Adoption

This past Lord's Day, Abby and I (with Christian) had the opportunity to attend a public dialogue about adoption with Dr. Russell Moore, Dr. Randy Stinson, and Rev. David Prince (the video below is Dr. Moore explaining the purpose of this public dialogue).

In my view, the friendship between Dr. Moore– the dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary– Dr. Stinson- president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood– and Rev. Prince– pastor of a growing, vibrant, evangelical (in the best sense of the word) church– has the potential to have a similar impact for the kingdom of God as the friendship at the heart of the Together for the Gospel conference. The public dialogue this past Lord's Day is indicative of one area in which these men are already leading churches to reflect theologically and to act in ways that impact the lives of others for Christ: the area of adoption.

Adoption is rich in biblical and systematic theological significance. God's care for orphans and His action of bringing those from outside His chosen race into the number of his people (see, for example, Ruth) is a theme that recurs throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, adoption joins concepts such as justification, sanctification, and glorification to help us understand the salvation we have in Christ (see, for example, Romans 8:22-9:5). But whereas much theological reflection has been devoted to the topics just mentioned, relatively little has be given to adoption. One reason for this, I believe, is that the doctrine of adoption makes such great demands upon us. If we understand God's sovereign choice in adopting us, then our pride is debased, for our salvation is a matter of His choice, not ours. If we understand that we are all adopted- that God has no 'natural children' save Christ, so that we are all equal as adopted brothers and sisters into one family, then there is no place for favoritism, racism, or cliquishness in the church. If we understand God's self-sacrificial work on the Cross as payment for our adoption, then we are compelled to make sacrifices in order to see that others may be adopted as well.

This last theological-practical point was the focus of the dialogue this past Lord's Day. Abby and I are committed to eventually adopting a child and to helping others adopt; I pray that you who are reading this blog right now would consider how you might adopt or help others adopt as well. It is the least that we can do in honoring our Father who adopted us.

I urge anyone reading this to view the video below and to listen to a sermon from Rev. Prince on adoption HERE.