Thoughts from there and there…Defining Purpose
I was asked what was the purpose of the “Christianity?” In answer to the question I said, “The purpose of Christianity is to recreate in human beings the image of God in all its fullness, and to prepare us for immortality.” The church and family are the primary places where this purpose is realized.
This I might also ask you to consider this question: “What is the purpose of the family?” I use the word “family” in its broadest context. The question might be answered in this way: “The purpose of the family is to provide a place where adults and children may grow and realize human maturity in all its fullness, and prepare them for life.” But and this is a rather large “but,” who decides the meaning of maturity?
In the context of the Christian, this question is answered by God. The Apostle Paul writes about the gifts that are given to the people in the church by saying “that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (Ephesians 4:11b-15a, NRSV).
This demonstrates that only God can define maturity. We cannot because we do not have the wisdom nor the skills to be able to do so. I know that there are people who will argue with me on this point, but consider this: Only God can clearly evaluate who and what we truly are, and God has a lot to say about the limitations of human mind and will.
If we are going to help our children to grow up to be children of God, responsible citizens, realizing their fullest potential for mental and physical growth, there is an important principle that we ought to keep in mind. One of the most important understandings that may be achieved is this: That there is no one fixed point when a human being may rest and say I have arrived. John Powell in “Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am,” draws this conclusion:
“There is no fixed, true and real person inside of you or me, precisely because being a person necessarily implies becoming a person, being in process. If I am anything as a person it is what I think judge feel value honor esteem like love hate fear desire hope for believe in and am committed to. These are the things that define my person, and they are constantly in process, in the process of change. Unless my mind and heart are hopelessly barricaded, all these things that define me as a person are forever changing.”
If we will embrace it, this defines the purpose of the family. It helps us to better understand parenthood. It takes a lot of wisdom, insight, and good old fashioned hard work to be a parent, not only in 2004, but at anytime before now.
This is the point that Morris L. West attempted to make in his famous book, “the Shoes of the Fisherman.” He wrote:
“It costs too much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage, to pay the price…One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying,” Morris L. West in The Shoes of the Fisherman.
Rather than seeking to protect our children from that which we believe to be harmful to them and detrimental to their growth, we should seek to equip them with the knowledge, and role models that will help them to be able to successfully meet the challenges that they will face.