The family in modern America is broken. This is maybe the most clear when seen in our homeless population. In 2004 the unaccompanied homeless youth population in Illinois was just shy of 25,000 people (Unaccompanied Homeless Youth in Illinois: 2005, University of Illinois at Chicago). Nearly 30% of these youth give family conflict as the reason for their homelessness. Often forgiveness is forgone on both sides. A father cannot forgive his son for being gay. A daughter cannot forgive her mother for trying to protect her from a narcissistic boyfriend.
These issues are complex and because they are family issues, often the emotions are very intense. The intensity may be more of an indicator of how much we need each other than how close we are. Whatever the case, there are two things we must do. Listen. Shut up and listen. Secondly, teach our young people to forgive and model that forgiveness by forgiving them.
The family has always been broken and it is not exclusive to modern America, but I wonder if we are becoming less likely to forgive in a culture of fear that is in America today. It says something about our society when children are the new face of homelessness. God commands us over and over again to take care of the widow and the orphan or judgment will be inevitable. Judgment would not be revenge God exacts on us, but evil will collapse under its own weight and not caring for the fatherless and the widow simply exposes the condition of our hearts and the condition does not look good.
When the family is broken, the church needs to step up. But maybe the church has stepped up.
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