In defense of Mother’s Day and Godly Mothers
Mother’s Day
is a purely human holiday. There is nothing in the Scriptures about days that are observed to honor one person or a group of people, as long as that holiday does not become a religious observance. "Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain" (Gal 4:10-11). "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son" (2 John 9). And I am sure that we all understand that Ephesians 6:2, where Paul tells us to honor our Father and Mother, does not authorize the religious observance of Mother’s Day.But it is good that we honor mothers
. A day is a small way in which we can show them the kind of reverence that God intends. It is a day when distant sons and daughters, or grandsons and granddaughters, can make a phone call that will make a day, for children to work together at school to make cards for their Mothers who love them so much. It is a time for us to remember our upbringing, the care, and the sacrifice, a chance to commend the giving of self as only Mothers do.Motherhood has come under attack
. The news was filled the other day with reports that a private school in a posh neighborhood in New York forbade its teachers to engage in the Mother’s Day traditions for fear of offending children of homosexual couples. They were afraid that children who are being raised by homosexual males would feel left out because they have no Mother to honor.What we are witnessing is not so much alarm for the feelings of children. What we are witnessing is a frontal attack on traditional values and Biblical instruction on the family. If these people were so interested in the feelings of the children, they would not subject them to the darkness of their lifestyle. Is there a stigma to homosexual behavior? There should be, for it is condemned in the Scriptures. "For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due" (Rom. 1:26-27). And if there is a stigma, then those children have a right to feel the shame of a lifestyle to which they are subjected. If their caregivers won’t teach them the truth, then they must experience the consequence. And that is too bad. No one should subject their child to that kind of shame through their unseemly behavior.
A gratifying aspect of this story is the backlash it has received
. Even among liberals in politics and the media there was an outcry. To attack Motherhood is to attack America, and to deny the basics of Biblical understanding. And they have attacked Motherhood.I cannot help the misfortune of children who have been subjected to this sort of thing. The government stands in the way of the kind of help they need. Our society has reached a time where both Father and Mother work, and children are cared for during the working hours by "caregivers." And we are rapidly sinking to a point where young parents spend their off-work hours doing things that entertain and satisfy them. More "baby-sitting" is required. And children are being more and more encouraged to take on extra-curricular activities at school, in some cases where parental participation is not encouraged. Some kids have two or three things going on at a time after school. When they get home, they get a quick meal, then retire to their rooms to watch TV, play video games, or do homework [?] while songs on the radio encourage them to lust and kill policemen. Who is raising the children of America?
Most parents I know in the church I hope are not like this. I have known some whose children were too busy to attend Bible study or associate with other young people in the church. But I pray that they are the minority.
In fact, I see a trend among some [not enough] young Mothers to try to get back to the time when they were the primary caregivers of their children. Young Mothers, if you would know joy and fulfillment, be your child’s Mom.
Like my Mother was.
Let us honor our Mothers. This is right.