Bad parents get a lot of press. We hear so much about mothers and father who made poor choices. We hear about absentee fathers and abusive mothers, about mothers and fathers who fight and drink too much. It is depressing and I will be the first to admit it. I, along with all of you, grow weary of the time-honored cop out: “well, I ain’t ever been a parent before,” as if that should somehow exonerate them from the criticism they so richly deserve.

There are bad parents out there today and I am not in denial about that. In the midst of the horror stories, however, I take courage in what I see in the church. I see families that don’t just send their children to church they bring them to church. And, sometimes when the parents fail in that respect, the grandparents fill in the void and they b…