PCRT pre-conference

Guest blogger
We just finished up a convicting, encouraging pre-conference.  In a manner similar to a good hard run, I was simultaneously exhausted and refreshed at the end of it - but in my spirit rather than my body.  

Rick Phillips led us through an exploration of the image of God as reflected in gender.  Drawing from the deep well of Genesis 1:27, Phillips presented a view of gender that was revolutionary and simple (in the best sense of that word).  In a culture that denies distinction and smashes God's gift of diverse beauty into a boring, androgynous pulp, Phillips encouraged men to be men and women to be woman and to rejoice in that truth.  The church was encouraged to be an oasis of winsome manhood and womanhood in a barren desert of gender confusion.  God's delightful distinction and unity rang through the entire message: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."


Steve Lawson expounded Ephesians 6:1-4.  I have heard Rev. Lawson a number of times and he was in fine form.  Thinking through the doctrine of God as Father, Steve offered human fathers four core values to instill in their children: obedience, honor, discipline, and conviction.

As you can see with the bolded words below, the power of Lawson's message came from its inspired source: God's Word:  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  'Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), 'that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.'  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4).
Obey - Lawson penetrating presented the case for children obeying their parents.  It is a message that ran contrary to the thrust of an observation by the Duke of Windsor about American children, "I am amazed at how well parents obey their children."  Lawson split no hairs about the need for children to obey their parents, but he was equally direct to fathers not to exasperate their children and to help them understand the need for obedience and the gospel rooted nature of true obedience.
Honor - Lawson helpfully distinguished between ways of honoring one's parents and dishonoring one's parents.  Dishonoring can occur not only in what children say and do but their attitudes, tone, and body language.  Parents should not tolerate any such dishonoring and should be quick to lovingly discipline.
Discipline - Fathers were singled out to take the lead role in disciplining the children.  In the midst of discipline, they are to always exhibit the fruit of the Spirit and cultivate a joyful and warm home.  Lawson helpfully used a quotation from the mother of the Wesley brothers, "give me a child until age six and I will instill into them what the world will never take away."  He helpfully explained how discipline can point us to the cross, conviction of sin, and repentance.
Convictions - Fathers are to instruct their children to hold to Biblical convictions and they are to hold to the teaching of Jesus while they seek to instruct their children in the same truths.  While some may call this brainwashing, Lawson helpfully pointed out that it is in fact the world, the flesh, and the devil which are seeking to brainwash our children.
Lest we be discouraged, Lawson grounded his message in Ephesians 5:18, reminding us that all of this is to be done in the power of the Spirit.

Rick Phillips used the two responsibilities of man in Genesis 2:15 to explain manhood, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it."  Men are to work and to keep.  The verb "work" helps us understand that we as men are called to build and also to nurture.  We are to build good things into the people we are called to serve.  We are also called to keep and preserve the glory of those things and people that are under our charge.  People are to be safer and more mature because we men have been in their lives.
Phillips encouraged men to read, play, work, and pray with their kids.  Men are to lead their families in times of worship, we are to spend time in the play of their children and teach them about others ways of enjoying God's creation, we are to work to nurture our children, and we are to pray that God would do the mighty works in their lives and hearts that we cannot accomplish.  For more thoughts see Rick's The Masculine Mandate.
Rick then turned his attention to the essence of womanhood.  Women are fashioned by God for beauty, not simply outward beauty, "rather," as Peter says it, "it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."  Women are to cultivate hearts that are yielded up to God and this, contrary to the gospel of feminism, is their true source of power.  Men should delight in the woman God has given them and women should actively feel this delight.  I look forward to the book Rick is co-writing with his wife on femininity.
Both Rick's messages on gender made me profoundly joyful to know the gospel truth of our wonderful differences rather than the mashed up farce of androgyny we see in our world.