Biblical Parenting

2 Samuel 13:21-22
(21) When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
(22) But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.

These verses happen right after the account of Amnon raping Tamar. I think we tend to idealize David a little bit. After all, we know that he was a man after God's own heart, right? Nevertheless, his family was a wreck. Here we see that one of his sons raped one of his daughters. This made him angry, but he didn't do anything about it. Absalom eventually settled the matter and even then it took years for David and Absalom to reconcile. Shortly after the reconciliation Absalom plotted to usurp David's throne.

Our church is going multi-site and I met with our new campus pastor yesterday. One point I made is that I do not want my son to someday have a parole officer who calls him a "PK" (pastor's kid). He knew just what I meant. David serves as an example to me of how not to parent. I'm not sure what he was doing with his time, but it wasn't spent raising His kids according to Deuteronomy 6.

Men, do not take the way of passivity like David. You will either have to deal with problems now or later. Although it may seem tough, dealing with them sooner will be easier than dealing with them later. I've done it both ways and I can attest to this. Frankly, this is a reminder for me as well.