Whose Children?

Part 3

Ezekiel 16.20-21

Third, because they are God’s children, born to Him, we should focus on covenant nurture, not crisis conversion.

Jesus’ concern for covenant children was not to bring them to a self-conscious conversion experience, but to nurture them and remove stumbling blocks from their path (Mat 18.5-6). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks of the seed of the Word springing up into tender plants, some of which shrivel for lack of moisture (due to shallowness of root), others that are choked by thorns and thistles (the cares and pleasures of life), and still others which grow to fruitful maturity (Luke 8.5-15). (Jesus is not denying the sovereignty of God here. He is describing the sovereignty of God at ground level.) From the Parable, we see that when a child is born to believing parents and grows up in a Christian home, and then later goes off the rails, the issue is not, “Why didn’t they come to faith?”, but “What happened to their faith?” The issue is not genuineness of faith, but sustenance of faith. We like to think faith is like steel. But Jesus says faith is like a plant which needs water and good soil free of rocks, thorns, and thistles. The issue is not crisis conversion, but nurture.