Where have all the children gone?
Dr. Mohler had a fascinating show on Thursday, The Land of Disappearing Children, looking at the dangerously low birth-rates in Japan and what that means for that nation economically, as well as what that says about changing worldviews where having more than a couple of children is seen as somehow odd or in some cases irresponsible. At the rate Japan is going, in the near future 70% of the current workforce in Japan will be retired and not replaced. The pattern is similar in Europe, Russia and many other industrialized nations including the U.S. to a lesser extent. Our workforce is being replace by immigrants, many of them illegal immigrants. Japan is in trouble but so are we. Social Security is already in trouble and add to the lengthening lifespan of Americans the reduction in workforce to replenish the Social Security coffers and it is little wonder that younger Americans have no illusion of receiving Social Security when they get older.
About 30 minutes into the program, someone named Jeff called in and asked if it wasn't better for Christian's to have fewer kids that could have a better life (i.e. economically) rather than be fruitful and multiply. As if the main responsibility of Christian parents is to buy their kids more stuff in lieu of obedience to the Biblical commandment to be fruitful. That in itself raises a disturbing question, because it (without knowing much about Jeff) exposes a dangerous worldview and a foreign understanding of what the Christian life is supposed to be all about.
It is not my contention that all Christian parents are obligated to have huge families, or even that they should have as many children as God gives them. There can be a case made for that, but the bigger issue is the worldview that this exposes. It becomes more important to have the right vacations and the right toys. Children are seen as a line item in the family budget instead of being the family. "How do you afford all those kids?" is a question we get all the time. You never ask someone, "How do you afford that wife?" do you? Societal pressures force many Christian parents to enroll their children in every activity under the sun, which requires running them to and fro all week long. Children are a hassle because we have made them a hassle in an effort to be better parents. Go figure!
It is a basic Biblical command that men and women should marry and raise families. It is not something that should be shunned (you would be amazed at the number of Christians who look at our large family with a mixture of fascination and horror!) or resented. I searched for "fruitful" in the ESV and was a little surprised by how often it pops up just in Genesis:
Genesis 1: 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
Genesis 8:17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.
Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it.
Genesis 35:11 And God said to him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
What is striking is not just the number of times God commands His people to be fruitful, but how He expresses it in the form of a blessing. It is a blessing to be fruitful, not a curse. There needs to be a radical rethinking of our attitudes in the church about families and their value. We have VBS, AWANA and Youth activities to reach other people's kids but don't want to be bothered with the full time responsibility of a large family. Believe you me, it isn't a walk in the park all of the time, but there is nothing that compares to having the whole family, all ten of us, in the room at the same time or playing together in the backyard. Sure it is fleeting because someone is going to kick someone else or do something else to break it, but in those moments you see the joy and blessing of a large family displayed.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:5 ESV)
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