Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Would You Like to Have a Black Son-in-Law?

"Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right'" (Acts 10:34-35, NIV).

Janet and I have a goal of raising our son to be a godly man. We would like to see him develop the faith and character qualities of a biblical elder (a.k.a. overseer, pastor, etc.).

In 15 to 20 years, it's likely that he will be married. Who will he marry? We don't know, but we pray for him to marry a young Christian woman who sincerely loves God.

Preparing for that time, I would like to challenge Christian parents of every race to be open to their children marrying someone from another race. Let's not limit the choices of our children based on something as superficial as race or ethnicity.

If your daughter is white, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, or another race, would you welcome a young black man like our son into your family as a son-in-law? Would you like to have black grandchildren? If your daughter is black, would you welcome him as a son-in-law despite him having white parents? These are questions I would like to challenge every parent to ask himself or herself.

(Baptist minister John Piper, a white man with an adopted black daughter, has a good sermon about interracial marriage at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/48_Racial_Harmony/198_Racial_Harmony_and_Interracial_Marriage/).

2 comments:

chris said...

If you would like a black son-in-law, I think that's wonderful. But please don't force your values on other people, thru some type of false guilt, or worldly belief. Thanks!

Terry Laudett said...

Chris,
If you feel guilt in the future, please do a search of my blog using the keyword "forgiveness." It's a common theme on my blog and in the Bible.