KS 432 - Willy Wonka Taught A Better Parenting Lesson

What if the most important “legacy plan” you’ll ever build is sitting right across from you at the dinner table? Tyler McCart shares a simple but jolting idea from Psalm 127: children are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. That means our role as parents, grandparents, and spiritual leaders is bigger than protection and provision. We’re shaping something that can go farther than we can go, reach people we may never meet, and carry God’s purpose beyond our lifetime. 

We connect that picture to biblical spiritual formation and practical Christian parenting: before the calling there must be character, and before influence there must be integrity. Tyler breaks down what it looks like to “shape the arrow” through obedience to the Lord, a real standard rooted in the Word of God, learning to hear and follow the Holy Spirit, and building teachability, humility, and faithfulness. If character is weak, everything built on top of it stays vulnerable. If character is strong, the arrow can fly straight. 

Then we bring it home with a surprising illustration from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie’s future doesn’t unlock because he’s impressive. It unlocks because he’s trustworthy. That moment becomes a mirror for every family trying to build values, raise resilient kids, and leave a generational legacy that actually holds up under pressure. 

If you want a clear next step, we end with dinner table questions you can use this week to define what your family stands for. Subscribe, share this with a parent or mentor, and leave a review so more families can find these conversations.

Transcript

Welcome And The Arrows Theme

SPEAKER_00 0:23

It's your host, Christian entrepreneur, Tyler McCart.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Welcome to the best listeners, Tyler McCart coming at you, episode 435. We're going to jump into some content about some legacy stuff, about arrows, weapons. Yeah, let's get started. So

Psalm 127 And A New Insight

SPEAKER_01 0:42

you might be saying, Tyler, why are you actually want to talk about arrows? What do you weapons and generational legacy and stuff like that? Well, so last week I was doing a devotional in the UVersion Bible app. I believe the devotional was called uh Generations, The Ministry of Arrows. And it was, I think it was like a four-day or five-day thing, but it unlocked something in my brain that I'd never seen before. And it was just kind of something actually pretty cool that I got pretty excited about as seeing that we actually have another weapon in our armory that I didn't even think uh about beforehand. Okay. Now, let me let me read Psalms 127 to you, and then I'm going to explain to that real quick. So Psalms 127 says, like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Okay? Now watch this. In Ephesians, it says that we're actually have the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and we're able to utilize that. That is, and I've always been taught that is actually our only weapon of warfare offensively that we have in order to combat the enemy. But the new insight or new kind of revelation I've gotten is that in the hands of a warrior, the children who are the arrows are actually part of that weaponry. Yeah. All right. So let me kind of set the stage for you, and we're going to talk about just

