The Fourth Commandment

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briankarman

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I have a friend, who is unchurched, who I am trying to evangelize. Or more correctly I believe God is reaching to him through my unworthy hands.

Today, I was telling him about the Ten Commandments and he was fine with all of them, except the Fourth.

He, from everything I know from him, has lousy biological parents. They both don’t work, they do illegal drugs, they are nice to my friend when they need something, then treat him like dirt when they don’t want something from him. It just seems like they don’t love their son.

This is hard for me to see because I have just the opposite and it has always been easy for me to honor my father and mother.

To get to the point, what does it mean to honor father and mother when they haven’t really been very good parents.

Thank you in advance and God Bless.
 
I’m sort of borrowing from Dr. Laura a bit (sorry). However, I think our responsibility for parents, as adults, is to make sure they are cared for as far as housing, food, etc. If there is a good relationship, that’s great, but you don’t need to take them in, give them money if they’re just using it on drugs or other bad habits, and visit with them all the time if they’re abusive.

Also, I teach my catechism kids that we are obliged to honor and obey parents IF they are not asking us to do something immoral, illegal, or sinful.

I hope this helps somewhat briankarman
 
If your friend would at all times treat his parents with respect, he probably would have fullfilled the requirements of the Fourth Commandment.

Since they are only friendly to him when they need him, I don’t think he is obligated to support them each time they ask him for money. However, he still might want to keep in mind that they still fed and housed him when he was a child. If they had not, he would not be here. When they are truly in obvious dire need, then come to their aid as best as he can

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briankarman:
I have a friend, who is unchurched, who I am trying to evangelize. Or more correctly I believe God is reaching to him through my unworthy hands.

Today, I was telling him about the Ten Commandments and he was fine with all of them, except the Fourth.

He, from everything I know from him, has lousy biological parents. They both don’t work, they do illegal drugs, they are nice to my friend when they need something, then treat him like dirt when they don’t want something from him. It just seems like they don’t love their son.

This is hard for me to see because I have just the opposite and it has always been easy for me to honor my father and mother.

To get to the point, what does it mean to honor father and mother when they haven’t really been very good parents.

Thank you in advance and God Bless.
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I think you are obliged to honor your parents insofar as they have given you life. Even if they’re crummy parents, they’re still the parents God gave you in His ultimate wisdom. Sort of like we can honor a priest even if he has the personality of a turnip. Honor the office, if not always the office holder.
 
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