Worldview Wednesday: Ambassadors of love

I took my son to camp a couple weeks ago. I know that he is 13, going into 8th grade and for all intents and purpose is a young man, hardly a little boy. Yet, it was hard for me to drop him off and leave. I was not worried about him. I was sad because I knew that I would miss him. You see, I like my children and they like each other. This affection for one another did not happen by chance it has been carefully cultivated within our family. Kindness and edification are values that define us. The world will tear us down. Our homes should be a place of discipleship making where we are build up and encouraged in love. I want my children to know that we love them no matter what, enjoy and like them for the people that they are and want them to be with us and near us.


While dropping him off, I took the babies to the playground and spoke with a girl who was probably around 8. Her family was dropping her brother off at camp. She was glad he was going to camp and expressed that she did not like her brother. When the dad came to the playground after checking the brother in, their conversation revolved around how glad they were to drop the brother off and what a great week they would have without him. What message was sent to that boy? I would say even if it was said under the guise of a joke (I say guise because this is really NOT funny) it tore him down and devalued him as a part of that family.

God designed our families to be a light to the culture around us. Ever since the first Christian families in Rome, Christian families have been different! They loved their children and saw them as a gift from God. They loved each other and instead of sacrificing children to the god's of Baal they founded orphanages and adopted them. When I gave our son the second good bye kisses and hugs, he was turning a little red. One of the boys at that table observing this said, "my parents barely slowed the van down before they dropped me off." He was saying my parents don't love me or care enough about me to stick around. They were glad to see me go. That young man recognized something different in our family and recognized a longing in himself to have that something different. Our family relationships represent the love of Christ to a lost culture. We are ambassadors of a very different love. It does not matter how big our churches are, it does not matter how many programs we run, or how many good things we do if we can not share that love with our own families.