Words from John G. (part 4)

This is the fourth and final entry in the series of blog posts, Words from John G. In these writings, I have highlighted portions from the Autobiography of John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides to share what this Reformed Presbyterian missionary of an earlier time might say to us today concerning the call to global missions.

So far, we have considered words to “the Naysayers,” to the church as a whole, and to the youth in particular. Today, we take up A Word to the Parents. Perhaps I have saved this entry for last, because as a parent of two young children, I find myself most challenged and most lacking by this word from John G. Instead of focusing on John Paton’s own parenting, we will consider the testimony which he gives of his parents, James and Janet Paton, and their godly influence upon his life and calling. As far as building a Christian foundation and training in the Scriptures from youth, Paton makes this observation from his childhood:

We had, too, special Bible Readings on the Lord’s Day evening—mother and children and visitors reading in turns, with fresh and interesting question, answer, and exposition, all tending to impress us with the infinite grace of a God of love and mercy in the great gift of His dear Son Jesus, our Saviour. The Shorter Catechism was gone through regularly, each answering the question asked, till the whole had been explained, and its foundation in Scripture shown by the proof-texts adduced. It has been an amazing thing to me, occasionally to meet with men who blamed this “catechizing” for giving them a distaste to religion; every one in all our circle thinks and feels exactly the opposite. It laid the solid rock-foundations of our religious life. After-years have given to these questions and their answers a deeper or a modified meaning, but none of us have ever once even dreamed of wishing that we had been otherwise trained. Of course, if the parents are not devout, sincere, and affectionate—if the whole affair on both sides is taskwork, or worse hypocritical and false—results must be very different indeed! Oh I can remember those happy Sabbath evenings; no blinds drawn, and shutters up to keep out the sun from us, as some scandalously affirm; but a holy, happy, entirely human day, for a Christian father, mother, and children to spend . . . .

Others must write and say what they will, and as they feel; but so must I. There were eleven of us brought up in a home like that; and never one of the eleven, boy or girl, man or woman, has been heard, or ever will be heard, saying that Sabbath was dull or wearisome for us, or suggesting that we have heard of or seen any way more likely than that for making the Day of the Lord bright and blessed alike for parents and for children. But God help the homes where these things are done by force and not by love! (pp 24-25)

As parents in the RPCNA, we make a covenanted promise to teach our children “to love God and His Word,” and later to lead them by our “example and parental discipline exercised in love.” Is love the rule and standard for teaching and training our children? Do we expect our kids to love God and love the Bible if they do not observe the example that we love God and we love His Word? Furthermore, do our children observe a love for Christ that extends beyond the four walls of our homes, as a love for the church and a love for the lost in the world?

Of his father’s desire, Paton writes this:

My father had a strong desire to be a minister of the Gospel; but when he finally saw that God’s will had marked out for him another lot, he reconciled himself by entering with his own soul into this solemn vow—that if God gave him sons, he would consecrate them unreservedly to the ministry of Christ, if the Lord saw fit to accept the offering, and open up their way. (pp 21-22)

God graciously granted this desire through the pastoral ministry of John and his two brothers. Both James and Janet maintained their “unreserved” stance towards the calling upon their children, even when that meant sending John off to preach to cannibals in the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu. While many in John’s sphere of influence attempted to dissuade him from undertaking such a hazardous calling (see Words from John G. part 2: A Word Members of the Church), this was not the case for the elder Patons.

John wrote, “my dear father and mother, however, when I consulted them, characteristically replied, that they had long since given me away to the Lord, and in this matter also would leave me to God’s disposal” (p. 89). In many ways, the Patons were faithfully demonstrating what we promise in the first query of the RPCNA Covenant of Baptism: “Do you believe this child is a possession of God entrusted to your care?” We have all given our children away to the Lord, because our children were never ours to begin with, were they? But do we live consistently with this fact and our promise to that end?

Understanding that you want the best for your children, what if your son said, “I want to become a minister”? Or what if your daughter proclaimed, “I want to live overseas to serve hurting people there in the name of Jesus”? Knowing that they could pursue a much more comfortable, profitable, and safe life, temporally speaking, how would you feel?

As has been stated elsewhere, not everyone is called to be a pastor, and not everyone needs to become a missionary. But some people are called and do need to serve in this way. Parents, are we living and loving in such a way as to instill this desire and potential in our children should the Lord so lead and call them? And when he does call them, will it be with reluctance and regret that we let them go, or with joy, experiencing the honorable privilege of having been used by God to train and prepare his servant for ministry?

When John G. Paton faced obstacles and opposition early on, he turned again to his “dear parents” for their counsel, to which they replied, “Heretofore we feared to bias you, but now we must tell you why we praise God for the decision to which you have been led . . . . When you were given to them, your father and mother laid you upon the altar, their first-born, to be consecrated, if God saw fit, as a Missionary of the Cross; and it has been their constant prayer that you might be prepared, qualified, and led to this very decision; and we pray with all our heart that the Lord may accept your offering, long spare you, and give you many souls from the Heathen World for your hire” (pp 92-93).

Of the lasting impact of his parents’ words, together with the prayers over many years leading up to them, Paton said, “from that moment, every doubt as to my path of duty for ever vanished. I saw the hand of God very visibly, not only preparing me for, but now leading me to, the Foreign Mission field” (p. 93).

Praise God for the fruit of godly parenting in the life and ministry of John G. Paton, and may he bless parents today with such fruit in the hearts and lives of our own children, entrusted to our care by God.