Jump Start # 513 

Proverbs 13:24 He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

  One of the themes within the book of Proverbs is disciplining children. The book shows the reasons why to discipline, what happens if one fails to discipline and the intention of discipline. Moderns today scoff at such passages like this. They see the word “rod” as being abusive, damaging and harming a child. They think God is encouraging child abuse. They quote studies that favor “rod-less” forms of discipline, such as time outs and talking things through. These moderns study the psychological effects that spanking has on children and they proudly give statistics that those spanked tend to become violent and abusive. One study even revealed that most bank robbers had been spanked as a child, implying that if you spank your child, he’s heading to prison someday and the parent is to blame.

  Now two things need to be explained here. First, God is never indicating physical or even emotional abuse. The expression “rod” does not justify harming a child. Bruising, breaking bones, or physically injuring of any age is not what God is stating. Those who claim that, do not know God, nor the purpose of what is being stated. Some of us remember what we were like as kids. We gave our parents lip when we should have been silent. We were rebellious and challenged their authority. We were a real pain to our parents. Discipline comes from the word instruction. It is a teaching moment. Using the rod grabs the attention of a smart mouthed kid. Don’t use the rod on the head or the face, but the area that has the most padding, the behind.  Spanking grabs one’s attention. It lets them know right now and real fast that they are not in charge and their behavior is inappropriate and must change immediately. My mom often used a fly swatter on me. It didn’t take much to make that thing sting and she’d get my attention very fast. Discipline is about letting the child know that the home is not a democracy. There is a chain of command, and God gave the parents the right to make the rules and to set order in the house. Kids challenge that. They will claim, “that’s not fair.” But unless that lesson is learned that child becomes forty years old someday, and he ignores the laws of the land and is flippant toward God. He will challenge God, question God and fight with God. There is a chain of command and we need to respect authority. These lessons begin in the home. The child’s first concept of God, church and the Bible comes from the home. Parents set the tone for those eternal lessons. Do the parents respect God? Do they set the example of prayerful reverence for the Lord? Monkey see, monkey do is what often happens in the home.

  Second, moderns who scoff at passages about discipline, will scoff about passages about holiness, purity, reverence and anything else. They have out grown the Bible. Their very attitude shows that they think their studies, statistics, and their evidence is smarter than the Bible. Can that be true? Can we out grow the Bible? Or can the Bible become outdated for modern thinkers? This is what is at the heart of these things. It isn’t so much about spanking, rods, or discipline, as it is that we as a people, who carry phones in our pockets, ipads in our hands are smarter and know more about people than God does. That is a scary thought. That is where many are today. It begins by doubting what God says about using a rod on children. But it doesn’t stop there. What about abortion? Smarter than God. What about divorce? Smarter than God. What about growing a church? Smarter than God. What about worship? Smarter than God. What about anything He says?

  The truth is moderns aren’t so modern. They just don’t want to listen to God. They want to do what they want to do and God happens to be in the way. The reality is, they only want God  for one thing and that is Heaven. That is the only thing they can not produce. If they could, they wouldn’t need God at all.

  I for one, tend to just take God at what He says. I think He knows what He is talking about. His words are ageless, priceless and nothing else compares. No study, no statistics, no poll of the people will change what God says. He has proven Himself. History is on His side, not ours. Our history is a broken, ugly mess.

   Discipline changes as a child ages. Spanking a teenager doesn’t get the message across as it did when the child was five. However, making that teenager ride the bright yellow school bus to school when he is a junior because his car keys were taken away from him will grab his attention.

  Don’t fall into Satan’s trap that we’ve gotten smarter than God. That is a dead end road. God knows…do you believe Him and trust Him?

  One final thought, not all spanked kids grow up to become bank robbers. This one happened to become a preacher and a believer in God’s divine word.

Roger