Dada, Mummy – More Soup Please! By Pr. Robin Rajan, AUSTRALIA
We have heard the wise evangelism tagline “Soup, Soap, Salvation”, referring to the concept that before spiritual food is extended, feed the emotional and physical needs of the people we are reaching out to. This has been the driving theme towards missionaries not limiting themselves to tract distribution but also expending effort in building schools, hospitals, better homes, and other structures for improving life within “Jerusalem/ Judah ”, where God has planted them. In other words, God’s love is all-encompassing.
As parents, let us remember that soup is required not only for the mission fields but best served in the home. As individuals trying our best to get closer to God, we also attempt to impart and inculcate that spiritualism in our children. Indeed, that would be the wise and God-fearing thing to do as the Scripture fervently reminds us to “teach them to your children”.
However, our children need soup and soap too, albeit in a different sense to what the mission field needs. Let me ask, as Believers or Pentecostal parents – are our conversations with our children limited to these questions:
∙ What Psalms did you read today?
∙ Did you pray before getting up to brush?
∙ You were on a device for a long time, but did you pray before you slept?
∙ Can you wear something white instead of that?
Ouch sorry! Did I touch a nerve? Don’t get me wrong – propriety and sobriety in appearance and engagement, rooted in Godliness, are good traits. Prayer, Bible reading, and communal worship are fundamental tenets of our Christian faith – no arguments there. However, if that is the only question or realm of the topic that you ask your child and with a stern face too, you are missing the fact that your child is tripartite with body, soul, and spirit. That would be like – tightening the bolts of only the front tyre in a 3-wheeler scooter and leaving the other 2 tyres unattended. You don’t need to be an engineer to know that you’re not achieving your full potential.
Attending to the other two tyres would be like:
∙ Hey – how many goals did you score today at soccer?
∙ Did you end up finishing that craft work you were doing?
∙ I am planning to make some pastry today. Do you want to help roll the dough?
∙ Hey what’s that scratch on your hand, did you fall somewhere? Let me have a look.
∙ What happened? You look a bit down, was it a tough day at school or work?
∙ I saw you running up to your friend and asking if she was ok when she tripped. That was very nice of you and I am very proud!
∙ How about we listen to that new song we heard in church and learn together?
∙ Wow – that shirt looks good on you. I need to get one too!
These might seem frivolous and childish, but remember a small “stone-ish” obstacle today might become a sand dune tomorrow. Jesus is our role model – who came to deliver mankind from sin and give them eternal life. But goodness gracious! Look at the way He went about it – talk about being radical. He fed the hungry, healed the unhealed, touched the untouched, visited the unvisited, loved the unloved, looked at the unlooked, spoke to the unspoken, and raised the dead, all the while unwaveringly proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Salvation with plenty of soup and soap to go by!
So, looking unto the commander Jesus, as good soldiers let us follow on that path. Let us impart good spiritual heritage to our children while not forgetting their emotional and physical needs. Let’sdiscern our children’s needs and know when soap is needed and when to cook up a good soup! Yum!
“Yesss, I heard you – La Dada special hot soup coming up !!!”
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