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Evangelising to Our Children By Rev. Charmaine Braatvedt Sunday 30th October, 2011 On Tuesday I came across an article in the New Zealand Herald entitled: “Children Our Most Valuable Resource.” It was written by Dr Russell Wills who is a paediatrician in the Hawkes Bay and is the Children’s Commissioner for New Zealand. Make reference to the article: “Every day in New Zealand babies are born into families where parents are too young, poorly supported or have childoods themselves that have left them emotionally scarred. These babies do badly. They get sick. They arrive at school not ready to learn. As they grow up they don’t learn and leave school early. They become the next generation of benefit dependent, underachieving parents and so the cycle continues. The solution requires several things to happen at once, across several different services in a co-ordinated way. My vision for children in New Zealand is simple. Our children should grow up well loved by parents who are well supported and well prepared for parenthood. Their material needs should be met and their development supported. Preventive care should be delivered to all on time. Our children are taonga and our most valuable resource. We need to intervene at the earliest possible point in the problem and in the life of the child”. Our children are taonga How does this sentiment sit next to this statistic for our youth? · 1 in 5 teenagers have mental health issues in New Zealand. Many of these young people suffer from depression that is caused by both internal (hormonal) and external circumstances. The world today is often depressing and the future uncertain for our young people. Environmental concerns, economic problems create a dark cloud around the future. In addition, the focus on Computers and It drive our children towards isolated individualism, yet more than anything, human beings in general and our children in particular, need community and connection to give meaning to their lives. The solution requires several things to happen at once across several different services in a co-ordinated way. This article got me thinking about the needs of children and the needs of their parents. More specifically it got me thinking about the spiritual needs of children and their parents, how those spiritual needs were being addressed and what the role of the church might be in this regard. “Their material needs should be met” says the article “and their development supported”. Now I agree that steps need to be taken to meet the material and physical development of our children. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us this. However, something the article does not touch on that is equally important is the spiritual development of children. Part of the dream to have our children grow up well is that they need to be given the opportunity to get to know about a God who knows and accepts them unconditionally and understands them intimately, loves them deeply, cares about them and has a plan for them. They need to know that they are well loved by their parents and caregivers but even more profoundly they need to know that the one true God with whom they can have a relationship through Jesus Christ loves them also. The Gospel reading for today sets out clearly that it is incumbent upon the adult world to allow, make it possible, go the extra mile to give our young people an opportunity to meet with Jesus. “Let, allow the little children to come to me and do not hinder them.” And again in the Old Testament we read: “Teach my commands to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Who might be best placed to carry out this holy duty? It is well known that Parents are the first and generally the best educators for their children. Parents have the greatest long term influence on their children and achieve the greatest long term results. Parents have the primary responsibility for the education of their children and this education involves their physical development, their emotional development, their mental development and their spiritual development. The Bible acknowledges the profound role parents have in the development of their children and so instructs parents in how to be effective nurturers of their children’s spiritual development. “Fathers don’t exasperate your children, but take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.” The parent’s task, holy duty, primarily is to evangelise to their children. Here are some interesting stats: · Over 80% of adult Christians come from homes where there was a vibrant Christian faith. · We know that children’s moral and spiritual foundations are in place by the age of 9 years. · 5 – 12 years is the crucial window of opportunity for a child’s spiritual development. · By the time a child reaches 13 years of age their world view is set and they seldom change this world view. · And yet we know that 80% of adults in their 20’s whose parents went to church now don’t attend church.
