Ask Pastor Mike Live

Guest (Male): Are we called to treat elderly in-laws like they are actually our parents, even if they are not believers or respectful towards us? My husband and his family are nominal Muslims. For instance, they are not open to hearing about Christ; we have tried.

Pastor Mike: Gina, are we to treat elderly in-laws like they are actually our parents? Yes, insofar as you and your husband are one. As one, you have responsibility for all of your parents. I think about my wife and me. I have two living parents and she has two living parents. They are elderly. We have to care for them, and we do. I would treat my mother-in-law and my father-in-law as though she were my mother and he were my father.

By that, I mean if they had a need, I would meet it. If they had a problem, I would fix it. I would do what I could to care for them because my job is not to obey them at this point as an adult; my job is to care for them. My mother-in-law is going blind and my father-in-law is ailing in an assisted living home. My parents need help with things; my mom has just been through cancer. They are going to need practical help.

That is what it means for me as an adult Christian to care for my family, which includes my in-laws. I have no distinction between my parents and my in-laws. There is no difference in the sense that I am ready to care. I am ready to go the extra mile, stay the extra hour, and spend the extra dollar to take care of them. If they are not interested in hearing about Christ, which I can relate to with my mother-in-law, that is fine. I am still going to care for them.

I want to share the gospel, and we do share the gospel. It is the responsibility of every adult Christian to share the gospel with their non-Christian in-laws and parents. Do that, but remember that I am not responsible for leading them to Christ. I am only responsible for giving them the gospel. I live next door to nominal Muslims who are not interested in hearing about Christ. I want to be a good neighbor.

I have a responsibility to be a good neighbor and treat them well. If my neighbor falls down and breaks his leg, I am going to be there to help him. You can do that even with two radically different worldviews and two radically different theologies. If they do not want to hear about Christ, it is a problem for them, but my job is to get the blood of their eternal state off of my hands by sharing the gospel with them. Keep sharing the gospel, Gina. That is the most important thing. Caring for them if they are your parents is biblically spelled out in scripture.