Godparents

Read 2 Corinthians6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with and unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:14-15, NASB). As I am walking through the room the television is tuned to the ABC network talk show “The View.” I take notice that the following question is being addressed by the hosts of the program. “Would you allow an atheist to be your child’s godparent?” I had not heard some of the responses to this question, but I did hear one of the guest say “yes” because a godparent is not so much about religious training. It’s about teaching values (paraphrased). This answer catches my attention because I am thinking, “How does she separate values from religion? Is it not one of the roles of religion to teach values? Is it not true that our values are learned through our religion?” I quickly send out by email with this notice to about five family members. “Dear folks, this question was asked on the ABC talk show “The View.” ‘Would you allow an atheist to be your child’s godparent?” What is your response to this question? I received four written responses and one verbal response. Here are the four written responses: “In response to your e-mail ---- without hesitation, the answer is know [SIC]. No atheist for my child!!! I haven’t read much about godparents; however I always thought the first responsibility of the godparent (s) was the religious training in case parents weren’t able, or assist the parent. Also, godparents I know attend some kind of religious blessing if the child is a baby. Then there were other things as caregivers. I have observed people I know have godparents who are adult friends and sometimes act as an adopted aunt or uncle.” “No, I would not.” “I don’t have any children yet. But there are some “Christians” I would not let me [SIC] their God Parent (s). I don’t know what criteria is but it seems most of them are “good friends” of the parents or someone they think would be financially able to take care of the child. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard someone say anything about the God Parent’s moral character or religious beliefs.” Number 2 read # 3’s answer and made the following response: “I agree with you. It seems the first criterion for being a god parent is the ability to provide for the child if the unexpected happened. I’m older now and my understanding of the importance of this has changed. I would look for god parents with solid biblical foundations who would be willing to be, as close as humanly possible, the parents I would have been.” “I probably would not, just because my definition of “God parents” include people who would help facilitate me raising my kids to know God. If something were to happen to me, I would prefer they be raised in a Christian home. But when picking God parents, I would go deeper than just whether or not someone identifies as Christian. I would want those Christians to have a healthy, balanced view of who God is and about the world we live in. I would want my kids to know God’s love. No shame or toxic ideologies in the name of religion. But I wouldn’t alienate my non-Christian friends from being a part of my children’s lives… they just wouldn’t be in the role of being the God parents.” After reading these responses, all from Christians, I thought that I should Google “godparents” to get somewhat of a definition and history of the role. I discovered that the role of Godparent began in the second century A.D. when infant baptism was very common in the Christian church. The Godparent(s) would stand with the parents as a “sponsor” of the infant during the baptism ceremony. I learned that the role and the responsibilities of the Godparents have changed over the years, as well as whom the Godparents should be. I also read that in recent years there has been a role for godparents according to various secular traditions. Since these articles are Bible based and Christian tradition I want us to think about this role in what I believe are biblical guidelines. First, the word “Godparent” implies that God is somehow involved in this role. As stated above, the role was initiated in the Christian church. Frankly, I have never heard of people not affiliated with the church talk about Godparents, but I confess that I had not thought too much about it until the person on the View stated that being a godparent is not about religion. It’s about teaching values. So I want to address the subject of religion and its role in imparting values. There are two passages of scripture that I want to raise for this discussion. The first scripture passage is 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. In this passage Apostle Paul reintegrates a tradition in the life of Israel from the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai to Moses who passed it down to the people. In both Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures the people of God have been warned of the danger of being too closely associated with the unbelievers; especially those people who worship other gods. In the Old Testament the Israelites are warned that becoming too closely involved in the lives of the peoples of the land that worship other gods cause them to be led into idolatry. God commands the Israelites not to make a covenant with the natives of the land, and they are not to marry them. The following reason is given: ‘“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you’” (Deut. 7:4, NASB). Contrary to past teaching in America, God did not forbid people from marrying people of another race because of the color of their skin. It is because when the people of God accept other gods into their religion and begin to incorporate their values into their lifestyles they eventually will forsake God altogether. In the Corinthian passage Paul reminds the people that there is no compatibility between the believers and the unbelievers. He uses five metaphors. There is no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness; no fellowship of darkness and light; no harmony between Christ and Belial; nothing common between believer and unbeliever; no agreement has the temple of God with idols (vv.14-16). God will live with His people; therefore, God’s people must separate themselves from the worshipers of idols and God will be their father and the people will be His sons and daughters (vv. 16-18.). The second scripture passage is Ephesians 6:1-4. First, Apostle Paul exhorts children to obey their parents. Paul reminds them of the fifth commandment in the Law (Exodus 20:12). “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE A LONG LIFE ON THE EARTH” (v. 2-3, NASB). After instructing the children to obey their parents Paul instructs the parents telling them their responsibilities. He writes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instructions of the Lord” (v. 4, NASB). Read verse four again. There is no place in the scriptures where the fathers and mothers are told to turn the training of their children over to schools, churches, boy scouts, girl scouts or any other institution. For example, the math teacher teaches mathematical principals and procedures, but it is the responsibility of the parents to teach the child values such as to study, behave in class and follow the rules. The values that Christian parents are to teach are based on the commands of God and the teaching of Jesus Christ (see Matt. 28:20) In conclusion, since an atheist is a person that does not believe that God exist, Christian parents should ask themselves “how can this person or persons teach my child values that come from the Word of God? If the Deuteronomy and 2 Corinthian texts are true, can we expect that an atheist will know Godly precepts and values? Will the atheist agree with truth found in the Bible? Religion is a way of life. A Christian parent should want their child’s Godparent to be a Christian so that if it becomes necessary they will continue the teaching of Christian values to their children.