The Need for Anchor Parents
By Ken Laue
It’s quite the phenomenon and a tourist attraction here in Tucson: the huge parking lot for thousands of old military aircraft that no longer see service. We locals call it The Boneyard. I stop on the bike path sometimes to take it all in, and I notice that the planes are anchored to the ground, lest a mighty windstorm or microburst come along one day and toss them around. Anchors are a broad but important concept – in construction, in engineering, and in many areas of life, anchors are a good thing. When my kids were young I had to anchor the legs of their swing set because the whole unit threatened to tip over when the swings were high in the sky. I owned an aluminum fishing boat once. When we found a place where the fish were really hitting, we anchored the boat to keep us from slowly drifting out of the hot spot.
Anchors are also a valuable concept in the sociological world and the spiritual world. This winter, as caravans of illegal immigrants approached the U.S. border, the controversy over border security issues was renewed. Humanitarian issues were examined as well as the extra burden on taxpayers and social services, and the derogatory term, anchor babies, appeared in the media. Birthright citizenship is the proper terminology for the rights given to these babies, whose late-term mothers find a way into U.S. territory so that the baby will be declared a legal citizen by birth. This provides leverage to legally pull other family members across the border whose entry might otherwise be barred (hence the term anchor baby).
I’m not here to argue the pros and cons of this practice. Rather, as a writer of biblical truths and principals, I’d like to highlight a wonderful parallel in God’s Kingdom: the anchor parent. But here is the significant difference: the American government has agents positioned to keep unauthorized people out of the country. In contrast, God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit have agents positioned to get people into His Kingdom.
If you’re a Christian, you are such an agent. Unfortunately for all of us, our birthright citizenship was into an enemy kingdom, the kingdom of sin and Satan. Romans 3:23 says we are all born sinners, and without God’s miraculous rescue, we would still be anchor babies for the devil. But thank God, He says we have been rescued from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13). That means that, as believers in Jesus, we have been made anchor parents. Now we can legally bring others into God’s nation, as 1 Peter 2:9-10 says: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
God has given us a place of grace and amnesty. We come into God’s Kingdom through His own strong welcome into His kingdom family. Here we can grow in His heavenly love and our prayers are privileged petitions that catch His attention. All are taken seriously by Him – even those prayers that He must deny are serious matters of honor. As an anchor holds the ship fast to the place of anchorage, so our hope anchors us by faith in Jesus, holding us to God’s presence in the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 6:18-20).
As anchor parents, our prayers for loved ones and for others who are drifting away will serve as the hawsers, holding them close lest they get blown out to sea to be caught up in a mighty typhoon or to be surrounded by hungry sharks that seek to devour their souls. Prayer is an important job for anchor parent. Yet, when we don’t see results quickly, we often fall prey to the lie that our prayers don’t count – that we’re barely doing anything for the Kingdom of God. Here’s where human-think differs widely from God-think. In human-think, our lives don’t count unless we gain recognition or credit for doing something we perceive as important – unless we’re listed in the Who’s Who of the Church, in a high position or a high-paying job. Nothing’s wrong with these things, as long as we can keep a right heart to go with them. But in God-think, the behind-the-scenes prayer warrior is the real deal. Jesus taught that Father God really digs secret prayer warriors: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). Nobody but the Lord and those hard-won citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven will ever know what a real phenomenon a secret prayer warrior is. They are well known up there, and these are true anchor parents who work to bring the rest of God’s family in to safety.
I’d like to leave you with a word for the biological parents in the Church. As I’ve served as a children’s church worker over the last thirty years, I’ve seen a lot of kids grow into fine young adults. Some are teenagers now serving in the church body; some have gone on to pastor or to serve in other ministries. But sadly, others are backslidden, having drifted away. I believe that’s why Jesus gave us the story of the prodigal son. You gotta know that his dad was praying and praying; that the dad, steadfast as always, was the anchor. One fine day, when the son was ready to return, that dad’s faithfulness and his love for the son were the anchor ropes that arrested the boy’s drift. Mom and Dad Christian, keep believing. Keep praying. Keep anchored in your faith. The Holy Spirit is the anchor rope, woven of many strands: our spoken words, steadfastness, exampleship, and witness. And prayer is the anchor, the true parent of saved souls.