by EnnisP

Created on: January 27, 2009

I am a preacher so preaching is a very important part of my life. I must confess though, until I accepted the challenge of this article I had never seriously attempted to define "preaching" with the negative connotation implied. I know that people view preaching this way but I never seriously considered why.

Thinking about it now, I would have to say that some aspects of preaching are definitely useful when communicating with our kids. If a parent does their job well there will never be a time when they would need to "preach" in the strict sense of the word but we mustn't throw the baby out with the bath water. Some elements of preaching will be necessary.

Those aspects of preaching which do have an application in the home are content and attitude.

As to content, preachers aren't dealing in vagaries. They are delivering specific truths and claiming those truths to be both eternal and absolute. This is not always well received.
Taking an absolute approach is not the problem. Every person adopts their version of truth but they prefer to see it as an "optional absolute" and take an existential approach to these issues, "My absolute is good for me and your absolute is good for you but let's not fuss about the details." That, of course, doesn't stop them from preaching "their" version.

The question is, with so many "optional" absolutes and so much potential for conflict, should a parent teach their children moral absolutes? For lack of a better term, absolutely! And why not? Someone else will if you don't. You may as well accept the challenge and get a jump on the competition.

I'm not arguing for any particular truth is this article. I am not comparing "my" point of view to yours. I am just trying to be honest about the facts. Conflicting moral truths are being proclaimed all the time in every form of media. There is no reason it shouldn't be engaged first in the home. Preaching or not, call it what you will, but moral issues should be seriously addressed between the parent and child.

As to attitude, preachers have the hardest job in the world. Content is easy. Attitude sometimes seems impossible to get right and this is where preaching most often fails. If attitude didn't play an important part we could just deliver printed copies of the "truth" and be done with it but attitude conveys some things better than the printed word ever could.

With attitude, we display love, compassion, sincerity, understanding, acceptance and humility. A book can never give anyone a warm,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>