Should I be concerned?

I've been struggling all week with something that I heard last Sunday night, and I would appreciate some opinion about whether I should be concerned or not.

The teens went on their annual winter retreat last weekend. Evidently, it was a terrific retreat. Some kids got saved and others made some decisions. Sunday night, the preaching was pretty much directed to the teens and some of it was also directed to parents. During the message, the preacher made a comment that has bothered me all week. I don't remember the exact quote, but the paraphrase that I took away was, "Don't undermine at home what we're trying to put into the kids here."

Here's what bothers me about what I heard on Sunday night. The very subtle implication that I took away was, "Parents, don't get in the way of what we're trying to do here." I'm the one who ultimately decides what goes into my kids, not the church. If he meant that parents need to sort of get out of the way so the church can work, I don't agree with that. If he meant that parents shouldn't be hypocrites, doing one thing at church and another at home, and that this undermines not only what the church does, but also undermines what the parents say they want for their kids, then I'm on-board with that.

I don't have exact wording, and I realize that you have limited information to base your position, but I would like to hear your take anyway. I don't know whether I'm just interpreting it incorrectly, or whether I should be very concerned. This is the first time I've heard something like this at my church and it bothers me. Should it?

 

That was quick.

I should have stated that I do plan on talking to preacher tonight to make sure I understand what he's saying.

Thank you for your comments. They are appreciated.

 

I talked to pastor last night about my concerns and thought I would share what I learned.

I asked him about the undermining phrase. The first thing that he said was that the church is here to help the parents raise their children and not the other way around. He said that what has often happened is that the youth pastor will preach against something, say, girls wearing pants. If the parents disagree, they may make comments like, "Well, the preacher is a little screwy to say stuff like that and you don't need to listen to him about this issue."

His point is that if you undermine the youth pastor/pastor like this, then your child won't listen to the pastor about anything else. He told me that this has happened many times and that's what he's preaching against.

He believes, and I agree with him, that if there is an issue, like girls wearing pants, where you disagree with the youth pastor/pastor, there are ways to handle it without undermining their work.

So, my concerns were met and I was very satisfied with the explanation. Thanks for all of your comments and good advice.

 

I should have had more sense than this.

After a year of being on this board, you would have thought that I would have had more sense than to bring this issue up in the first place. I should have thought it through and realized that this thread was going somewhere I wouldn't want it to. I have no desire to debate the issue of girls wearing pants. I have no desire to hear more criticism of my church or any of the pastors of the church.

I do have a desire for this thread to be locked before I say something unchristlike that I'll regret later.