into juvenile delinquency and im morality. The ques tion a rise s : “ Why? Where are we failing?" The finger of responsibility points to us: Chris tian parents, Sunday school teach ers, pastors, everyone invo lved with the Christian education of the child. But why us, as Christian edu cators? Today we live in a society which has completely removed God and the standards of Biblical moral ity from its educational institutions. Secular education denies the exist ence of God and teaches a philos ophy of “ situation ethics.” Society scoffs at the ideals of responsible behavior and terms such as self- control and temperance are out dated. How much greater then is our responsibility as Christian par ents and Christian educators? We are accountable for the training which our children receive in self- discipline. We are liable for the preparation they receive for meet ing the problems of adult living. To us is given the cha llenge : "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22: 6). Discipline or the training of a child to grow into self-discipline is definitely a scriptural concept. In recent years, an all-too-com- mon mistake has been the tenden cy to think of discipline and pun ishment as the same. According to Webster’s dictionary, d is c ip lin e means "training that develops self- control and character.” This same volume defines punishment as “ a penalty imposed on an offender for a crime or wrongdoing.” Discipline is an educational process; it is training begun in infancy and con tinued through the entire growing- up process. Its long-term goal is to help the child develop into an in dependent, responsible, self-disci plined Christian adult, with the ca pacity for meeting and dealing with the problems of life. Distinct from this is the short-term aim of pun ishment: controlling the child’s be havior in a given situation by met ing out a penalty for his misbe havior. Punishment, then, can be a part of discipline, but discipline does not necessarily mean punish-
Ideas about the d is c ip lin a ry training of children have changed radically during the past few gen erations. Child guidance philoso phies have run the gamut from dic tatorial rule by force to over-lenient permissivenes. Each theory had its good points and its bad, and it is difficult to sift through this maze of human speculation and discrimi nate^ make use of only the good. How wonderful that as children of God we can have scriptural guid ance in this matter! The truly born- again Christian accepts the Bible as the only rule of faith and prac tice. By examining human philoso phies in the light of Biblical prin ciples, we can choose what is prac tical and beneficial. Paul expressed this idea when he exhorted the Thessalonians to “ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” By using this method we find four guidelines for discipline. These are sound theories which may be ap propriated by both Christian par ents and Christian educators. 1. Love. “ The greatest of these is love.” Love must be basic to any training which the child receives. This is not the shallow “ give him whatever he wants” type of love, nor the demanding, d e s tru c tiv e “ smother love,” but the genuine, selfless love which Paul describes in I Corinthians 13. Such love is characterized by patience, kind ness, goodness and, in short, all the fru it of the Spirit. Children crave love, attention and praise. These are necessary to the child's feelings of security and belonging. Praise only the type of behavior you wish continued. Praising a child’s desirable behavior empha sizes it rather than his undesirable actions. Praise conveys the mes sage, “ I like you. You are impor tant to me.” Related to this is quietness. Do not shout at the child who is mis behaving, but be quiet in manner and tone. Do not look upon the child’s noncompliance as an affront to your dignity as an adult. At no time let the position of the one in control be determined by the abili ty to shout more loudly. THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Child Discipline
A Scriptural View
by David Keller
A t no time during the history of i our nation has the absence of discipline or “ training for self-con tro l” been more evident. Old-fash- ion virtues of obedience, honesty and respect for authority are being laid aside, and the “ new morality” loudJy heralds its philosophy of ir responsibility and rebellion. Even in fundamentalist c irc le s today, Christians weep as they see chil dren turning their backs upon the church and its doctrines. We see young people, raised by Christian parents, marrying the unsaved and establishing godless homes. We know of Christian young adults whose marriages have ended in fa il ure and divorce. We hear of chil dren raised in our churches and Sunday schools who have departed from Biblical standards and fallen 48
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