A Parent's Calling

There’s a shared complaint often overheard from parents of elementary school children: What is with all this homework? I share in this grievance. It’s not a rare thing in our household to spend two or more hours per night knee-deep in a 6th grade math worksheet. Parents like me feverishly monitor our children’s school assignments in a daily marathon to earn the coveted quarterly Honor Roll.  

Sadly, this same energy and devotion to schoolwork is often not shared when it comes to spiritual discipleship in the home. Christian parents are called by God to be the key disciple-makers of their kids, not a pastor or Sunday school teacher. Moses commands moms and dads to take God’s Words and “teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house” (Deut. 6:7). 

Parents are called to lead children in daily devotion to the Word of God and there is nothing more fundamental to the Bible than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From generation to generation, the Gospel is the only lasting source of soul transformation, from cradle to grave. 

As we launch into 2020, take the important step to lead your family though the basics of the Gospel. Help build into your children a framework to remember the precious truth that God saves sinners through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. For a helpful tool, 9Marks provides this four-word phrase to help remember and communicate a clear and condensed gospel; God-Man-Christ-Response.  

As parents, we don’t teach the Bible to our kids to make them smarter. We lead them in the Word to make them holier; to help them see the depth of their sin and their need for a Savior. A heavenly honor roll isn’t the great prize, but rather an unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4).

Written by Church Member, Jon Wood