"As you go" began with 3-4 months' worth of posts to help the families of the Utica Church of Christ navigate and adjust to life without Bible classes. The worldwide pandemic put the American church on her head. So much of what we were used to and relied on had to cease. Though tough at times, it was a stark reminder that the church, as an organization, was not ever prescribed to be an institution of usurping child-rearing and faith-building responsibilities from their parents.
The reality is though, that not a lot of Christian families do teach the Bible in their own homes. They were relying on the church to teach them. National trends would also tell us that pre-covid church attendance has been on the steady decline and Bible class attendance has been even worse. Parents of the typical North American progeny are much more concerned with their kids doing well in math and playing soccer than with them knowing who Moses is and learning how to pray.
Some may take offense at those first two paragraphs but notice that I have not written them to call anyone out. They are simply in the voice of "matter of fact." The truth of the matter is also that you get to have control and say over how you raise your children, how you train them up, etc.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Before reading the verse in the Bible, when I was simply pondering, I thought, "That verse is written to the parents, it is not written to the church."
When I look at it in context I now see that there is no way to know. It is actually written very generally. It is also very "matter of fact." Whoever participates in the training of a child has a responsibility to train them up in good and right ways.
As things begin to open up we will start having a lot more opportunities for our children to be busy. School activities, sports, clubs, even church youth groups, and Bible classes will be available again. Now is as good a time as any to remember the words that Paul wrote to Timothy so long ago, "physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance."
+ If you haven't yet, make some weekly times and rhythms for your family to be focused on God.
+ Create and capture moments regularly to show your children how God is living and active in the world around them.
+ Pray for your children and call on others to be praying for them as well and for you as you train them up.
+ Enlist helpers, whether it be your church or your family members, who will assist you in the training of your children in the Lord
Blessings.
Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash