Distorted | Week 7 | Message · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Jul 22, 2025 · 51 min watch · 3 min read

Distorted | Week 7 | Message

Big Idea

Raise God seekers, not just good doers — because faithful parenting plants seeds, but only God can make them grow.

The common belief that a godly home guarantees godly kids is a distortion of Proverbs 22:6, which is a principle of wisdom, not a binding promise. Pastor Bill and Carrie argue that the true goal of Christian parenting is to raise children who genuinely seek God — not merely children who behave well. Good behavior without a transformed heart is 'goodliness,' not godliness. Parents are called to faithfulness, not perfection, and must model authentic God-seeking themselves, surrender control, stay present, and trust that God loves their children even more than they do.

Key points

1
1Proverbs 22:6 is a principle of wisdom, not a guarantee — proverbs are not promises.
2
2The parable of the prodigal son shows that a child who never left home can be just as far from God as one who ran away — both sons were prodigals.
3
3The Israelites' meaningless offerings in Isaiah illustrate that rule-following without a heart toward God is disgusting to Him.
4
4Godly means transformed by the love of Christ; good behavior is a natural byproduct of a transformed heart, not the goal itself.
5
5You cannot point children toward a path you are not walking yourself — parents must be God seekers first.
6
6Intentional parenting includes walking the walk, normalizing apology, praying together, affirming identity in Christ, and building a community that prays specifically for your children.
7
7With adult children, release control but stay present — love them the way Jesus loves you, and trust God's timing.

Application

The sermon calls every person — parent or not — to examine whether they are raising (or living as) a God seeker or merely a good doer. For parents of young children, the first step is to talk naturally about who God is, not just what He demands. For parents of teenagers, hammer the truth that identity comes from the God who made and loves them. For parents of adult children, release the grip of control while staying lovingly present — because you cannot argue or nag anyone into the kingdom, but your faithful presence and changed life are powerful witnesses. For those without children, you can be the person who prays specifically and persistently over someone else's kids. And for everyone: the most important thing you can do for the next generation is to be a God seeker yourself, living from His love rather than performing for it, and trusting that He loves your children — and you — more than you ever could.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

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There is a version of Proverbs 22:6 that has quietly broken a lot of hearts. Parents who did everything 'right' have watched children walk away from faith, and wondered what they did wrong. Meanwhile, the verse gets quoted like a contract — do your part, get the guaranteed result. But Pastor Bill was clear: proverbs are principles of wisdom, not binding promises. They describe what is generally true, not what is always true. A proverb about a soft answer turning away wrath does not mean every gentle word lands well. The same is true here. Training a child in the way they should go is still exactly the right thing to do — the wisdom is real. But wisdom is not a vending machine. God is not bound by our parenting techniques, and our children are not products we manufacture. If you have carried guilt over a child who has wandered, this is worth sitting with today. Your faithfulness matters deeply. It is simply not the only variable in play. There is a God who loves your child with a love that outpaces anything you could produce — and He has not stopped working. The goal of this week is not to lower the bar on faithful parenting. It is to put the weight of the outcome back where it belongs: in His hands.

For reflection

Is there a place where you have been treating Proverbs 22:6 as a contract rather than a principle — and what has that cost you emotionally or spiritually?

Pray

Pray for the courage to release the weight of outcomes you were never meant to carry alone.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Pastor Bill and Carrie spent this message wrestling with one of the most hopeful — and sometimes heaviest — questions in family life: what are we actually trying to raise our kids to be?

Discussion questions

1
Pastor Bill pointed out that Proverbs 22:6 is a principle of wisdom, not a binding promise. What difference does it make — practically or emotionally — to read a proverb as a general principle rather than a guaranteed outcome?
2
In Luke 15, Jesus tells about two sons — one who ran away and one who stayed home — and Pastor Bill suggested both were equally far from the father's heart. What do you notice about the older son's posture toward his father, and what might that reveal about the difference between 'goodliness' and godliness?
3
In Isaiah 1:12-13, God responds to the people's offerings with something closer to disgust than gratitude. What seems to be missing from their worship, and how does that connect to what Pastor Bill and Carrie described as the real goal of Christian parenting?
4
Pastor Bill said you cannot point children toward a path you are not walking yourself. What does it look like, in everyday life, for an adult to be a genuine God seeker rather than simply a good doer — and how might that land differently on the people watching us?
5
Pastor Bill and Carrie described different approaches for different seasons — talking naturally about who God is with young children, rooting teenagers in their identity in Christ, and releasing control while staying lovingly present with adult children. What threads do you see running through all three of those, regardless of the age or stage involved?
6
Pastor Bill and Carrie noted that not everyone in the room is a parent, but everyone can pray specifically and persistently over a child in their life. What might it look like for a community — not just individual families — to take shared responsibility for raising the next generation of God seekers?

Pray together

Faithfulness over perfection — that God would shape us into genuine God seekers, and that He would work in the lives of the children and young people we love

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Distorted

Week 7 · 7 messages

Where these passages are preached

Proverbs 22 Luke 15 Isaiah 1 1 Samuel 13

Explore related topics

Faithfulness Over Perfection Identity in Christ Parenting and Faith Raising God Seekers The Prodigal Son

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