What Charlie taught about grandparents

Most of what Charlie said about family was aimed at parents. But at a Freedom Night in America event with Dr. Frank Turek, he turned to grandparents and gave them something to do. He asked them to be disagreeable grandmothers and grandfathers, and he said it with a smile: play to win, because those are your grandkids.

He did not mean harsh. In the same breath he said you can be the sweet one and give the candy away. What he meant was that sweetness is not enough on its own. He wanted grandparents to profess the truth, plainly and without apology, even while they spoil the children a little.

His reason was that grandparents can save a grandchild's life. When the chips are down and a young person needs advice, he said, they are going to go to grandma's house or grandpa's house, not their parents' house. He pictured a grandchild facing a decision about a weekend party, saying that their parents think it's fine, but there is a check in their spirit, and going to see Grandpa or Grandma.

Paul describes the same thing in a letter to Timothy. He remembers the faith that lived first in Timothy's grandmother Lois and then in his mother Eunice. Faith that passes through three generations has to be lived, spoken and prayed for at every step, and the grandparent's generation is where the chain often begins.

So his charge was simple: don't be ever absent, and always preach the truth. A grandparent who stays present, stays kind and keeps telling a child what God's word says is doing exactly what he asked. You may be the person they run to on the day it matters most.