Shape Character Before You Send

SPEAKER_01 2:30

arrows, and I've got some things that I want to, you know, dive into. You know, in my notes, I say they are instruments in the hand of God that can go further than we can go, reach places that we never could reach, and carry the kingdom purpose beyond our lifetime. Man, that is powerful stuff. That's good stuff right there. I'm glad I wrote that. They are instruments of the in the hands of God that can go further than we can go, reach places uh we may never reach, and carry the kingdom purpose beyond our lifetime. And the enemy does not want us to use these arrows, do not want us to train these arrows up and form and every and anyway. I'm getting ahead of myself. So our calling as parents, as grandparents, or patriarchs and matriarchs, or patriarchs in the making, matriarchs in the making, please hear me when I say this. You're not just there to provide and protect for these arrows, these children, or these grandchildren. You're called to, and I got this down here, you're called to actually shape these arrows, sharpen the arrows, strengthen the arrows, set the arrows, and then send those arrows. But the first responsibility, and I just want to camp out right here because I could go off on all those things, but the first responsibility of us is shaping the arrows. Before the arrow can be sent, it's got to be shaped. Okay. Before the calling, there must be character. That's what shaping is. Shaping is actually shaping the character of the child. It is the foundational thing. Before influence, there must be integrity. Before they are sent, they have to be shaped. Now, character has got to be a foundational thing. We all know that. We understand that. I mean, if I sit there and said, hey, you know, tell me about this person's, you know, character, you would be able to rattle off, yeah, this is one of the most important things because it sets the precedent of who that person is. Well, here are a couple of things that I want you to think through as far as being able to set that foundation. One is we have to teach them the obedience of the Lord. What that what does that mean? How do you teach them the obedience of the Lord? Well, first and foremost, you have to be modeling that. Number two, you also need to have some understanding of the actual word of God and say, this is our standard of who we feel, who we know and trust is our Helling Father because they said it in this book right here called the Bible. Also, the obedience to hear and follow the Holy Spirit is got to be foundational. Teachability, this is huge. Being able to help your uh that arrow, that child have a foundation of being able to learn from their experiences, learn from their mistakes, realize they don't have they don't know it all, have some humility in a situation is a critical thing. Also, faithfulness. Um I'm just reminded of the proverb says uh faith, um faithfulness, uh, a man, a man who is faithful will abound with blessings. I believe that's somewhere in Proverbs that says that. But here's here's what I want to say. But if the character is weak in that child, then everything built on top of that is vulnerable. Before character is strong, the arrow cannot fly straight. So here's my here's just my quick illustration that I came up with that I thought was kind of unique, that helped you see the character and that the character was tested.

Willy Wonka And The Integrity Test

SPEAKER_01 6:39

1971, great movie was uh was uh released. I watched it as a child. I wasn't born in 1971, I was born in 78, but growing up in the 80s, I I watched this movie like a good bit of time. That movie was actually Willie Wonk and the Chocolate Factory. Fantastic movie. There's a scene at the very end of the movie where Charlie, the main character, is tested. And before he gets to this scene, early on in the movie, he's told or he is pulled aside by the arch enemy of Willy Wonka, who is Slugworth. And he's said something, he's told something. Well, basically, Charlie at the very end of the movie, all the other children had failed. Charlie had actually felt like he failed, but he stops at the doorway and he walks back to Willy Wonka's desk and lays down the everlasting gobstopper. Yeah. Lays it down and walks away and says, I'm not gonna do whatever it was. Well, that was the ultimate test that Wonka needed to know that he could trust Charlie with his inheritance of the Wonka factory and the Wonka Empire. So I want you to hear, I'm gonna go back to my notes right now. Hear this Charlie's future. Watch this, guys. Charlie's future was unlocked. It wasn't unlocked because of his talent, it wasn't unlocked because of how wealthy Charlie was, it wasn't unlocked because of he was really skillful, it wasn't unlocked because he was impressive. No, Charlie's future was unlocked because of his integrity, because of his character. And that was the foundational thing that Wonka needed to know. Could he trust Charlie?

Dinner Table Questions And Charge

SPEAKER_01 8:47

So, my call to action for you, Kingdom Success listeners, if you're a patriarch in the making, a matriarch in the making, uh patriarch yourself or a matriarch yourself, is let's move beyond the sense of just protecting for our children or grandchildren. Let's move beyond from just even providing for them. But let's make them into arrows. Let's actually ask the question, maybe sitting around the dinner table. Here's the questions I want you to ask this week around the dinner table is this right here. What do our what does our family want to be known for? What what are what is it that our family wants to be known for? Here's another question. What kind of character do we want to be known for in our family? Right? These are powerful questions to ask the whole entire team, the whole entire group as you sit around, because a family is supposed to be a team, guys. A family is supposed to be a team, not a bunch of individuals. Yes, you'll have individuals, but the collectively, a family is a team. That's how the biblical view a family has to be. Okay. Because remember, before you send them, you must have you must shape them. You've got to shape these children, guys. That is the key component to all this. So, kingdoms discuss. Know that you're blessed, you're highly favored, you're empowered to prosper, you walk in divine help. Spirit will break through this upon you guys, and gang will catch you on the other side.