I heard it on the radio

I haven't written an "I heard it on the radio" post lately, and tonight I heard something that I felt was worthy of a post.

The speaker, Chip Ingram, was speaking about the importance of parental authority in the complicated equation of raising children to be responsible and independent adults.  He stressed that children need to be taught to respect and obey their parents.  Those attitudes and actions are not ones that come naturally.  Just as a puppy or kitten needs to be trained to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior, children need to be trained; they need to know what is expected of them and they need to know what will not be tolerated. 

One of the keys to achieving these outcomes lies with parents -- good parents love their children and train and discipline them fairly and consistently.  If children feel loved and secure, they will be more likely to respect and obey their parents.

Some people will say that, in regards to this issue, there is a difference between the response of young children vs. the response of tweens and adolescents -- they're probably partially right.  Even with the most submissive kids, there's often a little bit of an attitude factor that occurs during the teenage years.  An anonymous quote (misattributed to Mark Twain) says "When I was seventeen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to be around him.  By the time I turned twenty-five, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in the last eight years."

Children may feel that they know more, or better, than their parents, and consequently don't need to respect and/or obey them.  But we need only look to Jesus, our perfect model and pattern, to see the exemplary response he set for us all.  Jesus -- fully human and, at the same time, fully divine -- did know more than his parents.  And yet, He respected and obeyed them.  

If the Son of God obeyed His earthly parents in all things, who are we to do any less?