My wife and I stopped at a 50’s Diner this afternoon. It is great fun to listen to Chubby Checker, Little Richard and the Beach Boys, while looking at pictures of Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio decorating the walls. A few booths away there were two small children being children. They were no problem. The problem was the mother. She was yelling at them and honestly making far more noise and a greater hubbub than the children combined. She was way over the top.
Over the top parenting is not new. Many groups unwittingly make God an over the top parent. They say a person can be lost for the smallest of sins and they have God, Our Father, burn them in hell forever and forever. Talk about being over the top. If this were the case there should be some way of arresting God for child abuse since we are all children.
But are they not merely teaching Scripture? The close of the Book of Revelation speaks about the never ending torment of the lost. Once again it is unfortunate that we have to rely on translations such as the King James Version, etc. The Greek expression means with everlasting results. Once they are burned it is forever. They will be no more. Jude helps us in verse 7 regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. “They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” We know Sodom and Gomorrah were located at the north end of the Dead Sea. They are not still burning. If so, more people would visit than go to Disney Land. No, they are not still burning, but the results (death) will last forever.
God is not an over the top parent.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 28, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org