In Church, but not In Christ

          In his book, not a fan, Kyle Idleman tells of his encounter with a father after one of his speaking events.  The man came with tears in his eyes and began to tell the story of his prodigal daughter, how she went to college and totally turned her back on her belief in God.  When he was finished, he didn’t ask why she was doing this or what had gone wrong.  He wasn’t looking for an explanation.  Instead, with one sentence he put his finger on what he thought happened.  Here’s what he said . . . “We raised her in Church, but we didn’t raise her in Christ.” [not a fan, p.83]

 

          As a father of four of the most amazing children in the entire world (from my perspective of course) . . . this hit hard somewhere deep in my heart:  raised in church, but not in Christ.  You see, I’m not only a father, but I’m also a minister serving in a local Church.  So, my children are “churched” in every way possible.  Since I work at the Church, the only time they might not have attended a gathering is if they truly are ill . . . otherwise they are being raised in the church.

 

          Being raised in the Church is not in and of itself a bad thing.  But in the midst of having a faithful commitment to the Church (the Body of Christ), I must ask myself the question:  “Are my children also being raised up in Christ?”

 

          You see, if they are being raise up in the church only, the focus is not on relationship, but on religious ritual.  Faith is not an essential part of who they are, but simply one more thing to do on their religious check list.  They “look right” and maybe even “act right” on the outside (at least on Sundays), but there is no inner-life transformation taking place.  They will learn to keep all the rules, but they’ll never experience the relationship.  They will feel guilty for the wrong things they do, but will somehow miss God’s amazing grace.

 

Church Involvement is not Enough

 

          Often, parents have the misconception that as long as we keep our kids involved in church activities . . . that’s all they need in regard to spiritual development.  Think about that.  How much time does that give your children when it comes to their spiritual growth in Christ?  Only an hour or two per week . . . at most.  They spend 6-7 hour PER DAY in school having their minds developed academically – that’s 30-35 hours per week!  No wonder most of our children are biblically illiterate.  Sadly they are only following in the steps of their parents.  As I consider these things, I’m drawn to Judges 2:10 which says, “. . . there arose another generation . . . who did not know the Lord . . . .”

 

Be Intentional in the Home

 

          As parents, we must be intentional about the spiritual development of our children teaching them the truth of God’s word and the importance of living in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Helping them realize that being raised in Christ is not a weekly ritual, but a daily walk.

          Use Deuteronomy 6:6-7 as a template for your family:  “These words . . . shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children . . . 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 up.”  Basically . . . we are to saturate our lives with the things of God.  Our relationship with God is to be top priority.

          Unfortunately, this is not the pattern I see within the Body of Christ.  We elevate education and sports (or some other extra-curricular activity) to the highest priority and the things of God get relegated to a ritualistic observance on Sunday . . . and maybe Wednesday.  Oh, we wouldn’t say that, but our actions betray our words.  My challenge is to take a step back and evaluate your family’s priority.  Look at what you do as a family.  What do you spend the most time doing?  By your actions . . . What is the highest priority?  Be intentional as you raise up your children in Christ.

 

Live it out – Be a Living Example

 

          As you know . . . actions speak louder than words and our children are masters at recognizing hypocrisy.  We must be a living example of God’s love to our children.  We must daily walk in relationship with the Lord and live that out before our children.  They need to see your faith in action.  None of this:  “Do as I say not as I do” rubbish.  If we make our faith simply a ritualistic observance – a religious obligation – our children will be quick to recognize the insincerity of our faith and will adopt that same attitude.  It is critical that we live out our faith following the ways of Jesus daily in relationship with him:  dying to self, living in Him and for Him, serving and loving those around us, being a living example to our children AND to the world around us of God’s unfailing love.



Worship Minister, Gateway Christian Church - www.gcch3.com