Parent-Pastors

Posted:  February 21st, 2012 (5:08pm)

We live in an age of specialization.  In some senses it is fantastic.   But there is a not-so-subtle downside to living in an age of experts.  The problem is that it excuses the ordinary person from playing their part,  developing their skills and talents, and making their contribution.  And much of what goes on in life is still very ordinary.  No where is this more true than in parenting.

What an amazing God we serve!  He actually grows the parents as they are growing the kids.  And anyone who gets to the place where their children “leave the nest,” know what it feels like to look back at the job they’ve done in raising them.  We have to be careful because all of us at that stage have some regrets and wish that we would have done some things different.

This is why I’m writing.  I don’t want anybody to have more of these self-accusing feelings than they have too.  So remember this.  Your home is church, a sanctuary.  Your children are your parishioners.  You may feel very ordinary about most things, but God has actually made you the expert on them.  You may need to study and grow in order to keep up with them – that’s ok.  But the one thing you must do, is stay out in front of them in your journey with God.  They need to see a principled and loving Christianity in your life, and then, even though they may challenge your values for a time, they won’t doubt your sincerity, your genuineness and your respectability.

The discipleship of your children is supported by the school, the church, and the auxiliary youth programming, but the real youth ministry is to be flowing from you – the parent.  Your prayers, your consistency, your love, and your rules, create the platform for the healthy development of their Christian experience.

It’s a faith journey.  We aren’t parenting by the latest fads and most recent study.  We are parenting by the Bible.  It’s still true and it still works.  And remember – you are an expert on your own walk with God.  Go ahead and share it with your children!

“God has committed to our hands a most sacred work, and we need to meet together to receive instruction, that we may be fitted to perform this work…. We need to meet together and receive the divine touch that we may understand our work in the home. Parents need to understand how they may send forth from the sanctuary of the home their sons and daughters so trained and educated that they will be fitted to shine as lights in the world.   Child Guidance p. 75.4