Book Review

I have a gem of a book to share with you.

No, the grace message isn't anything new. No, it isn't an "off" message preached by wonky Bible teachers, whose churches are in danger of becoming "cult-ish". It is rather the very Gospel of Christ! But it is so little preached that when a pastor preaches it purely, without any mixture, legalists and legalistas get all tore up and suspicious.

We've been fed a diet of decades of topical preaching, our spiritual foundation being built on the doctrines of dead moralists. The Gospel of the scandalous grace of God is almost never systematically taught, week in and week out, for as long as it takes.

But it is being preached and taught, more and more. I've said it before, but it bears repeating - my Preacher and I have, in years past, refrained from name dropping as we've labored to bring the saints along in the gospel. Why? Why not invoke a name here or there, to support what we are teaching? Well, because in our experience, when people don't 'get it', after long and patient labor, it is because they don't want to get it - they prefer the veil of the law. They enjoy the feeling of superiority the law lends them. Dropping a well known name or a waving a book will not convince them, if they are refusing to receive the message from their own pastor, who has always loved them and shown them nothing but integrity and faithful relationship.

However, those of us who have repented of our law-addiction, who have forsaken the veil, it is good for us to read and learn all we can. We live for this gospel! We devour it from our Bibles, from our pastor, from our relationships with one another.

The number one question I have been asked, as Tim and I have been teaching the Gospel over many years is, "How does all this grace I am learning about apply to my parenting?"

I want to enthusiastically recommend to you a book by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick. (Yeah...um...major Christian author and speaker. Internationally recognized. Not your "cult" material. Will legalists please, please get intellectually vigorous, do your homework, and get a clue?)

The title is "Give Them Grace - Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus".

The forward of this book is written by Tullian Tchividjian. (Billy Graham's grandson, and pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian. Yeah...um...as in the Coral Ridge Presbyterian. Not exactly a "fringe movement". Clues, clues, people. They abound if you would but recognize them!)

...and the forward, all by itself, is an education in theology. Here are some underlined bits:

"The biggest lie about grace that Satan wants Christian parents to buy is the idea that grace is dangerous and therefore needs to be "kept in check". By believing this, we not only prove we don't understand grace, but we violate gospel advancement in the lives of our children. A "yes, grace, but..."disposition is the kind of fearful posture that keeps moralism swirling around in their hearts. And if there is anything God hates, it's moralism!"

When Elyse, (a woman with three grown children, six grandchildren, and her Master's from Trinity Theological Seminary), when she takes over in chapter one, it gets even better! Her premise is that the only change-agent for our children, is the only change-agent that works in our lives as parents - the Gospel. Only the Gospel will raise children that radically love God.

Proof: the law, or even more likely a mixture of law and grace, has held sway in our churches, for the most part, for more than a generation. The result is that 60-88% of our children are forsaking the faith when they leave home. Our kids are leaving the church in droves, because all we have had to offer them is an anemic Jesus who cares about behavior modification, mostly. Jesus wants them to be good, work hard, have the right friends, go to college and get a job.

The Jesus we've been presenting our children cares about the same moral modification that the Mormon Jesus cares about, and that Allah of Islam cares about. New Covenant Christian parents often don't deal with their children in any way that is radically different than a hasidic Jewish father (which is a term not to be confused with a Christian father...). Yet the way we relate to God changed utterly, under the New Covenant.

Aw, just get the book. Please, please. If you are a parent, it will educate and bless and challenge you.