Activate!

Over the past few years I hear many parents, including conservative parents, saying, “I’m going to let my child choose for themselves their religion.” Unfortunately, if Christian parents continue to take a passive role in the spiritual upbringing of their child, more and more children are going to fall away from the faith. As James Dobson once wrote, “When parents withhold indoctrination from their small children, allowing them to ‘decide for themselves,’ the adults are almost guaranteeing that their youngsters will ‘decide’ in the negative.” (James Dobson, Solid Answers, 217).

Often time the motivation of a parent allowing their child to “choose for themselves” is past hurt by a church or Christian parent in their own upbringing. Whether it was something as simple as finding their church boring as a kid, or despising their parents for making them go. Sometimes the reasons are deeper, like blatant hypocrisy in their parents, being inexplicably harmed through abuse or broken relationships in the church, or a rigid legalistic upbringing. In our current culture of relativism, some parents want to be viewed by their co-workers and friends as cultured and tolerant of other beliefs. Whatever the reason, parents who were brought up in the church are more laissez-faire about church attendance than ever before.

If you are someone like that, or have other excuses, nothing justifies playing Russian roulette with your child’s faith. We can teach our kids to respect people of other beliefs, and view them as someone who needs love, but we cannot condone other religions as being an acceptable path for our children.

Jesus is tolerant of sinners, for now, but one day that tolerance will run out and He will no longer tolerate sin. Thankfully, as a sinner, I am covered by the blood of Jesus and am considered a “saint” by Him, even though I don’t deserve it. Jesus makes this clear in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Ultimately it is through Jesus, and He alone, that we are saved. By remaining silent about this simple yet profound truth, you are actually working against your child’s spiritual health and eternal well-being. If you truly don’t feel it is important for your child to come into a saving relationship with Jesus, I have to wonder if you have a genuine relationship with Christ yourself.

Our job as parents is to pass this faith on to our children. We are commanded to do so in Deuteronomy 6. After God tells Moses that we are to love God with everything we are, we are to teach our children to do the same. “⁷ You shall teach them (God’s commands – including loving Him with everything we are) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (ESV)

Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2 gives a grim illustration of how seriously He takes our efforts to raise up our children in the faith: ⁵ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (ESV) Scholars will tell you that the “little ones” described by Jesus means “new believers,” but we cannot overlook the fact that Jesus used a child as the center of His object lesson. God takes very seriously our role as parents to raise our Children up in the faith.

Do not allow past hurt, social pressure, or your own feelings of spiritual inadequacy prevent you from shepherding your child in the faith. Begin tonight by reading the Bible with your kids. Pick a translation that is easy for them to understand and start in reading in the book of Mark. Mark is only 16 chapters long and will give you and your family a quick synopsis of Jesus’ life. Reading a chapter of the Bible a night is the least you can do to get the ball rolling.

If you don’t have a church home, begin visiting Bible believing churches this weekend. You don’t have to attend the church your parents did, find one that ministers to you and your family and gives you an opportunity to get involved.

Most of all, don’t sit idly by while false teachers and false beliefs steal your child’s heart and soul. Ultimately, they will have to decide for themselves to follow Christ or not, but you will drastically increase the odds they follow Christ by actively raising them love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.