I’m sure every generation of parents has had to have some tricky and awkward conversations with their children. Just read your Old and New Testaments and you’ll see the kind of sexual chaos that has often been tolerated or celebrated in various times and places. Each one of these manifestations of rebellion against God has needed an explanation from parents who are committed to raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Today’s parents are raising their children in a time of rapid cultural change when the specific forms of rebellion and the questions they raise are different from previous generations—sometimes subtly different and sometimes utterly and completely different. Parents can easily feel overwhelmed and may respond by attempting to shelter their children nearly completely and indefinitely. Yet wise parents know they need to prepare their children to live in this world and not some other. They know there are ideas they need to introduce, concepts they need to explain, and conversations they need to have.
What Do I Say When…? is a guide for parents who want to help their children and teens navigate today’s cultural chaos. Written by husband and wife duo Andrew and Christian Walker, it has ten chapters, each of which is devoted to an aspect of modern Western culture. Each one introduces the topic and explains what God says about it, which provides a brief biblical foundation for parents to begin with.
After that, each chapter advances to a guide to help parents discuss these matters with their children. Each guide is helpfully divided into three parts or, in the authors’ parlance, three “floors.” The first is for children between roughly four and eight years of age, the second for children between eight and twelve, and the third for teens up to around age 16. This ensures the conversations are appropriate to differing ages and levels of maturity.
The different topics range from human dignity and abortion to gender and transgenderism to identity and sexuality. They also cover technology, political engagement, and hostility against those who hold to the Christian faith. Each chapter is relatively brief—perhaps 15 pages or so—and provides just enough information for parents to help lay a solid foundation in the lives of their children and engage in useful training and conversation.
Many parents feel the need for some assistance as they help their children navigate today’s cultural chaos. What Do I Say When…? is just the right resource. It will give parents the information and the confidence they need to train their children well—to help them understand the truths of Scripture that counter every error of culture. It will equip parents to in turn equip their children so they can live well as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
