In the past few months, I have been reminded of the battle our children face in a culture that is moving farther and farther away from Christian values.
In the past few months, I have been reminded of the battle our children face in a culture that is moving farther and farther away from Christian values.
One night as I flipped through the television channels trying to find something of value, I saw several programs for children that promoted arrogance, violence, and profanity.
Recently I read an article about “affluenza,” a social virus infecting most middle-class children in America. The result is a child who is consumed with consuming.
Two weeks ago I encountered a 16-year-old girl who was being pressured by her father to have an abortion.
Just a few days ago I talked with a fourth-grader who had been introduced to Darwinian evolution in a way that challenged everything we are teaching him at the Children’s Home.
And finally, I read of a high school student who gave God credit for his success in a yearbook profile. Without the student’s permission, school officials replaced “God” with “others” before publishing the yearbook.
Obviously, Christian parents today face a great challenge as they seek to cultivate faith and develop a Christian worldview in their children. How can we win the battle for our children’s hearts and minds? Consider these suggestions from various authors.
Understand the culture and the world your children live in. Parents need to be like “the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:32).
Take proactive steps to know the issues, dangers, and challenges your children face. Read. Study. Discuss concerns with other parents, school and church leaders.
Become an informed parent.
Accept the primary responsibility for teaching your children about God. Christian parents must not pass this task on to others. Though the church is a major player in spiritual development, parents have been given the primary duty to teach their children the things of God (Deut. 6:6, 7).
Evaluate the spiritual environment of your home. In Raising Children of Faith, Dennis and Barbara Rainey challenge parents to consider how their current home life helps or hinders their children growing in love, obedience, and faith. Identify and implement needed changes.
Evaluate yourself as a model and teacher. Consider your own faith commitment to Christ, your Bible reading, your understanding of biblical principles, your love and reverence for God, your prayer life, and your service to others.
Evaluate your own life with regard to honesty, patience, faithfulness, respectfulness, courage, humility, kindness, generosity, peacefulness, and hopefulness. Ask God to help you grow in areas where you currently fall short. Most importantly, attend church regularly with your children.
Determine where your children are in their walk with God. Initiate normal conversations in which your child can talk about their understanding of spiritual matters. Pay close attention to any questions they may ask. Identify areas in their spiritual lives that need to be strengthened. Ask for God’s guidance in developing strategies to meet those needs.
Talk with your children about the critical social issues of our day. Parents often avoid direct communication with their children when it comes to sensitive issues. Others are already talking with your children either directly through peers or indirectly through various media. Overcome your fears and inhibitions and talk with your children, provide them with biblical principles that can help them make the right choices.
Teach your children to know and love God’s Word. In Walking Tall in Babylon: Raising Children to be Godly and Wise in a Perilous World, Connie Neal provides the following advice: Help your children understand the Bible contains absolute truth that applies to everyone, and that God wants them to use it as their guide for life decisions. Read and discuss the Bible together on a regular basis. Use an accurate translation that’s easy for your children to understand. Show them how the verses you read relate to their world.
Share your own faith journey with your children. Tell them how you came to faith in Christ. Share appropriate stories, showing how you resolved your own struggles and temptations. Talk with them about challenges you face as an adult and explain how God helps you maintain a strong Christian stand on critical issues.
Develop and implement family ministry projects. John Belz, founder and editor of God’s World News magazine, reminds us that involving children in ministry teaches them that God is not just a word God but also a deed God. Faith in action reinforces all the teaching. Through hands-on ministry, children can discover their God-given talents and gifts. Mission trips and other activities also help children focus on the needs of others and can help children find purpose and meaning beyond themselves.
Noted Christian researcher George Barna shares his conviction concerning children and culture. “Our research over the past few years, encapsulated in my book Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, has rearranged my thinking about all aspects of ministry, persuading me that children are the single most important population group that we minister to.”
May God help us all to have that same conviction and do everything we can to provide our children with the tools they need to be spiritual champions for Christ.