“Honoring parents” in the Tree of Life (1)

During the Monthly Prayer Meeting (Call to All) on 2 April, Pastor Joshua and C-Mo taught us how to honor our parents in the Tree of Life:

C-Mo raised a question: Over the many years of discipleship, Pastor and I have seen many brothers and sisters facing dilemmas in the issues of honoring parents after they believe in Jesus. Chinese people hold one concept of honoring parents, and the Bible talks about it too. Then how is honoring parents in the Chinese culture different from that in the Bible?

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

In the Ten Commandments, the first four point to God, then the fifth tells us to “Honor your father and mother”. One of our core values is “God first, people next, then the earth,” because God is the most important and second in line is people (including parents). So, are we to obey every word of our parents? According to the Bible, we should obey parents in the Lord and in the Truth. If what our parents say is against the Truth, then we need (wisely) to put God first. If for the sake of obeying the Lord, we choose “God first, people second then the earth” and end up arguing with our parents, that is not acceptable. Facing this situation, we must obey God but tackle it with wisdom. (To be continued)•[2020.05.24]