on adult authority. It says, “ With hold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Prov. 23:13, 14). Three Old Testament men of God illustrate the tragedy of unexercised parental authority: A. Samuel the prophet. Though he knew his sons “ turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment” (I Sam. 8:3), he rebuked them not. B. Eli the priest. Though his wicked sons “ made themselves vile,” he “ restrained them not” (I Sam. 3:13). C. David the king. His son Absa lom was a “ spoiled brat.” He was a good-looking, personable “ hippy” who thought all of so ciety’s problems could be re solved by revolt. His younger brother, Adonijah, was just as ego-centric. Of him it is writ ten, “ And his father [David] had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so?” (I Kings 1:6). These three men of God (proph et, priest, and king) neglected their sons to the ruination of those sons, to their own personal heartbreak and to our learning. When will we learn that parental authority is not respected where obedience is not demanded and disobedience not punished? It is well to remember that “ brats" (in the sense used in this article) are born, but “ spoiled brats” are reared. The chief in gredient in raising them is neglect — the neglect of a firm hand of dis cipline which is motivated by deep, personal love. And lest you think this couldn't happen to your chil dren, don’t forget the offspring of Samuel, Eli, and David. KB Dr. Don W. Hillis is Associate Di rector of the Evangelical Alliance Mis sion. THE KING’S BUSINESS
and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feast on garbage. 7. Quarrel frequently in the pres ence of your children. In this way they will not be too shocked when your home is broken up later. 8. Give your child all the spend ing money he wants; never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them? 9. Take his part against neigh bors, teachers, and policemen. They are all prejudiced against your child. 10. When he gets into real trou ble, apologize for yourself, by saying, “ I never could do any thing with him.” Interestingly enough, some 30 years ago, many of our psycholo gists and college professors were doing their best to produce a per missive society. They taught us that children were not to be disciplined. They were not to be spoken to in the negative. Unfortunately, we lis tened to their teaching and, as a result, we have raised an unhealthy proportion of undisciplined and ir responsible young people. The Bible tells us plainly that those who choose to spare the rod spoil the child. It teaches us that chastisement and love cannot be divorced. There is no real love where there is not parental willing ness to exert authority, to demand obedience, and to chastise when necessary. “ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of cor rection shall drive it far from him” (Prov. 22:15). Parental failure to punish disobedience is a form of hate. Our present generation of juvenile delinquents testify to the fact that parental permissiveness was not a manifestation of love, but of hate. There is nothing difficult to un derstand in the Bible’s insistence
of the “ over 30” group, he added, “ It is our country, too. We have fought for it, bled for it, dreamed for it, and we love it. It is time to reclaim it.” Investigation wou ld doubtless confirm the fact that most of the leaders and not a few of the fo l lowers within the context of student riots are “ spoiled brats.” It is, how ever, in the very light of this that those of us over 30 are blame worthy. We cannot answer the question, “ Who spoiled the brats?” without rubbing our own noses in the muck of guilt. Several years ago the police de partment of the city of Houston, Texas, printed a list of rules for “ raising d e lin q u e n t c h ild re n .” Thousands of parents have appar ently given heed to these rules. Here are some of them: 1. Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living. 2. When he picks up bad habits, laugh at him. This will make him think he’s cute. It will al so encourage him to pick up “ cuter” habits. 3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is 21 and then let him “ decide for himself.” 4. Avoid the use of the word, “ wrong.” It may develop a guilt complex. This will condi tion him to believe later, when he is arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and he is being persecut ed. 5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around — books, shoes, and clothes. Do everything for him so that he will be experi enced in throwing all respon sibility on others. 6. Let him read any printed mat ter he can get his hands on. Be careful that all silverware
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