BAAAA!!!!!

I was just reminded of a story about my dad that I laugh about every time I think about it. Dad went to school in a very small community; the population was 303, according to the sign at the city limits. And it was in the early 1940’s.

One of Dad’s teachers presented the idea that nurture is more important that nature in the development of men. She told the students that if a baby was raised by sheep that it would eat grass, walk on all fours, and bleat. My dad did not believe that. He believed that at some point a human child would stand upright and use his hands to an advantage. The teacher and he had an argument. My dad would not concede on the matter.

When the time for testing on the subject a few days later, there was only one question on the test. It was “What would be the outcome if a human were raised by sheep?” Dad wrote the answer she wanted to see on his paper. But when he handed in his paper, he looked the teacher in the eye and said, “Baa!”

Learning the Hard Way

This article was first published in December, 1982. As I am now once again raising children, it really touched home as I reread it this morning.

Last week I was visiting a hospital and I heard a doctor giving a nurse serious instructions about a patient. Apparently the doctor had given the same instructions the day before, but the nurse had failed to carry out the procedure because of her feeling of compassion for the young patient.

The little girl had a serious infection complicating her cancer. The treatment the doctor ordered was going to be, at best uncomfortable, probably even painful. But it had to be administered if the infection was to be conquered. The nurse’s compassion had, in effect, been detrimental despite her good intentions. She did not follow the precise instructions of one who had greater knowledge and who really exhibited the most genuine care for the patient.

On the way home from the hospital I was flooded with emotions and the scene kept coming back to me. I wondered if I was guilty of the same sort of well intended yet costly decisions as the nurse in dealing with my children. The Lord has given me directions for raising my children and those directions include sound discipline, even if it is not the most pleasant at the time. I must be responsible in my actions, and not act only on my feelings.

It also occurred to me that I possibly had been too “compassionate” in my ministry at times; too willing to placate my brethren; too willing to tolerate behavior that my God will not tolerate; too ready to appease an alien sinner.

I know my God is loving and patient and comforting. He has been all of that to me. And yet I know that there must occasionally be the administration of “medicine” that is at the moment uncomfortable or painful. I haven’t sorted it all out yet, but I pray for God’s wisdom to be my guide.

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