Faith in the Captain of the Boat

            I’ll never forget the look of fear in her face. She was convinced that she would die in just a couple of minutes. Her fear was unmerited, yet it was real to her. As her face turned ashen white, and I could see the pallor of death in her face, I knew this would be a memory etched in my mind for the remainder of my life.

            It started as a mission trip to St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada in August 2008. I was on a team from my seminary. During our time in Newfoundland, we were often prevented from doing what we had planned due to inclement weather. On one of these days, our team had time off, and we chose to take a whale-watching boat tour in the bay of St John’s. As we left the dock, things were going well. It was smooth sailing, with the 40-foot boat gently rocking us back and forth. Then we left the smooth harbor, and entered the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The ride was no longer smooth. Within seconds, water rushed over the deck, soaking our pants with sea salt. Water sprayed our faces, and coated my glasses. At this point, the woman began to panic. She was not a member of our mission team. She clearly did not have faith in the boat, the captain, or God. If she had looked at the crew, she would have seen that they were not scrambling, or worried about the ship sinking. But, she could not see this, or could not rationalize through her fear. It was real. She was dying. Nothing could be done to save her. Or so she thought. Her husband tried to calm her. The crew members tried to reassure her, but she could not be calmed. I have never seen such a look of fright in anyone in my life.

            That woman’s fear was unfounded. She was unable to trust the captain of our boat. Yes, the waters were rough. But, it was an amazing adventure. We were able to see a pod of whales within feet of our boat. At one point, a whale swam under the boat and we could see it in the water. It was an amazing experience which she missed because, even after her initial fears were overcome, she went inside the cabin and could not come out of deck to see the spectacle.

            Since that time, I have often thought of that woman. When I am thinking about faith and trust in an unseen God, I will often remember her face. She was able to see the calm demeanor of captain and crew, yet she did not trust what she was able to see. I have often wondered if my faith is like hers, or if I have a stronger faith like what I see in the New Testament believers.

            But, her story also reminds me of my role as a father. In many ways, my children look to me as I looked to the captain of that boat. My children are looking to me to see that everything is alright. They are looking to me when the waves crash over the bow of the boat of life to make sure that they need not fear. They are looking at me to know the right course to steer as the waves rise and fall. Will I steer directly into the wave, or will I angle the boat so that we do not take a direct hit? What a responsibility. I feel the weight of their trust many times.

            I have noticed that when my wife and I are anxious, our children feed off of that anxiety and fret. There are times when my wife and I will casually say, “Uh, oh, we have a problem,” or “Oh this isn’t good,” as we read a news story and our children immediately become concerned, asking what is wrong. It’s never something that they need to worry about. We have had to reassure our son that the “bad guys” are not going to break into our house at night and hurt us (we tell him our dog will bark and scare them off). This week, when a conversation involved someone burglarizing our home, we had to assure him that no one was going to break into our home (and why would they, the only thing we have of any value is our Blu-Ray player). My kids are looking to me for what is right and wrong, how to treat other people, when to help other people, and whom to trust.

            I am the guardian for my children at this stage in their lives. As they grow older, I pray that having learned some of the basics about faith and trust, that they will be able to make their own wise choices about what is right and wrong, how to treat others, and whom to trust. What a great reminder that God has entrusted me, for a very short period of time, with His children to guide and nurture. And what a great reminder that ultimately I need to impart to them the assurance that they can place faith in Jesus. They can trust him completely. He will never be unsure where to steer the boat, and He will never be wrong and sink the boat. That woman may have been correct in not placing complete trust in the captain of that whale-watching boat. My children will be right to question my legitimacy as captain in the coming years. But, my prayer is that they never question the ability of God to be captain and that they are able to place complete faith in Him. Regardless of the waves of life they will experience in life, Lord, may they trust in You.

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What Should We Teach our Children About Sin?

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7

            The words of God, spoken to the people of Israel, are as relevant for the Christian today as they were so many years ago. God charges the people to take the lead in raising the next generation to know the Lord. As I look at American Christianity in the 21^st Century, I am worried that we may be falling short in this area, as we shy away from teaching our children about the Bible, or we “outsource” the teaching to our churches and Sunday School teachers.

