K ING 'S BUSINESS CH R IS T IAN HOME SEC TION
O n e o f t h e generally accepted principles of good business administration is the delegation of au thority and power. The chief executive is not expected to make decisions all down the line nor be responsible for giving directions to the office boys. God’s creation operates somewhat in the same manner. In the church, for instance we find that God has set some to be apostles, some prophets, some teachers, etcetera, who have been given certain responsibilities for the edification of the total body of Christ.1 This principle is at work also in , relation to God’s plan for the home. God has charged Christian parents with certain responsibilities and duties which they must recognize and faithfully perform. One of these obligations is the disciplining of their children. Lest there be misunderstanding as to the mean ing of discipline it should be said that this term has a much broader scope than usually given it in our minds. A very narrow definition confines discipline to acts of punishment or chastisement. In real discipline, punish ment may be included and necessary, but the wider scope encompasses more of the positive outlook. Waterink says, “ Every means by which a child is guided in the right direction is a means of discipline.”2 Discipline in its fullest meaning is not so much a matter of negatives but a constant encouragement to do the right, a process which culminates in self-discipline. This concept extends discipline so that it touches every phase of living. It involves making the right choices and wise decisions in all realms of our living. Discipline has implications which are social, psychological, pedagogical, and religious. Dis cipline is an essential in every Christian home. It is not the purpose of this study to deal with all of the implications of discipline but rather to discuss a factor which is basic to good discipline in the home. Do you question the need for such a discussion? It would seem that too little attention has been given to these matters in the program of our churches and some unfortunate situations which now exist might have been alleviated if good discipline in our Christian homes had received its due recognition. By way of broad illustration the writer would like to draw from a recent conversation with a Christian worker who comes into contact with many pastors and churches and the problems related to church work. The discussion covered the inter-relation ship of various issues in the religious field. At one point in the conversation this Christian worker made the fol lowing significant statement: “ Recently I was being in formed concerning the problems of a certain church. Then I was a guest for a few days in the parsonage of that church and discovered that the basic problem of the church also existed in the home of the pastor. It was lack of proper discipline.” While visiting churches to conduct Teacher Training Institutes, the author has often been approached by a teacher who asks, “What does one do when the trouble maker in his class is the son of the head deacon, or Sun day school superintendent?” The total pattern of conduct outside the home is generally a reflection of the discipline received within the home. If the leaders of our churches have not established right patterns of discipline in their home, how can the other families of the church be ex- 1. I Corinthians 12. 2. Jan Waterink, Basic Concepts in Christian Pedagogy. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954. p. 64.
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THE KINO'S BUSINESS
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