I'm watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" on TBS, and I can't help but see the subtle nuances of a society that has begun the spiral downward. In this sitcom, the man is no longer head of the household. In fact, the very term, "head of the household" almost has a stigma attached to it when you refer to a "man" being the head of the household. In today's politically correct world, you can't assume or expect the man to be the leader of the home. These days, the position is up for grabs - the wife can assume the position just as easily as man can. Ray's wife, Deborah, barks orders at Ray while he cowers in her presence. Even their kids are misbehaving, and instead of invoking their natural instinct to punish the child, Ray and Deborah enroll in classes that are supposedly suited to instruct the parent on how to "discipline" the child. However, their definition of "discipline" is not the same as mine, or the Bible's. They intend to "reason" with a 6 year old child - yes, I just said "reason with a 6 year-old child"- about why she should do her chores. Ok, ok, can I just say here that I'm glad my parents didn't try to "reason" with me and utilize "active listening" when I was a kid???? In fact, I probably could've used even more sessions with the belt or the yardstick-to-the-buttocks. The KJV Bible says in Proverbs 23:13, "Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die." Umm, ok, a clearer translation would be, "Don't fail to correct your children. They won't die if you spank them." Spare the rod and spoil the child. I'll take it further and say that sometimes God causes something to happen in life that is a little bigger than "reasoning with a 6 year-old." We are all like 6 year-olds in God's eyes, and when He tries to reason with us, whether it be through His Spirit, or through His Word, we need to listen, but we don't always follow that formula. Thank God that He doesn't give up after that. He chastens us in order for us to turn around from what we're doing and follow Him again. Take that, "Everybody Loves Raymond."
P.S. I use this sitcom because I think everyone will agree with me when I say that "ELR" is probably the closest thing we have to a normal real-life scenario in the home today. It shows you that the world's plan for family and God's plan is for His children are totally at odds with each other.
Thoughts, ideas, and experiences of a modern Christian living in a post-modern world.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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