, and what does it mean to love our neighbor? These are the two great commandments, and so we should know what they summon us to. To love someone is to treat someone lawfully from the heart. To love God is to do what He calls us to do, and to do it from the heart. Nowhere does Scripture identify love with our emotional “feels,” that approach being an error that is currently destroying millions. At the same time, we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Dt. 6:4-9; Mark 12:30), and this would certainly include our “feels.” But this simply means that our emotions must be obedient, along with the rest of our being. But obeying commands is not the same thing as issuing commands. So loving God means doing what He says to do, from the heart. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). And His commandments include bringing up our children in the nurture and admonition, applying physical correction when necessary, and providing loving instruction all the time.
Discipline as Genuine Love (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #5)
May 5, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Proverbs 13:24, Hebrews 12:5–10
In our message last Lord’s Day, we defined what we mean by the word discipline. Our subject this week is “discipline as genuine love,” and so it is important to begin with a definition of love. What does it mean to love God, and what does it mean to love our neighbor? These are the two great commandments, and so we should know what they summon us to. To love someone is to treat someone lawfully from the heart. To love God is to do what He calls us to do, and to do it from the heart. Nowhere does Scripture identify love with our emotional “feels,” that approach being an error that is currently destroying millions. At the same time, we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Dt. 6:4-9; Mark 12:30), and this would certainly include our “feels.” But this simply means that our emotions must be obedient, along with the rest of our being. But obeying commands is not the same thing as issuing commands. So loving God means doing what He says to do, from the heart. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). And His commandments include bringing up our children in the nurture and admonition, applying physical correction when necessary, and providing loving instruction all the time.
The Nature of True Discipline (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #4)
April 28, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Ecclesiastes 8:11, 2 Peter 1:5–8, Romans 5:3–5
The title of this series of messages refers to child discipline. We have come to the point where we need to define that word discipline. What do we mean by it? The English word is descended from the Latin disciplina, which refers to a course of instruction, learning, or knowledge. Discipline is necessarily teleological, meaning that it is directed toward a particular end, that end being graduation, or completion, or maturity. The discipline is both positive and negative. The positive would include being given the harder work of fourth grade, not as punishment, but rather as a reward for having done so well in third grade. The negative aspect would be getting held back from recess for having squirreled around too much during class. But both the negative and positive are aiming at the same goal. The positive inculcates, and the negative corrects. It is important not to confound discipline and punishment. Punishment simply has justice in view, while discipline has correction in view.
Empathy and the Clowns (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #3)
April 21, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Ephesians 5:1, Psalm 103:13–14
Many Christian parents are aware of the fact that the outside world is hostile to our faith, and as a consequence is hostile to the approach we must take in bringing our children up in that faith. We are usually aware of the fact of the hostility, but we are frequently unaware of the root of that hostility. What it is that is necessitating such a radical clash? Why is it that everything seems to have come unstuck?
Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #1
April 7, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Proverbs 22:15, Proverbs 23:13–14
Over the years I have preached on marriage, and family, and child-rearing any number of times. Seeing that I am about to do it again, I need to begin by noting the way this series will overlap with the others, but also to point out a significant way that it will differ. Some of the basic principles remain constant, of course, and to refresh your thinking concerning those principles, there are a number of our books available, and recordings of previous series. But this series of messages is going to be dwelling on biblical child rearing as a profoundly countercultural thing. What does it mean to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord in a generation that is profoundly hostile to any such endeavor? That worldly hostility is expressed in countless ways—from overt persecution to surreptitious lying, and from surreptitious lying to online seduction and subversion.
Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #2
April 14, 2024 • Douglas Wilson • Romans 12:1–3
In order to work through a series of messages on parenting, it is necessary to pay some attention to the parents. The parents are the ones doing the work, and the quality of the participle (parenting) is going to be dependent on the quality of the source. If the parent is foolish, so will the parenting be. If the parent is dictatorial, so will the parenting be. If the parent is wise, so will the parenting be. So rather than turning immediately to the interactions between parent and child, it is necessary to look first at the relationship between parent and God.