Obeying Mom And Dad (Teknia) Series

OBEYING YOUR MOM & DAD

SERIES: EPHESIANS 6

INTRO: Did you ever realize that some people’s parenting skills are way different from many others. And some skills, well they leave a lot to the imagination. Here are some examples…

Example #1: Taking your kid to work sounds like a good idea, but some people take it just too far. According to the Chicago Sun Times, a woman and her boyfriend decided to go on a date, but it was a bank-robbing date. So they brought their 5 year old along with them. The child stayed in the car seat while the two parents demanded money armed with a butcher knife and wearing a pair of bandanas. This is obviously not great parenting.

Example #2: Or did you hear about the man brought up on charges in Madison, Wisconsin. Now, I don’t want to say too much because a lot of young adults can get busted for drugs (of course, Christians don’t use drugs, it’s part of the whole holiness thing we promise to be and do). But, who names their kid Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop? So true!

Example #3: And of course, great parents provide great food don’t they (I dunno really, but hopefully something different then the following story). Her name is Stacey Irvine, she is a 17 year old girl who collapsed in Great Britain severely malnourished. Why? Because all she ever really ate in her life was…Chicken McNuggets (which by the way isn’t even chicken, google the words McDonald’s and pink sludge on the internet and you’ll see what I mean).

BIBLE VERSE: Ephesians 6:1-3

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

1. What does it mean to obey?

2. What if your parents tell you to do something that is contrary to scripture?

3. What is the ancient Roman law & how did it apply to parenting?

4. What does it mean “that you may enjoy long life on the earth?”

5. So which issue is the big issue that prevents kids from being obedient to Mom and Dad?

1. What does it mean to obey?

Obey is an interesting word, it implies the meaning of a soldier engaged in battle, obey. It’s as if they were listening carefully for the orders and instructions of the commanding officers. It’s an action verb. The word Paul uses here is the Greek word teknia, and it does NOT imply little ones. When Paul tells us to teknia—obey, Paul is telling ALL CHILDREN to obey command.

So what am I saying? What is the Bible saying? I am saying that if someone lives at home, whether they are 12, 15, 18, 24, 32, whatever, they are to obey their parent’s demands as if they are commanding orders. Now, I am not saying that you have to be thrilled with that, but it is correct…and now you know.

So, if they say

Keep your bedroom clean, If you don’t you’re not obeying.

Wash the car, if you don’t you’re not obeying.

Don’t give me no lip if you don’t you’re not obeying. Get the picture?

2. What if your parents tell you to do something that is contrary to scripture?

Our first actions as people are to obey God, then we are supposed to obey our parents—in that order. I don’t know what else to say about that. If your Mom says go steal for your food tonight…NO. If your Dad says “it’s time for you to learn how to cuss son,” well, you shouldn’t.

But as simple as this situation is to decipher, believe it or not there are some unusual circumstances that do come up…

“Child, tell them you’re age is 11 so we get the discount price on the movie.”

“Child, I need you to drive us to the concert, Mom and Dad are gonna do some drinking.”

(Leaders, it’s probably wise NOT to ask for examples here, especially in the middle school classes, so if you do use fabulous wisdom here).

3. What is the ancient Roman law & how did it apply to parenting?

Now I know that I am stretching on this a bit, because the old laws really do not matter to today’s age. I get that. But, if we did a small compare and contrast, maybe we could learn something. So here it goes…

There was a Roman law called pairia potestas, it meant “father’s power.” What it meant was that literally a father had absolute authority over his family, what the Dad said went no matter what. The Dad would make the kids work in the fields, he could sell them as slaves, they could even inflict death if he thought it was necessary.