Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

Yesterday, while teaching Sunday school, the issue of “Greenhouses” and over-protecting our kids came up.  I mentioned that I had once written an article on the topic and I’d look it up and re-post it here.  I found it this morning and am doing so now.  I wrote this about four and a half years ago, but I believe it is certainly a valid argument for those who talk about over “sheltering” their kids.

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I love to go to old hardware stores. Several times a year, I go to one of my favorites in downtown China Grove, North Carolina. In the spring, they have their baby chicks out. I usually buy some seed for my garden (whether I need it or not). I can never resist it when I go into a hardware store and they have greenhouse plants out. They just call me. The reason I like this China Grove hardware store is because every spring they offer several different kinds of exotic lettuce like I buy from the organic section from Food Lion. I’m sure the rabbits will get more of it than I do, but you can’t blame a man for trying.

Over the years, I’ve learned that greenhouses are important and very sophisticated places. Ive known several folks who ran wholesale farms and the greenhouses were just incredible. Automatic windows and fans. Climate-controlled temperature and humidity. Auto-sprinklers. I even went to one place where you had to walk through some kind of disinfectant so that you didn’t bring some foreign bacteria into the house on your shoes.

From time to time, I have someone make an argument against Christian schools or sending kids to church or protecting them from certain influences which I call the Hot House or Green House argument. It goes something like this. You’re raising your children in an artificial environment like a greenhouse. But they’ve got to go into the real world sometimes, so you’d better not isolate them. Put them in public schools, don’t force them to go to church, let them stay out late with their friends, don’t be so strict with the curfew things, let them rent R-rated movies and the list goes on and on.

I usually just smile at them and continue on my way. Sometimes I’ll engage them in a little banter by responding like this. Yes, you have a point. I think I’ll go rent a porno movie this evening and watch it with the kids that’s out in the real world too. Or maybe Ill take the young’uns down to the hospital this afternoon and let the TB patients cough on them for a while I mean, hey, you can’t protect them forever, can you? They’re going to get exposed to germs eventually at least I’ll be there! (I think by now, you’re getting my point, right?)

I’m afraid we’ve allowed unbiblical philosophy to sway us away from protecting our kids. Sometimes, I believe, we have over-delegated responsibilities to others that are best performed by parents. As a pastor and an educator, I often urge parents with whom I work to build a greenhouse in their own home.

Proverbs 22:6 tells us to Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. This is a wonderful proverb given to us in wisdom. Keep in mind that proverbs are principles and not promises. They are guidelines and counsel. You and I both know of some people who were reared in a good Christian home, but as they matured and had the opportunity to accept or reject the truth in which they were schooled, they chose to reject it. But as a principle or guide, children who grow up in the loving, nurturing environment of a home that is committed to Biblical values are more likely to continue in the way they should go as adults than those who don’t get such support and training. But when an adult child chooses to reject Truth, it is less of a reflection on the parent than on the adult child who apparently has not submitted his will to the Lord.

The word train here comes from the Hebrew word hanak, meaning to dedicate”. It conveys an idea of hedging in or narrowing and would often be used in the sense of starting something. Horses are hedged in at the beginning of a race so their start will be fair and so they will be headed in the right direction. Garden plants are started in small, confining containers, under the protected environment of a greenhouse so they will get a good beginning. Climbing vines and roses are placed on a trellis to that they can be guided upward in a beautiful fashion. Godly parenting demands that godly parents get their youngsters off to a good start.

You have to admit, greenhouses are interesting places. They are sophisticated in their design and simple in their goal. By shielding their young charges from cold, disease, heat, drought, pests and other dangers, greenhouses prepare immature plants for life outside the greenhouse. When they are ready, they are transplanted to the real world not too soon just when they can handle its pressures, difficulties and irregularities.

Isn’t that what we as parents should be doing as well? The notion that we should expose our children to the worst that the world has to offer as some sort of preparation for the real world is ludicrous. Yet, many parents push their kids into premature dating, expose their kids to the worst kinds of violence and conduct, sexualize their kids by letting them act and talk sexy and in general abdicate their responsibility to be keepers of the environment which allows our kids to mature before exposing them to the harsh realities of a pretty wicked world.

Lets examine some of the responsibilities of a greenhouse and draw comparisons with our responsibilities with the adult world.

First, greenhouses are to provide protection during early states of development.  Most tender plants are given a nice head start in peat cups and potting soil. This allows them to sprout in safety away from the dangers that will destroy them before they even get started. Such is the approach by the wise parent. Keeping them close to mom and dad, snarling at things that would rob them of their innocence, hiding their impressionable psyches from the cruelness of a fallen creation, we allow them to get a head start on life before having to deal with those things for which they are not ready.

Greenhouses provide shelter from harsh exposures. Do our pre-pubescent kids really need to know the horrors of violence, the draw of sexuality, the raw potential for hatred that exists in the world? Certainly, they will be exposed to it soon enough and sometimes sooner than wed like. But why rush our kids into confrontation with that which scars, desensitizes and devastates?

Timely and measured nutrition are a priority in the greenhouse and should be in the home as well. Measured doses of nutrients, sunlight, moisture and fertilizers are given by conscientious farmers. The wise parent makes sure that their child is given the correct doses of intellectual stimulation, physical exercise and nutrition, emotional support and spiritual instruction. Wed be fools to only see that they get enough to eat, but no love or exercise or academic stimulation. Why is it that many parents, then, neglect completely the need each child has to know there is a God and that He matters? Its nothing short of child-neglect.

Every greenhouse is a monument to the controlled environment. Constant readings and evaluation give guidance. We also should be checking the temperature in our home. How are the attitudes? Is there balance? Have negative influences like too much TV, unhealthy media messages, and over-extension of time crept into our life? Sometimes we need to regulate what is going on in our personal greenhouse.

Much care is given to make sure the plants have developed their roots. Roots give stability, help with sustenance, and are essential for reproduction. Making sure our kids know lifes whys and not simply the whats is essential in giving them roots. It is what guides discernment, encourages stability, promotes continued growth. Good rooting is dependent upon a Worldview that is permeated with the absolute values of Scripture.

Finally, the big day arrives and they are ready for transplanting. Not too soon. Not too late. Gradually, they have been exposed to a greater extreme in exposure to sunlight, temperature and watering. They are now ready to transplant into the yard or garden. The day finally comes when our kids are ready to date, get their first job, go off to school, and invade the world one step at a time. Yet, even during that time, we monitor, guide, check and pray. That’s what good parents are all about.

So, if you’ve bought into the whole “Anti-Greenhouse” philosophy of parenting, I’d challenge you to rethink it. Indeed, a family garden and greenhouse may be what’s best for YOUR kids.