It’s been several months since the last PJ Presupposition that I wrote and needless to say it’s been a very busy few months. Here are some of the things that have been going on in my wife’s and my life. We traveled to Kansas City, MO to retrieve my father in-law’s items after he passed away suddenly, we traveled to the Rochester area, NH for his funeral, we moved from a townhouse to a new home, and we just finished an extremely successful Vacation Bible School at our church. Despite the busyness life has had, the Lord has been good to us, and He’s been faithful, and we’re reminded of His mercies every day.
In addition to all of those things I mentioned above, I had the opportunity to preach and share God’s Word at my church recently. When I found out the next time I was going to preach, I was praying and seeking the Lord’s wisdom on what to share. Then over the course of different conversations with dear brothers and sisters, prayer, reading God’s Word, and reflecting upon my experience in Youth Ministry these last thirteen years; I decided to share 2 Timothy 3:10-17 with my church family. What led to choosing this passage was the purpose behind my message, that it takes multiple godly people and the church of Jesus Christ to help spiritually raise children in the fear and admonition in the Lord. Below, is the edited version of my sermon message for reading purposes and following the manuscript; I’ll provide some additional commentary.
If you’d like to listen to the sermon audio, you can listen to it here.
“It Takes a Church” Sermon from 6/11/2023:
There is an old African proverb that says, “it takes a village to raise a child.”The quote has been around for hundreds of years. This Proverb in essence means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to grow in a safe and healthy environment, and for them to become successful adults.
This Proverb has been applied and adapted within several different contexts since it was first uttered. And many within our world have differing opinions on how this Proverb can best be applied. Mrs. Hillary Clinton thirty years ago wrote a book titled It Takes a Village and, in the years, following, she went on multiple campaigns arguing for what can best be described as “parents, let the government and professionals raise your kids. Leave things to the experts.” (Paraphrase)
Hillary Clinton isn’t just some isolated voice on the topic of child-rearing in the west either; the majority of our government and elite class echoes her sentiment. A few weeks ago, Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, a position appointed by the President of the United States said this on his Twitter account. “Teachers know what’s best for their kids because they are with them every day.” (Tweet from 5/19/2023)
Of course, not all teachers believe this line of thinking, within our specific church family, we have many amazing teachers and educators who serve in public schools, private schools, or even homeschool and they know full-well that most teachers should not want to usurp the authority of their student’s parents or guardians. Especially if those students have godly parents or guardians. However, within the government, and those that have power and a voice in the public educational decisions in our country, they have a goal. They have an agenda. An agenda to be the primary disciplers of children and be the arbiters of worldview shaping and making, and to take the God-given role of disciplers and worldview shaping away from the parents. In fact, this agenda doesn’t come from our President, it doesn’t come from Mrs. Clinton, from Secretary Cardona, or any secular other teacher or educator – this is an agenda from Satan himself.
In the past century or so; it seems the baton of discipling, raising, and the worldview shaping of children has begun being passed off more and more from parents, families, and even churches to teachers, coaches, professors, bosses, and other individuals whom God clearly has said in His Word were not meant to be the primary individuals of discipling children.
Hillary Clinton is right in regard to quote the proverb; albeit her application is way off. It does take a village of sorts to raise a child, however, it’s not a mere village, but a family, a church family to come alongside the parents or guardians of a child to ensure their spiritual success as they get older. For them to continue in their walks with Jesus Christ. And in this post, we’re going to take a look at a person who is an example and end result of the proper and biblical application to this old African proverb. And this person became one of the most important leaders in the early church.
I am of course talking about Timothy. But what led to Timothy becoming one of the most important leaders in the early church? The answers lie within the three points from my sermon. He had godly examples to follow, he was taught from a young age the Scriptures and was protected against false teaching, and lastly, he was reminded of the ultimate source of truth to cling to, the Bible. And in order for us, as the church, as parents, guardians, and also fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to raise and come alongside our children as God calls us to, we need to heed the words of this passage, we need to internalize them, and live them out. The souls of our children depend on it.
2 Timothy 3:10-17 says:
10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a] you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (ESV)
Before we unpack the three points from my message, I’d like to provide a brief background on who Timothy was, give a little lay of the land within the realms of what we’re facing in youth and children’s ministry here in the west today, and define a few terms to help us better understand what this passage is talking about.
