Spare the Rod: The Heart of the Matter
We last left off with the woman who authored this article trying to make some contrasts about behaviors before and after Jesus Christ, attempting to try and show that because things are now different after Christ's death and resurrection, parents don't have to discipline their children as they did prior to Jesus Christ having died on the cross, because in paying the price for sin, children are naturally less sinful than they were before. Or something like that.
I'll try to let her explain it.
My point is summed up in this verse:
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
In other words, if you feel bound by those five verses, then you must be bound by all.
If you recognize the wisdom in the good advice given in five verses, then you are bound to The Law, which is completely distinct from the passages in Proverbs.
Get that?
If you're "bound" to the advice given by Solomon in Proverbs, you're bound to all of The Law that God gave to Moses and the descendants of Israel.
Stupid stupid stupid.
People who aren't smart can't tell the difference between things. They literally cannot perceive a distinction in the patterns, they just see more of the same.
To say that this woman is stupid because she can't tell the difference between The Law and wisdom is being kind.
If you truly believe that those five verses have been interpreted correctly and that “spare the rod, spoil the child” (Note: There is no verse in the Bible that says ”spare the rod, spoil the child.” That phrase is actually from a satirical poem called Hudibras by Samuel Butler first published in 1662.) refers to an actual physical rod (instead of a symbol of guidance and loving correction…i.e. discipleship) and that the word used for ‘child’ refers to a toddler or small child instead of the actual linguistic translation meaning ‘young man,’ then so be it.
She hopes that nobody can tell the difference between "believing" and "knowing".
We can know what the verses literally say, there isn't any belief involved at all.
It's the folks who don't like what is said that must put their faith in twisting meaning in order to make themselves feel better.
Further, why wait till the end of the article to admit defeat? If her goal isn't to convince of truth, then she's just wanting to express how she feels.
How one woman feels is irrelevant to what the Bible teaches as good parenting.
But do you really believe that Jesus’ New Covenant is for everyone except children? That grace, mercy, unconditional love, and forgiveness are for adults only?
The disciples made that mistake, and Jesus said to them,
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16)
Five verses with questionable interpretations versus following Jesus’ example…no contest. [end excerpt]
Jesus' New Covenant doesn't apply to anyone that has rejected it, and we're not "born Holy", accepting it by default.
We're born in rebellion, spiritually dead.
And so the terms of the new covenant, the grace and mercy afforded by it, don't matter until faith has been placed in Jesus Christ.
Until the terms of the New Covenant has been accepted, they don't apply.
God's love may be unconditional, but salvation is not.
All have sinned, but not all will accept the gift of salvation.
God's love for those who have rejected God's love doesn't matter. What God did on their behalf is nullified by their rebellion, and so all that will be left is God's justice and wrath.
If folks don't understand that, adult or child, they will not grasp the weight and importance of salvation.
That is the point of the Gospel, that is the "good news", that we have hope.
Her last contributions are that of a footnote:
*Note: Hebrew is a very descriptive, picturesque (i.e. visual) language. In describing something that is out of the ordinary, words were often used to convey a deeper meaning using word pictures. That is the case with the word na’ar which means, literally, ‘independent male’ and refers to a young man, but is also used as a word picture in rare circumstances to convey an unnatural independence when referring to an infant or young child who has been ‘ripped away’ or become unnaturally ‘independent’ from the nurturing presence of a parent. This is the case with Moses as he was placed in a basket and sent away from his mother as an infant (yeled in Hebrew throughout the text of the Exodus account except for one word picture, na’ar, indicating the baby’s separation from his mother) and with Samuel who was left at the temple by his mother at a young age. In those unique instances, the word picture of a male made independent by unnatural circumstances is conveyed by the use of the word na’ar. In every other instance, na’ar literally means a male of independent age, a young man.
This woman is a worker of evil, seeking to spread hatred among parents, teaching them that in Jesus' name "what was good is now evil, and what was evil is now good". Her message is not the first of its kind, it won't be the last, and we're already seeing the terrible fruits that such a spirit brings forth in due time.
It is hatred of your children to not guide and direct them in an effective manner, whatever that ultimately requires of the parent. It is hatred of your children to leave them unskilled, undisciplined, unprepared to deal with life, and with a terrible ignorance as to the full nature of the God that will one day judge their eternal fate.
It is not love to look at sinful behavior and call it "acceptable", to make no effort to refine and teach as circumstances require. God was never passive.
Boys and girls respond to correction and rebuke differently, and I can speak to that with personal experience. Even what works with one boy won't work with another either, so even within the same gender, there are significant differences in how a child reacts to a parent providing rebuke.
To eliminate a viable means of correction is to spread hate. It is to pretend that the children which require more correction do not deserve the perseverance and commitment of their parents to the instruction that is required of that child. It is to play favorites with personalities, which were uniquely crafted by God, under the pretense that because of Jesus' sacrifice, children are now born Holy, with natural desires to remain Holy, and parents need only get out of their way for that process to work out.
When parents, together, correctly demonstrate all the attributes of God, then a child can have opportunity to grow in understanding as time goes on, being able to see how man and woman, together, embody the fullness of God in all things, both the attributes we find attractive and the ones which we don't because they require change of us from our sinful state.
For a final anecdote of the historical extremes that the author is clearly ignorant of, it wasn't until after Rome prohibited fathers from being able to execute significantly unruly children that Rome fell. It was a consistent departure from discipline, not an oppressive application of it, that signaled the end of that empire.
The truth is that children are born in rebellion, against their parents and against God, and parents need to fight hard to overcome such rebellion because both the temporal and eternal fate of their children is directly affected by the parent's choices in such matters.
Keep struggling parents, keep trying to the extent you are able. Jesus Christ has already died, so calibrate your sacrifices accordingly, but also know that the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you can give strength to do that which you could not do on your own. Like discipline a child because you love them and care for their future more than how you feel.
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