{"id":1689,"date":"2023-11-20T19:01:55","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T19:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2023-11-20T19:01:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T19:01:59","slug":"train-up-a-child-and-proverbs-226-what-is-the-way-he-should-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can you guarantee that your children will be followers of Jesus when they grow up? Putting the word \u201cguarantee\u201d with any claim about how children will turn out once they grow up seems foolish. But some well-meaning people have taught that there is a biblical guarantee<\/em><\/strong>. And it is found in Proverbs 22:6: \u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it\u201d (ESV). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this verse sounds promising, it is premature to claim it as a promise that if you keep your kids in church and raise them up in a Christian environment, they will become followers of Jesus. The key problem with this interpretation is that it ignores the nature of proverbs as teaching tools. Accounting for the proverbial nature and the big aim of biblical wisdom literature, we can find a hopeful promise in Proverbs 22:6 about child-rearing, but one that falls far short of a guarantee that Christian parents will have Christian kids if they just try hard enough. Instead, the promise has to do with the way of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs 22.6: Raise up a child in the way he should go \u2013 two main interpretations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two main ways I have heard this passage interpreted: (1) if you raise up your child in a Christian manner, they will remain Christian for life and (2) you should figure out the unique \u201cway of your child\u201d based on their aptitudes and raise them in such a way that teaches them how to thrive within their giftedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appreciate how different these two understandings are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to this passage is making sense of what \u201cthe way he should go\/his way\u201d means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Way he should go\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Hebrew expression in question is literally \u201con the mouth of his road\/way.\u201d The images of a mouth and a way\/road work together to give the following idea: a child put on the proper path at the beginning will keep walking that path, even when they are older. So, what is this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one commentator perceptively notes, in Proverbs there are only two ways: \u201cthe way of the wise and the righteous or the way of the fool and the wicked\u201d (African Bible Commentary<\/em>, 803). Only one of these is the way a child should go<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs and Wisdom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs is a book of wisdom. Wisdom in the bible is a far-ranging concept. It discusses practical skills associated with understanding and successful living. But we must never mistake Proverbs\u2014or biblical wisdom\u2014with modern day self-help tools. A couple OT scholars describe it well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWisdom is not primarily interested in relating a list of theological truths, an account of history or a picture of the future. Wisdom is about the ways <\/em>of things\u2014how they are meant to exist and work.\u201d<\/p>\nCraig G. Bartholomew and Ryan P. O\u2019Dowd, Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction<\/em>, 23.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom is a way of life concerned with finding the grooves of the patterns God has woven into creation and following them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grounding conviction of biblical wisdom is that there is a God who has created a world that works in certain patterns. Wisdom is the pursuit of understanding these patterns of relationship: (1) how things in the world relate to each other, (2) how people relate to things in the world, (3) how people relate to each other, and (4) how God\u2019s nature and purposes guide all these relationships into predictable patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t miss that God is central to biblical wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way of wisdom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since Proverbs is the book <\/em>of biblical wisdom, we should understand Proverbs 22:6 as part of biblical wisdom. In a book concerned with passing on wisdom (Prov. 1:1-7), it is best to understand \u201cthe way he should go\u201d to mean \u201cthe way of wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This way of wisdom includes lots of practical insight into how the world works in general and <\/em>is grounded in the conviction that God, the Creator, has made the world and people in it to work a certain way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aim for the right way, and you might just get it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Practically speaking, to say, \u201craise up your child in the way he should go\u201d is to say \u201cin the way of wisdom.\u201d This proverb is less than a promise that if you take your kids to church and teach them the Bible they will become a Christian and more than saying you should figure out the unique \u201cway of your child\u201d based on their aptitudes and raise them in such a way that teaches them how to thrive within their giftedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we should respect the individuality of each child and temper our approaches to suit them. But their self-will will always lead them into the way of folly, that is, the way of sin. The biblical antidote to the way of folly is the way of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we teach our children the way of wisdom, we put them in the best place possible to see that wisdom flows from and towards God. We put them on the path that can <\/em>lead them to Jesus. But there are no guarantees they will walk it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can be sure, though that if you don\u2019t make the effort to show your children how to walk on the way of wisdom, they will probably never find it on their own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you guarantee that your children will be followers of Jesus when they grow up? Putting the word \u201cguarantee\u201d with any claim about how children will turn out once they grow up seems foolish. But some well-meaning people have taught that there is a biblical guarantee. And it is found in Proverbs 22:6: \u201cTrain up … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[43,100,172],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"First Baptist Church of Manistique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"617\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathaniel Erickson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathaniel Erickson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathaniel Erickson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\"},\"wordCount\":908,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Children\",\"parenting\",\"proverbs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pastor's Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\",\"name\":\"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg\",\"width\":617,\"height\":413,\"caption\":\"two paths diverge\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\",\"name\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique\",\"description\":\"Friends pointing the way to a safe harbor through the light of faith in Jesus Christ.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png\",\"width\":259,\"height\":317,\"caption\":\"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCNAoycWBk0stSprUBng8Uhw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b\",\"name\":\"Nathaniel Erickson\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ntgreeketal.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique","description":"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique","og_description":"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...","og_url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689","og_site_name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772","article_published_time":"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":617,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nathaniel Erickson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathaniel Erickson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689"},"author":{"name":"Nathaniel Erickson","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b"},"headline":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?","datePublished":"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689"},"wordCount":908,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg","keywords":["Children","parenting","proverbs"],"articleSection":["Pastor's Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689","name":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d? - First Baptist Church of Manistique","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-20T19:01:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-20T19:01:59+00:00","description":"Does Proverbs 22:6 promise that if you raise your child in a Christian way they will never depart from it? Consider the way of wisdom...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/digests-42583_digest-42583.jpg","width":617,"height":413,"caption":"two paths diverge"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?p=1689#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cTrain up a child\u201d and Proverbs 22:6: What is \u201cthe way he should go\u201d?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/","name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique","description":"Friends pointing the way to a safe harbor through the light of faith in Jesus Christ.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#organization","name":"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FBC-Logov4-Color-Small-transparent.png","width":259,"height":317,"caption":"First Baptist Church of Manistique, MI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/248467813772","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCNAoycWBk0stSprUBng8Uhw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5d499ff1e51066490af4e35bfcbe077b","name":"Nathaniel Erickson","sameAs":["https:\/\/ntgreeketal.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/?author=3"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1689"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1692,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions\/1692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fbcmstq.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}