Authority YES or NO

Sunday morning after church, I was following Bella all around the worship center. We are in the middle of a big renovation, so things are kind of in a mess right now, and she was having a ball running in and out of doorways with no doors.

As I followed her around, so many people called her name as she ran past. Most people there know her. They followed her adoption story, and prayed for her before they knew her. So many helped with a gigantic yard sale as a fund raiser for her parents. She’s kind of like a mascot for answered prayers.

It’s a blessing to see that, to know she has that support even at her age. That’s what church should be, a place of support, for all of us. I remember my kids running around Park Church in St Louis, sharing in the same type of support. My kids like the Lunn and Shaw kids grew up there. They spent lots of hours at that building not just during church.

They learned a lot of life lessons, one big lesson they learned was respect for people in authority. My kids knew that Sunday School teachers, Children’s Church leaders, youth leaders, people in authority, had the right to tell them if they were doing wrong. They knew as parents we were going to probably be behind the person in authority.

In fact, even to this day, I think Chris may still feel a little guilty if he wears a hat in church, or if he were to run through the worship center. Why? Because Lou Richardson taught him and Adam those things were not respectful in God’s house. Did I tell Lou that wasn’t his place to correct my child? NO WAY. In fact, I was probably relieved that someone else was getting on to him instead of me.

When we take the side of our kids over that of authority, what are we teaching them? When we tell a teacher, or youth pastor, or police officer, or soccer coach that they are wrong and our child is right what message does that send? It isn’t wrong to listen to our child’s side of the story, but to always take their side probably is. If your child has an issue with all his teachers, and all his coaches, and then has issues with police and employers, maybe you need to look at the common denominator in each of the situations.

Our kids need to learn to respect authority, even if they don’t always agree with it. Do I always agree with speed limit laws? No. But when I get stopped, I respect the officer who is enforcing it. That’s part of being an adult, learning to respect authority figures in our lives. Things won’t always go our way. They shouldn’t always go our way, we are not always right, and we are not always the voice of authority in all situations. We have to teach our kids that, if we want them to function in society. We need to practice it, by respecting the other people who are authority figures in our children’s lives.

Sorry (actually really not), if I offended anyone or stepped on anyone’s toes. You can ask, what authority do you have to write this post? I raised two adults, that respect authority, and are functioning members of society. Thank you to all those people, who were authority figures in their lives, who helped them become adults I am super proud of.