How should Christians perceive and embrace the responsibility of raising children in today's world?

Tom Ascol emphasizes the importance of returning to the authoritative and sufficient Word of God, especially in the context of family life. He observes that many Christians have been subtly influenced by worldly values rather than being guided by biblical principles. According to Ascol, the church must reclaim its role in discipling believers, encouraging them to understand and live out God's commands regarding family and children. This includes viewing children as a blessing and a heritage from God, as stated in Psalm 127, and challenging the cultural tendencies that minimize the value of having and raising children.

Ascol's message underscores the biblical mandate given to Adam and Eve to cultivate the earth and reflect God's glory through their dominion and multiplication. He argues that Christians today should recognize the privilege and responsibility of bringing children into the world, not out of obligation but as a reflection of God's blessings. This involves nurturing and raising children with the intention of equipping them to be effective instruments for God's purposes, much like arrows in the hands of a warrior. By doing so, believers participate in God's plan to manifest His glory through their families.

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV): "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

We need to come back to the word. The word is authoritative and the word is sufficient. And the fact that the church and Christians are being moved along in the very channels that the world itself has carved out for people is an indication of how effective the world has been in discipling us more so than the church. And so the church leaders need to understand this is what God says. This is what God calls people to do.

People made in His image have been given a mandate. Adam and Eve were called to take the garden that God prepared for them and to turn the whole world into that garden. And so they were to exercise dominion, they were to multiply, they were to subdue the earth and to do it in a way that would reflect the beauty and the glory of God who created this world and put them as His highest creatures in the world to pursue the manifestation of His glory. So Christians need to own up to the fact that we've been discipled by the world and this idea of, oh no, the world's too bad, I don't want to bring kids into it, or I don't want kids to mess up my lifestyle, or I'm only going to have my 1.6 kids or two kids. That is contrary to the word of God.

We need to be asking the question, does God speak about family life? Does God speak about children? Does God speak about how husbands and wives ought to desire children? And how do we ought to steward our marriage with children? And the answer to all those questions is yes.

He speaks very clearly. Psalm 127 says children are heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. It's a blessing. The man who has his quiver full of these arrows in the hands of a warrior, the children are called, he's blessed. And so I would challenge and have challenged Christian couples who thought, well, we don't want kids or we just want a couple of kids.

I've asked them, are there any other blessings from God that you just simply don't want or you want to minimize? You know, so you don't want that much health, you don't want that much wealth, you don't want that much growth in spirituality and knowledge and holiness. I mean, we don't think of children as a blessing in our culture anymore, and that is just indicative of how paganized our culture is becoming, how anti-Christ it is becoming, but God's people should not allow the world to set the agenda for our families and we ought to embrace the responsibility and the privilege of bringing children into the world if he blesses our homes with children and stewarding that blessing to the best of our ability to raise them up. I love that imagery in Psalm 127 that children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. You know what arrows are for.

I mean, arrows are designed not to be kept in the quiver. They're designed to be sharpened, to be aimed, and to be launched, and to destroy enemies. And when an arrow hits its target, it's finished. It's done its duty and you don't get it back. And we need to be raising our children with that view that we're going to launch them into the world by God's grace to hit the target, to be used up for the glory and honor of our King.

Thank you.