MAKING ADOPTION AN OPTION

“H o w g r e a t i s t h e l o v e t h e F a t h e r h a s

l a v i s h e d o n u s , t h a t w e s h o u l d b e

c a l l e d c h i l d r e n o f G o d ! ”

I J o h n 3 : 1 a

N I V

by Rev. John Hopkins, PPL Board Member

While ministering in Spartanburg, South Carolina, I became involved in a new Christ-centered group called Come Closer. Started by the pastor of Journey Church, the group aimed to bring together vital resources as pastors and church leaders. We agreed on several objectives, including adopting older youth. 

The strategy began with determining how many children in Spartanburg County needed adoption. Interestingly, the number equaled the total number of county churches: 600! We started building relationships with social services, praying for caseworkers, and inviting them to our monthly meetings. Several from Come Closer offered to speak in churches, and it was amazing how God convicted couples who heard the appeals. Several congregations saw as many as ten children find “forever homes!” 

Having served as a pastor in five states, I regret not being a catalyst for adoption in other parts of the country. Yet God made it clear that my wife, Glenda, and I would also adopt in Spartanburg. We were living in an apartment when a couple moved in next door. Over time, we became involved in their lives as they faced many challenges, including raising their four-year-old son, Jacob.

His parents faced marital difficulties and health complications, and by 2018 both had died. I officiated at their funerals. My wife had been a mentor to Jacob’s mom and, with his grandparents living out of state, we were asked to pick up Jacob the day his mother died. Suddenly, we were new parents to a nine-year-old boy! Now Jacob is 18 as a high school senior, and he is very involved in church activities, including serving as a missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship one summer. My wife and I agree that, amid continuing challenges, God has enriched our lives by placing Jacob into our home!

A pastor friend told me that the first cure for one’s selfishness is marriage, and the second cure is having children. I wonder how many couples God could have sanctified more deeply if they had sought to adopt a child, not just a cat or a dog. By the way, we have 16 kitties in our home, so we are not opposed to pets! However, the need to impact children in their earlier years has never been greater. Our society has become more secular by the year; social media and sports activities have kidnapped children from families that have parents; Barna Group reports that at least 60% of church-attending youth leave their spiritual roots by college graduation (https://www.barna.com/research/resilient-disciples/).

Keystone Family Alliance reports that there are 12,000 children in the state of Pennsylvania in foster care without the support of a permanent loving home. Their website (https://www.keyfam.org/fosterandadopt) quotes Diane Lanberg as stating, “Trauma is the mission field of our time.” Most churches don't even include adoption in their prayers, much less as a priority for members to consider.  

“If adoption isn't an option, 

becoming a foster family 

can be a way to serve and witness 

to a young person.

One of the most effective ways for the church to witness is where you live. As Dr. James Dobson once commented, “If Christianity does not work in the home, don’t export it!” The family is God’s workshop to build Christian character.

While we have been examining the adoption of older youth, it is worthy to take note of how the Westminster Confession chronicles the process of salvation: God calls all those whom He predestined, and they are then: regenerated into a new spiritual birth; converted; justified through faith in Christ as the only Savior; adopted; sanctified; and glorified, all by God’s grace alone. Which one is overlooked the most? Surely, the subject of this article! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1a NIV). Paul then explains the effect of adoption: “Because you are God’s sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6 NIV). 

The Westminster Confession celebrates the joys adoption delivers in chapter 12: By justification, God, for the sake of Jesus, rewards believers to “enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have his name put upon them, receive the Spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with holiness . . . are protected, provided for, and chastened by him, as by a father: yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption; and inherit the promises, as heirs of salvation.” 

 What the Lord does for Jesus, we can do in part 

by practicing and promoting ADOPTION

so children without parents can find

homes that demonstrate the Good News 

of God’s adoptive love! By doing so, 

we honor the God Who adopted us!   

Photo credit: freestock