If I were to think hard enough I know I could list any number of things I’m scared of. Snakes rank high on my list. Certain methods of dying like drowning or burning to death. The always present potential to not be employed and be able to provide for my family is there though I don’t think I’m in any immediate danger. If someone were to ask me what I’m scared of the most one thing immediately stands head and shoulders above anything else on my list. What scares me the most is the idea of Kenadie growing up, rejecting Christianity, and one day being lost.
And the worst part of it all is that I know there is nothing I can do that will absolutely, beyond the shadow of any doubt ensure that it won’t happen. But thankfully while I cannot ensure the outcome I can severely influence what she allows the outcome to be when she’s older by training her properly now while she’s young. If you’re a Christian parent I assume you have the same concern. If not shame on you. If so, let’s brainstorm together about some proactive things we can do to leave a legacy that will help get them to heaven:
- Go to worship as a family. The last couple of weeks in my class at Phillips St. we’ve been talking about the importance the early Christians placed on their times together. They understood how important those times were to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” and “exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Paul thought enough of his opportunities to worship with his brethren that even though he was in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem he waited in Troas for seven days for the chance to meet with them (Acts 20:6-16). Yet too often families place no importance on regular attendance at church when their children are young and wonder why they rarely go when they get older. Ballgames, recitals, vacations, school projects, weekends at the lake, late night Saturdays, etc. The list is limitless when it comes to excuses folks give for not going to church and passing them to their children as rational reasons. But children who see the importance of assembling with the church now will more likely continue to see that importance when they get older. I love that Kenadie loves going to church, youth devotionals, Bible class, etc. so much that she gets upset when she can’t go. It gives me hope that one day when she has a family of her own she will continue to go to worship as a family.
- Speak well of the church to your family. Have you ever been invited to lunch on Sunday afternoon only to learn that the menu consists of fried preacher, stewed elders, and for dessert a steaming bowl of Christian cobbler? Critics in the church love to take their brethren, chew them up, and spit them out. And what’s more is they don’t care what impressionable minds are sitting around when they do it. That’s evident from the same number of individuals who do it on social media. But I dare say it is even worse when we do it in front of our children. What do we think is going through their minds when they hear that kind of garbage? They begin developing personal prejudices and negative feelings toward the church and allow that to mold their attitudes towards the church throughout their lives. Ultimately our children are more likely to develop an attitude towards the church that is like that of their parents. We can more likely teach them to love the church and want to be a part of it throughout their lives when we support it and speak well of it.
- Talk about the Bible with your family. Do you love the Bible? If so I can guarantee that you read it, study it, and obey it. If you don’t then you don’t really love it. So if we want our children to grow up and love the Bible would it not make sense to say that we should talk with them about it often. That can be done in different ways. It may be that we look for teaching opportunities throughout the day and turn them into Bible lessons. It may be that we take a special time each day and dedicate it to a family devotional where we read the Bible and talk about it openly. It may be times when we dedicate a certain amount of time for everyone to just read the Bible on their own. Homes where the Bible is exalted will more likely produce children who exalt the Bible in their own lives. But we cannot allow the Bible to be nothing more than a dust collector in our homes and expect it to govern the lives of our children throughout their lives.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that our children will more than likely be a product of whatever raising we provide them. There are always exceptions to that rule. But one thing I know for sure is that children do not grow up, become Christians, and go to heaven by accident. It will only be because someone helped guide them in that direction. Parents, it needs to be us.
-Andy