“So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.” (Hebrews 12:5-6 The Message Bible)
Regarding the title today, that was the question that a six-year posed to me, his pastor, at a tutoring and mentoring session. And before I could answer the question, he hastily, instantly, amended his inquiry, “Did you ever get a spanking at school?” I said, “Yes,” but before I could explain and seize a teaching moment, he went further, “Did you ever get a spanking at school with a paddle?” Again, I answered in the affirmative, but the six-year-old did not let me expound further, he said, “Did it hurt?” Finally, he pause enough for me to do some explaining.
First, I told him that when I was a child, spanking was allowed in schools and all of society, as a type of discipline. After seeing his puzzled facial expression, I gave him the exact details. I was totally transparent and told him of a time when I, along with a friend with the same first name, Mark, got a paddling for laughing at a boy that was doing something outlandish in gym class. I described the happening, “You see, instead of running on the outer circle of the gym, far away from the teacher in the middle of the room, this boy was within two feet of the teacher. The teacher said nothing because he knew this child had some learning disabilities. Perhaps he was just smart and knew he alone could get away with such a maneuver, and thus save much energy. Me and the other Mark laughed so hard that we could hardly keep running. I’m sure they heard us down the hall, through the concrete walls that separated us from other rooms on the floor where the gym was located, and perhaps throughout the school. The teacher tells everyone to stop and takes us, the laughing Marks, outside the room with his wooden paddle in his hand.”
I proceeded to tell the story to the six-year old by demonstrating how we had to bend over, touch our toes, and be paddled. I told him how each of us got three strikes and that the last strike was so hard that it made us jump forward. I don’t know about the other Mark, but I learned my lesson, and that never happened again…in school.
To conclude the one-on-one dialogue, I said to the six-year-old, “There are always bad consequences when we fail to do the right thing; when we don’t follow rules or adhere to authority.”
Now with the six-year-old, I did not get into a edifying, educational conversation about how the Lord disciplines us, not to hurt us, but to help us be better. I could have given the young boy tons of examples from my lifetime that would have enlightened him, but what I shared with him was enough for his age. Yet, here you are, old enough to understand how it works. There are always bad consequences when we fail to do the right thing; when we don’t follow rules or adhere to authority. And you know by now, my friends, there are definitely consequences for not meeting the expectations that the Lord has for us. Excuses can be made, but excuses don’t exempt us from the consequences.
Knowing that to be true, start your week off by doing your best to make perfect progress on your Christian journey. Fix any failings expeditiously and exercise the prescribed method to fix things with the Lord by repenting and seeking His forgiveness and cleansing! Go have a great start to the week! Don’t get any Divine spankings in the days ahead! Smile! Oh, speaking of expectations, you better get going to your morning worship service! You are expected to do that too! Be blessed!
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King