            My concern started when I was putting my five-year-old son to bed one night. As is our custom, I was reading a couple of books to him before bedtime. He picked the books, and one book was a children’s Bible story book which had the account from Genesis 22 where Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Of course, I know the story, and I know the ending of the story. Abraham travels three days with his Isaac, prepares an altar for the sacrifice, lays his son on the altar, and then hears the voice of God telling him to stop the slaughter. God then provides a ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac. The episode is a test of Abraham’s faith in God.

            On that night, my son saw the illustration of Abraham, hand raised over his head, ready to thrust a knife into Isaac’s flesh. My son asked to read that story, and I diverted his attention to the previous story, telling about the birth of Isaac. I thought the story was too weighty for him to digest. A couple of days later, my son picked the same book at bedtime, turned to the story and asked me to read it to him. And I did. After reading the story, I talked to him about the meaning of the episode, and explained to him that while God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son because of God’s love, that many years later God would allow His own Son to be sacrificed because of His love for us. I talked about the goodness and righteousness of God, and our rebellion against Him. I told him that the sin was so costly that an animal’s blood sacrifice was required to remedy the transgression. And I told him that according to the Bible, Jesus became the final sacrifice for humanity’s sin.

            My son was understandably upset by the story. I can understand. The story wounds me on the deepest levels, as I come to terms with my sin, the penalty for that sin, and the obedient response of my Savior to lose His life that I might have eternal life. I am overwhelmed with emotion when forced to consider my response if God had asked me to do something similar. And I become overwhelmed with emotion when I realize God did the very thing he would not let Abraham do. My son acted out and hit me as I explained the story to him. I was unable to determine if his violence was a result of the ram that was sacrificed (he does care for animals), the magnificent sacrifice of Jesus, or the realization that he is disobedient to God. He was visibly moved, and tears were in his eyes. I did not tell him that I was holding back my own tears as I read the story to him.

            Since that night, I have been considering what we teach our children about the Bible. I lead a children’s Sunday School class at my church. As I looked at the curriculum, I have become aware that what we teach our children is often not enough. Our Sunday School lessons, which are age graded, teach our children that Noah survived the Flood in an ark, but do not teach why God brought the deluge. The lessons teach our children that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, but do not teach what those commandments are or why they are important. The lessons teach that Jesus healed a paralytic man, but do not tell how he first forgave that man of his sin, or what sin is. And our lessons teach the children that Jesus loved his friends (disciples) but only tell of His crucifixion on a surface level.

            I understand that age-graded material will be limited, and appropriately so. I do understand that preschool-age children are not cognitively able to process big-concept ideas. However, as I look at more advanced material for older children, I have found that some of the central doctrines of the faith, including the Fall, sin, and Christ’s atonement are treated superficially. It is as if we don’t want to alarm our children by telling them they are in rebellion against God. It is as if we would rather teach morality rather than God’s mercy and grace. It seems easier to tell children that God wants you to do this and not do that, rather than walk them through these more difficult, but essential truths. And, I am afraid that this easy faith is not just found in our Sunday School curriculum, but in our churches and our homes.

            Which begs the question: Did I tell my son too much on that night I read the Abraham story and then pushed it forward to talk about Jesus’ crucifixion? Is he too young to understand? I don’t think so. I appreciate that he may not totally understand the connection between Isaac and Jesus. I understand that he cannot process more abstract concepts. But, he can understand that some of the things he does are disobedient acts. He can understand that that there is consequence for wrong acts. It’s often easy to give a simple, or a “cheap” answer to our children to quell a deeper conversation that delves into areas with which we are uncomfortable. But this does not mean we are acting correctly when we do so.

            During that evening I prayed for the Holy Spirit to anoint that time and use that time to plant seeds in my son’s life. My prayer, then and now, is that one day the Spirit will draw my son into a faith relationship with Jesus. But, my prayer has also developed in this area, so that I am now praying for all of those children being “raised” in the church. My prayer is that we can teach them all of the truth of Scripture. My prayer is that we would not shy away from the difficult questions. My prayer is that we would be able and willing to impart the whole reality of the biblical message. My prayer is that parents and grandparents would be so biblically literate that they can teach their children and grandchildren, as God told the Israelites to teach their children. My prayer is that the next generation learns God’s truth, the whole of God’s truth, and nothing but God’s truth. And my prayer is that this truth sets them free.

For more Faith of This Father, you can like the Faith of This Father page on Facebook or follow on Twitter @faithotfather. Or email me at faithofthisfather@yahoo.com.