By guest author Chuck Black
In 1998 BT (Before Teens) I held to the ideological view that if we as parents immersed our children in the truth of God’s Word and walked fully in a real and tangible faith, that our children would emerge at eighteen as shining knights in service to the Lord, fully equipped and able to take on the attacks of a secular world. Fast forward to 2005 and our first child launched into the fray as a solid young woman of faith. Alas the formula worked, and all seemed right with our well-oiled soldier-producing machine. Over the next few years however, I started to discover a few cracks in my shiny ideology. By the time our third child, a strong-willed, boundary-testing son reached eighteen, my godly soldier-producing machine appeared broken and lying in pieces all around me. The spirit of rebellion had gripped the heart of my son so completely that I was forced to question all of the training and discipling I had diligently implemented into his life. At the pinnacle of his rebellion with dire consequences imminent, I looked up and asked God, “What happened? We tried to be godly parents and raise him in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. What did I do wrong?”
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