[Editor’s note: today’s post is an excerpt from Craig Gross’s new book, Open. You can read more about the book at GetOpen.com]
Of course, when you talk about family, sometimes you may find yourself a little surprised. Recently I was at an event that XXXchurch puts on through various churches across the region called “Porn and Pancakes.” It’s basically a spin on the old “Saturday morning men’s breakfast” idea you find in a lot of churches, except instead of getting men together to pray, we talk about the devastating effects of pornography on the people who make it, on the men who use it, and on society in general when it becomes prevalent.
Obviously, when we’re putting one of these events, one of the big things we talk about is accountability, along with X3watch. As usual, I gave a little commercial for the software in the midst of my larger talk, and then I had a chance to meet some of the attendees afterward. Two of the people I met were an older man and his teenage son. They introduced themselves, and the dad talked to me at length about X3watch, about how he thought it was a really great idea, and how he wanted to use it. Then he turned to his son and said, “What do you think about getting that software on our computers?”
The son smiled broadly, gave a chuckle, and said, “Dad, I’ve already been using it. I do it with my best friend. We’ve been keeping each other accountable for three years now.”
I don’t know if that father and son wound up becoming accountability partners or not, but I really dug both of those people. I was impressed that the son was already using it, and I was impressed that the dad was willing to be vulnerable to his son, to show a little bit of his humanity. Even though it may not have been the best situation for them—and I’m really in no place to judge that—this father’s desire for connection with his son was a good thing.
[What do you think of this story? In what ways can you forge accountability relationships with your kids? What do you owe them as a parent? What do they owe you as your children?]