Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Carnival Mirrors

Deana and I have been reading a book on parenting teenagers. It was a gift from a friend. She must have met our son. Really, she gave the book to several of her son's friends' moms. She must have met all of the boys!

The book is Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp. We are nearing the end of the book after a slow, thoughtful pace. Hopefully, we've learned something that will help us help Riley. Throughout the book the author reminds us that our teenage son is really no different from us and that what we expect of him must also be expected of ourselves.

Even with all the heavy-handed brow-beating, we've continued to read.

The chapter we are reading now gives us strategies for implementing the goals discussed in earlier chapters. In applying Psalm 36:1-4 to parenting, the author said teenagers (and parents, too) tend to flatter themselves too much. They think they are smarter than they are, more mature than they are, more capable than they are. Then he said this.

When they look at themselves, they don't use the perfect mirror of the Word of God, but the carnival mirrors of peer opinion, personal evaluation, and cultural norm. In those mirrors you do see yourself, but what you see is distorted, so that your legs look fat and stubby or your neck looks three feet long.

God's Word says you are fearfully and wonderfully made. The carnival mirrors say you aren't worth anything.

God's Word says he has a plan for your life. The carnival mirrors say you'll never amount to anything.

God's Word says purpose and meaning are found in relationship with Jesus Christ. The carnival mirrors say you better chase what everyone else is chasing.

As we read today I could clearly see these truths in my son, other people, and even in my wife. And it dawned on me that I am just the same when I don't focus on the Lord. That's the key for each of us: focus on the Lord, use his Word as the mirror by which we view ourselves, and seek to point to his glory rather than seek our own.

A carnival-mirror-mentality causes one person in the office to arrogantly command the others. A carnival-mirror-mentality causes one family member to be short and harsh toward the others. A carnival-mirror-mentality causes one Christian to be judgmental toward the others. A carnival-mirror-mentality causes a Christian to simply overlook the lost.

A God's-Word-mentality causes me to love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others as myself.

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