What is going wrong? Here’s another statistic for you that might help explain that: · 85% of church going families don’t have faith conversations at home!!! That surprises me. Why ever would that be the case? As disciples of Christ we are called to share our faith with others. Jesus clearly requires of his followers that we go out into all the world and spread the good news, his Gospel of God’s love for human kind and his plan of salvation and 85% of us don’t even share that good news with our own children?! Many of us are afraid of having to talk to strangers about God, but for goodness sake what holds us back from talking to our own children about God? Evangelism, like charity, should surely begin at home! From whom are children learning about God if they are not hearing about God at home from their parents and grandparents? What stops us from having faith conversations at home? · A lack of confidence in our own faith? · Pressures of work · a shortage of time? · Perhaps we feel that we don’t know how to share our faith with our children? · Are we worried that if we get it wrong we may put them off God? Here is where the church and the faith community needs to offer support, to partner with parents and grandparents, to endeavour to equip them for the holy task of evangelism to which they have been called. Are we doing enough to help you? Lets see, what are we doing to help parents share their faith effectively and well with their children? Super Sunday Club; Parenting Courses, Spiritual mentors…… We have just completed our series of sermons on stewardship. Let’s not forget that parents are stewards of God’s children. The church needs to help parents and grandparents and godparents in their God ordained ministry of · Teaching their children the story of the Christian faith, of God’s mighty deeds · Enabling their children to discover their spirituality · enabling their children to find an identity that is rooted in eternity, · developing a sense of community, connection and · finding meaning and purpose in their lives? · training their children in the habit of goodness, teaching them God’s commandments. In Psalm 78 we read: God decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel which he commended our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them and even the children yet to be born and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their ancestors a stubborn and rebellious generation whose hearts were not loyal to God and whose spirits were not faithful to him. The article postulates that “The solution requires several things to happen at once across several different services in a co-ordinated way.” I believe that the church needs to partner with all the other agencies in society in supporting parents in their God given task of raising their children well. We can do this by mentoring, teaching and offering supportive discussion groups. There is a truism that says: we see the future through our memories. What faith memories are we as parents and as a church laying down for our children that will resource their futures? In the prophetic book of Joel we read: Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their children and their children to the next generation” Joel 1 : 2b- 3. How can we best carry out this Biblical injunction? Well let’s get practical now. How can we together evangelise our children and grandchildren and godchildren in ways that are appropriate, life-giving, relevant and authentic? We need to re-instate the habit of having faith conversations and faith practices at home . 1. Faith conversations: I believe the best way to teach your children is to tell them stories, bible stories. Link these stories to their lives in some way. “You are like king David, Joseph, Samson or Esther in that …...” Pick up on the stories the children are hearing in Super Sunday Club and build on them. Each Sunday you have an opportunity to have a faith conversation at home as you talk to your children about what they heard at Super Sunday Club, what they thought about what they heard, what you think about what they have heard, how God might be speaking to them and to you through that story. Tell them stories about other Christians and stories about your own faith journey. We can witness to each other by telling our faith stories. “Remember that a heart moves a heart and a mind moves a mind.” i.e. Sharing your heart for God will move your child’s heart and sharing your understanding of God will enrich your child’s understanding of God. 2. Faith Practices: Mirror church at home. If the church is to partner with parents in nurturing the spiritual growth of their children then the community at home i.e. the family should mirror what is being practiced at church. Whatever is being done at church should be done at home, E.g. Worship and prayer eg say grace, night time prayers, prayers for the family, if someone can play a musical instrument sing favourite hymns together etc, once again we can read or telling the scriptures (remember much of the bible was passed on by oral tradition) telling the stories in the bible, explaining their relevance to us, celebrating life passages and the liturgical seasons, reaching out to each other with pastoral care, acts of service to the neighbours and our community, stewardship, how do we give and to whom do we give and how much? offering opportunities for spiritual leadership by giving our children appropriate spiritual tasks (as with the Jewish faith the youngest children light the shabbat candle), One of the most moving Shabbat traditions is the blessing over the children given on Friday night. This tradition gently reminds parents to express their love for their children out loud and gives children a feeling of the warm love of God that they can carry with them throughout their lives. Here is a practical idea to help you on your way. Show the Faith Box. You may be asking yourself when is a good time to start sharing your faith with your children? There is no time like the present and no child is ever too young to hear about Jesus. As a church and as disciples of Christ we must never neglect our evangelical role as members of the kingdom of God, as messengers of God’s Gospel to all people and especially to his children in whose lives we have been placed to be spiritual stewards. Let’s never forget that we serve in a kingdom which turns this world’s values upside down where the leaders are servants, the poor are rich and the little ones are of the greatest importance to the King of Kings the Lord of the Universe, our Father in Heaven. |
