I was too young to understand all the dynamics, but, within minutes of meeting him I immediately understood something was very wrong with the little boy who showed up in my class. I was seven or eight and he was probably a year or two younger than me. We were similar in size, but he was still in diapers. We could both talk but His speech was on the level of a toddler and he was developmentally delayed in almost every other way. I knew something was very wrong.

Years later I learned that my “friend” was neither mentally nor physically handicapped. His problems stemmed from the fact that his mother didn’t believe in any kind of discipline. She thought it cruel to hold her son accountable in any way. She felt he should have the freedom to choose whatever he wanted to do in life. So, he ate and slept however and whenever he pleased, leaving his body emaciated, his mind confused and his social functionality almost non-existent. A perfectly good childhood was ruined by an irresponsible parent.

While children often fantasize about living in a world where there were no rules, no chores and no accountability, most of them eventually come to appreciate the parameters forced on them by their parents and society. Those are the things that make us “civilized.” Almost no one would argue for complete and unrestrained freedom as a good method for raising children. 

This simple concept speaks to the complete rationality in the idea that God would also impose rules and systems of accountability upon humankind. We often hear the drumbeats of freedom of choice and the right to be happy so often that we can easily fall off the philosophical cliff that embraces the idea that people should be able to do whatever they feel like doing. But the end result of such philosophy is not unlike the disastrous results my “friend” experienced. I, for one, am thankful for a loving heavenly father who gives me guidelines by which to live and then holds me accountable.  The Bible puts it like this: 

Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. (Hebrews 12:5-11 MSG)

So many countries and people groups have been blessed by the moral and spiritual direction given to us by the Bible. God’s masterpieces such as the ten commandments have given guidance to and improved the lives of untold millions throughout the world. To seek freedom from God’s “impositions” would be to wish that He were an irresponsible God – a God who didn’t really love mankind. Wise men still seek God’s wise guidance, and they love the way He cares for His own by holding them accountable. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?