Daily Archives: August 20, 2007

“As a parent, I want my children … to sing loud, abandon their inhibitions, and fall headlong in love with Jesus, who embodies everything beautiful, who sings truth unashamed. I want them to whisper His name when life’s circumstances are tough. I want them to value truth. I pray they don’t exchange that glorious truth for empty lies. Through it all, I want my children to grasp the glory of obedience to Jesus regardless of what the world around them may say.”

This is my greatest prayer, worded perfectly by Mary E. DeMuth in her newest book: Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture. I’ve been following Mary for about a year. We have much in common: a heart for missions, a willingness to act on that heart, a passion for Truth, a love for God and a desire to raise our children in truth and relevance. When I heard about her newest book release, I immediately joined the blog tour.

The book is fantastic! Do we need another parenting book? Well, this is a different kind and so the answer is yes — but not any more. Mary has done a fantastic job looking at parenting outside of cultural definitions. This book is not about modern vs. postmodern parenting, though she does touch on that. This book is about consistent Christ-filled parenting in spite of the culture. It is a timeless resource for parents of this generation and many to follow.

What is meant by “authentic parenting”? It is not a brutal honesty, but a lack of hypocrisy. Christianity in America often favors the picture-perfect family. Appearances matter. We want everyone to think we’ve got it all together. We also cling to our sub-culture, our Christian bubbles, rather than engaging the lost culture around us. Well, the truth is we’re human and so no one has it all together. Secondly, Scripture tells us to be in the world, but not of it. We can’t be in it, if we refuse to acknowledge it. Mary’s book encourages believers to be authentic, not just in their Christianity, but in their parenting as well.

Authentic parenting (as detailed in this book) is conversational in nature. Children and parents learn together and from each other (a truth laced throughout this blog and my writing from the beginning). Parents create a haven where children can be children safely. They seek out the treasures hidden in their kids and encourage them with optimism.

“Whatever we believe, we will pass, overtly or subliminally, to our children, who will then use what we have taught them as a filter through which they will view all of life,” (p. 49). The difference between this book and other parenting books discussing culture is the persistence of absolute truth. As Christians we know experience may be relative, but truth is not. Society is moving closer and closer to having no definition of truth whatsoever. But God is truth. He is the definition. As Christian parents, we must instill the knowledge and respect of this Truth in our children while preparing them to live in a culture that refuses to acknowledge it.

I highly recommend this powerful book. You can purchase the book through Mary’s blog, or to read an excerpt from the book, click here. Also, I invite you to visit Mary’s website at http://www.relevantprose.com/.

Finally, I want to give you a glimpse of Mary’s heart via quotes from this her newest book.