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Playing By The Rules
I
read those words in an article in “PLUGGED IN”, a wonderful resource
for
parents and youth leaders from Focus on the Family. The author, Bob
Smithouser,
was describing a pee wee soccer game where the young soccer players
were
dribbling the ball farther and farther outside the chalk lines that had
been
defined as the edge of the field of play. None of the adults in charge
were
stopping play and drawing the players back into the field. Apparently,
they
didn’t want to discourage them at this early stage in their careers.
Their
reasoning was to let them continue for now and… “They’ll
learn to play by the rules later”….. That
could pretty well describe the sentiments of apparently well meaning
educators,
advisors, and parents today. “Sure I know that there are rules, things
they
shouldn’t do, lines they shouldn’t cross.” Maybe you have heard
statements
like, “I don’t want to stifle their curiosity”; “I’ll stunt their
emotional
growth”; or “I can’t set limits, I can only give suggestions”. The
reasoning is
to let them choose, let them experiment because.. “They’ll
learn to play by the rules later”….. In
Proverbs 22:6(NLT) it says, “Teach your children to choose the right
path, and
when they are older, they will remain on it.” The method to teach
someone the
right path is not to show them hundreds and hundreds of possible paths
without
any direction on what the right one would be. You also cannot point out
the
right path and then just walk away and do nothing if they take a
different one.
As a parent, or educator, or mentor you lovingly but firmly guide them
back to
the path whenever they step off. This doesn’t stop as they get older,
you
continue to guide them back to the path. Many times, we don’t do this
because
we don’t want the potential conflict, or we aren’t up for the fight. We
rationalize that man is basically good anyway so even if we don’t
correct it
now… “They’ll
learn to play by the rules later”….. Unfortunately,
rebellion in man is strong, (we disguise it as freedom to do whatever
we want,
a right, our choice), but in the end it comes down to having our own
way.
Whenever boundaries are set in place we want to step outside of them. A
simple
example for everyone is speed limits. How many times have you exceeded
the
speed limit? Do you set your cruise control at 70 in a 65 mph zone?
Why?
Because you know the officer is probably going to let you get away with
being
over the limit (playing outside the rules) by a few mph. If there was
no law
enforcement, only suggested
speeds, most people wouldn’t follow the suggestion because they would
think
they knew better, and they wouldn’t learn to play by the rules later.
It can be
hard to hold the line on our children, or those around us when we know
that
just barely stepping over the line usually isn’t harmful, but the truth
is God
had a reason he set the rules for
us that he did. He was protecting us from ourselves. We, as parents,
elders,
leaders, legislators, judges, citizens, and Christians have a
responsibility to
enforce guidelines based on God’s word and plan. Because the truth is
if we
don’t provide that guidance… |
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