Part 2. Loving Without Fixing: Chris Patton on Parenting Adult Children

Send us Fan MailLoving Without Fixing: Chris Patton on Adult Children, Grace, and Who Pastors the PastorIn part two of my conversation with Chris Patton, senior pastor of Southside Church, we explore what happens when parenting enters a season the church does not always talk about.The church offers plenty of guidance for raising children, but what happens when those children become adults and begin making decisions we would not choose for them? Chris and I discuss how parents can remain loving, supportive, and present without trying to control or continually change their adult children.We also examine why love can so easily become an effort to fix someone. What does it look like to maintain a meaningful relationship with a child, family member, or friend whose beliefs, lifestyle, or choices differ from our own? And what does it look like when the church handles those relationships with genuine grace rather than judgment?Finally, we turn the conversation toward Chris himself. Pastors are often contacted during the most painful and desperate moments of people’s lives. They hear the difficult stories, carry the emotional weight, and are frequently expected to have answers that no human being could possibly have.So who encourages the pastor? Who listens when the pastor is hurting? Who fills his bucket when so much of his life is spent pouring into everyone else?In this episode:Parenting after children become adultsLoving someone without trying to control themWhy love often turns into an attempt to change peopleStaying connected when someone chooses a different pathWhat grace looks like in real relationshipsWhat the church gets right and wrong about loving peopleThe emotional weight carried by pastorsWho pastors, encourages, and supports the pastorThis is part two of my conversation with Chris Patton. You can find me as David Monsour a.k.a. Disco Davo on most social media applications as well as my contact davidmonsour.com.