We have all known the parents whose child does no wrong. Church, school, homeschooling groups. Their child is never at fault, not responsible, never the reason for turmoil in children’s church or the youth group.
When the behavior of that child had a negative impact on your kid, how do you handle it?
When my daughters were in AWANA, there was a little boy named Samuel. Not to be blunt, but he was a brat.
One night Samuel’s mother gave her testimony, saying how she & her husband waited so long for her to be pregnant, which is why they named him Samuel. I was so happy to hear this, as that is part of my own testimony. After, I walked up to her and told her how happy I was to hear her story. "My husband & I waited for 17 years before we had our daughter; how long did you wait? She suddenly got defensive & said, “Oh…a LONG time!!!” I just let it go.
One night, during snack, Samuel lifted my daughter (who was younger & tiny) our of the line and took her space. His mother actually laughed. Thankfully, the AWANA leaders put my daughter back in the line and moved Samuel to the back of the line, which did not make his mother happy.
However, a few years later I overheard Samuel’s mother taking to another mom, “I don’t understand it; Samuel is incorrigible! We’ve having trouble disciplining him!”
In the situation at my church we watched the “child who does no wrong” cause chaos in Sunday school, VBS, all activities, and eventually the youth group. He aged out but continued to come into the youth group occasionally and disrupt things and, at age 22, made highly inappropriate remarks to a 12 year old girl.
At this point the entire church board confronted him and banned him from all activities other than church services. The pastor flat out refused to talk to the young man.
His mother had a hysterical fit and his father did nothing. At this point they left and caused havoc at a different church. He has been unable to keep a job or a girlfriend. He is now in his 40s, both parents are dead and he is facing a dire future. He still lived with his parents at age 40.