Manipulative children, ineffective parents

Without even leaving my desk this morning, I came across two frightening examples of scary parenting trends.   One was a video clip on You Tube of a child slapping his mother on national television (Dr. Phil), and the other was a clip on the Today Show showing a little boy dressed in a pink tutu while a smiling mother answered questions about why she lets her son dress the way he wants to.

I don't go looking for these things, really.  Both were stumbled across "on the way" to finding something else.  That bad parenting is so readily accessible should be frightening enough, but the treatment it was receiving is even more frightening.  In the case of the former, Dr. Phil counseled both mother and son in a "negotiating" manner placing enough of the blame on the mother that the son never had to show any remorse at all.  In the case of the latter, the interviewers were "accepting" and "affirming" of the inept mother.

Now please don't misunderstand me here.  I don't expect those who have rejected the wisdom of God to raise children well.   If Dr. Dobson had been sitting in Dr. Phil's seat, he would have handled this situation differently.  If Pastor Tedd Tripp had been interviewing the mom who let her children dress like a girl, he would have given different counsel altogether.  But both would have been severely criticised by the God-hating world around us.  This is partly why they are not sitting in those influential seats.  We should not be surprised in light of the Apostle Paul's teaching:  "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:  for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14)

My concern here is not that the unregenerate think foolishly, but that believers might watch these programs and be influenced by them.  We live in a time of abundantly available resources for Christian parenting.  If you aren't sure where to turn or what to read, just go to the family section of any Christian book store.  Or ask a Christian who has effectively parented.   There are many at Dove Mountain.