Memoir: Listening to the Right Voice

A few clips from a Lifetime show on last night called Born to Breed caught my eye this morning (props to the True Womanhood forum).

In these clips, you meet author Kathryn Joyce, whose book Quiverfull has garnered a lot of attention in the press recently. You meet fellow blogger, Vyckie, who runs the No Longer Quivering blog. And you meet two families who are members of the patriarchal Quiverfull movement.

True to the movement’s habits, these families are rural, upper middle-class, and white. This movement doesn’t yet know how to translate their message across to urban settings, poor families who can’t afford large sprawling homes,  or other disenfranchised populations quite yet, but their own lives look pretty comfortable and desirable. I actually don’t have an issue with either of the two families. They have a choice just like any family does on how to live. And the kids are adorable.

What bothers me is that Rachel, this self-proclaimed obedient wife and lover of children has cursed the rest of us. Her book, found on her blog, says:

“On the other side there are children being born who already desire to promote the enemy’s
agenda. Some are chosen in the womb through demonic rituals or other forms of evil.”

“Some are birthed into this world and taught to hate. The only hope these children have is to find Christ, but until they do they will be
increasingly susceptible to the deeds and plans of the enemy.”

Her own children (or any children birthed into a patriarchal Quiverfull family), however:

” It will be evident from birth that these children have a readiness to serve Him (Luke 1:15). Just like John the Baptist, these children will be born knowing their destiny before them… They will have the faith of Abraham, the humility of Moses, the conquering spirit of Joshua, the servant’s heart of Ruth, the worshipper’s heart of David, the prophetic eye of Jeremiah and Isaiah; they will dwell in the miraculous like Elijah, possess the boldness of Paul, and have the knowledge of Esther that they have come into the Kingdom “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). They will be lights in the darkness of this world no matter where they go, and they will not possess the fears of previous generations because they will be firmly rooted and
established in the Lord. Their lack of fear will cause the Lord’s hand to be upon
them (Luke 1:66) as they march in unison and only respond to the voice of the
Holy Spirit. Their lives will not be about themselves or fulfilling their own desires,
but they will be consumed with complete obedience to the Lord.”

“Many of these children will be the offspring of Godly bloodlines; the children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the families who followed the Lord
down through time.”

The spin in these passages is astounding. So, what about the incredible potential Christian heroes of the faith who will grow up in terrible, horrible homes who only have one or two children? Or whose parents both work multiple jobs to put food on the table or provide clothes? What about the kids who don’t find Christ until their adult years (like my high school buddy who tore through my teen years, torturing me for my faith and who is now in Africa committed to Christ?)? Are they screwed because their “bloodlines” aren’t intact?

This is typical cult talk. What Rachel Scott needs to realize is that just because some people don’t choose HER way of living life that their kids aren’t doomed to hell. And, for what it’s worth, I know of many situations in which non-patriarchal Quiverfull kids have led to the LORD those adored and “acceptable unto God” patriarchal Quiverfull kids “with Godly bloodlines” who decided they’d had enough of Mom and Pop’s legalistic crap and ran away from home, got into drugs, and then came crying, broken, scared of their parents, thinking they were doomed to hell, but desperate for grace. Um, Luke 15 anyone? The grace of GOD anyone? Anyone?

I love that these woman are obeying the call of God on their lives, but the minute they set one foot across into God’s territory and tell me or anyone else what God is saying that I should do or what the world should do, they just lost my attention and my respect.

It’s so much easier to save a world then to do what you have been told to do on a daily basis (like care for your own children and family, making sure they really understand that they can hear God’s voice for themselves, rather than have you drown it out on a daily basis). It’s so much easier to attempt to be a super-Christian rather than just a regular believer saved every minute of every day by grace.

I’ll take grace, thanks. It’s a fresh wind in my life.

Tagged as: brilliant, overcoming resistance, writing