Do Not Disavow

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Do Not Disavow By: Rick Davis   When Charlemagne established law Salic in barb’rous land, The gospel flourished, and he saw Christ’s praise on every hand.   (“Do you approve his methods now?”) I do not disavow.   King Godfrey took Jerusalem From bloody paynim hands And brought a halt to Musselmen Invading Christian lands.   (“He did some mean things anyhow!”) I do not disavow.   King Richard with his scarlet shield And passant lions ‘bossed Rode forth again unto the field To regain what was lost.   (“His deeds at Acre you allow?”) I do not disavow.   Unto the Germans Luther brought The gospel full restored, And Calvin at Geneva taught The glory of the Lord.   (“The Jews? Servetus? Holy cow!”) I do not disavow.   Stonewall and Lee like knights of old Fought for their native soil, The true and lovely to uphold Against the tyrant’s spoil.   (“Those vile racists ...
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Godly Offspring

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A discussion over on Doug Wilson's blog made me think of this. I know this is the type of thing Mark Horne likes to do, so I hope this isn't too much of a rip-off.

Something the Bible Never Says:

"Has not [the LORD] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking offspring..." (Malachi 2:15)

Comments

Vinnie said…
Rick,

I enjoyed the link to Wilson's blog and agree with most everything. One thing about the issue of birth control is the zeal some have for it. If Sola Fideism can be turned into an idol, then the belief in you-do-not-understand-faithfulness-unless-you-have-six-kids-or-trying-ism can be turned into an idol as well. Pride can grow anywhere! The one problem I have is Wilson putting a number on the amount of children in his example, because people will take that as a standard to be followed. Once they hit six they start using birth control. You can call it Wilson Legalism. Being really consistent about having children is always absurd. For example, barren women are never looked down at if they don't get medical treatments or adopt as a way to fill their quiver. On the other hand, healthy couples will are looked down on if they decide to wait or stop before reaching the number six.
23 February, 2011 11:35
Vinnie said…
Sorry about the typo on the last sentence. Just take out the word "will" and hopefully it will make sense.
23 February, 2011 20:56
Rick Davis said…
Well, yes and no. I don't think Wilson was setting a standard by using the example of 6 kids in his post, and I'm sure he'd be the first to say so himself. I'm sure there are people that will use it as a legalstic standard, but legalistic people will be legalistic regardless so I don't blame Doug for them. I do think it's wrong for people to think that they are blessed if they have tons of children that they don't educate, care for, or train in righteousness.

That said, I think that it's important and good that Christians are reclaiming a Biblical view of children and childbearing, and the danger of being too legalistic about having lots of kids is probably not as great in our culture as the danger of Christian couples who find children to be an optional burden rather than a great blessing.

As with all things we need to focus on principles rather than methods and exercise wisdom in our decision making.
01 March, 2011 20:12
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