First, who was Timothy? Well, first off, he had a Greek father and a Jewish mother. At the very least both his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were strong followers of the Lord and had an active role in his spiritual upbringing and spiritual formation. Timothy joined Paul on one of his missionary journeys. He was recognized at a young age either in his teen years or early adult years by the elders of the Early Church as a man with strong and godly character. He served as Paul’s representative to several churches and later on his life he was a pastor in the important Roman city of Ephesus. He would remain a faithful pastor and evangelist of Christ until his death at the end of the first century. Timothy from a young age was a pillar of faith, wisdom, and godly character, and that’s one of the reasons Paul thought so highly of him. However, if it wasn’t for his mother, grandmother, Paul, and I am sure the many of godly individuals who poured into his life – Timothy wouldn’t had become the man whom the Apostle Paul described as “my true son in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2). An incredible honor from arguably the greatest missionary who ever lived and a man who penned half the New Testament.
Now, to the lay of the land. I have been in youth ministry for 13 years now. I have served in different roles and positions and in that decade plus of youth ministry I have seen hundreds of students come and go. I have seen students abandon their faith and return to Christ, I have seen students leave and never come back, I have seen students completely turn their back on God and proclaim allegiance to atheism or other wicked lifestyles, I have seen apathetic students become apathetic adults, and I have seen a few students grow in their faith, stick with it through adulthood, and remain faithful.
This is the norm though for a youth minister to see; in fact; it is estimated that most that attend church as a child and as a teen leave the church after they graduate. Different polls say that between 66 and 90 percent of students leave the church after they graduate high school. For me and other youth ministers whom I know, we’ve experienced similar numbers. We have had parents come to us and ask why their child no longer identifies as a Christian. Its the great question that engulfs the minds of churches and youth ministers alike. Why do so many young people leave the church?
Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Zambia and theologian Voddie Baucham believes he has the answer. He says in his excellent book Family Driven Faith this “our children are not falling away because the church is doing a poor job – although that is undoubtedly a factor. Our children are falling away because we are asking the church to do what God designed the family to accomplish. Discipleship and multi-generational faithfulness begins and ends at home. (Family Driven Faith, 9). The most important people in a child’s spiritual and worldview development are not teachers, it’s not government officials, it’s not social media influencers, it’s not coaches, it is parents and guardians. Multiple studies have shown that most children have their worldviews shaped by the age of 13, the most important worldview shapers of children should be their parents, or in the event they don’t have their parents, their legal guardians. And if a child doesn’t have Christian parent or guardians, it’s up to the church to step up even more.
The overwhelming majority of students who’ve I seen continue to follow Jesus after high school in addition to all the time either the youth pastor or their youth leaders poured into them, either had parents who actively discipled them in the Christian worldview and Scriptures or people from the church step up and stand in the gap when the student did not have godly influences at home. If a child does not have anyone, especially their parents or guardians actively spiritually pouring into them, it drastically decreases their chances of following Jesus as they become adults.
Before we dive into the three points, we also need to define our terms. You’ve already heard me use words like worldview and discipling multiple times in my blog post already. These two terms are important for us to understand in the realms of raising children and their spiritual formation. The word “worldview” is simply someone’s philosophy or belief about life and the world around them. It is their core beliefs and shapes what they believe, what they perceive to be true, how they decipher what’s right and what’s wrong, and dictates their day-to-day decisions. Every single person who’s ever lived has a worldview. Every single person has a set of beliefs about life and the world around them. For us as Christians, our goal and desire should be to have a biblical worldview and to pass that biblical worldview on to the next generation.
The words, disciple, discipling, and discipleship are all words we’ve heard in Christianity and the church, but these words are not exclusive to just the Christian faith either. Every single religion and worldview have disciples, disciplers, and processes of discipleship and teaching, including ardently secular and anti-Christian ones. The word disciple simply means a follower of a particular religion or ideology. They accept the doctrines and teachings of the religion or ideology and actively apply it to their life. And a discipler is a teacher of this religion or ideology. There are disciples and disciplers everywhere, no matter the worldview. The elites and powerful in our society want to take discipling out of the hands of parents and they want secular mediums to disciple your kids and teenagers in any and every anti-Christian view out there. We cannot be naïve, Christians. This is a war that’s not being waged against flesh and blood, it is being waged in the spiritual realms.
The battle for our children’s souls is on the forefront of the devil’s mind. Our great adversary is not some kind of imbecilic pitchfork wielding creature that is often portrayed, he is not dumb, and he knows the Bible better than the greatest theologians who’ve ever lived. He just doesn’t apply the truths found in the Scriptures. Satan was once considered one of the most powerful if not the most powerful of angels and he is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking to devour us, to devour our children, and he knows full well that if he is to completely deceive; it’s much easier to get them early in their lives to abandon Christianity or completely dismiss it than later on. I am writing this this to give him credit, but if we underestimate the devil, it could lead to catastrophic consequences for either yourself or your family.
Point #1: Godly Examples to Follow (V. 10-12)
It’s an extremely difficult battle that we wage – our children and our families are under attack from every front. At school, from friends, music, social media, secular ideas, movies, time, and everywhere in between. How can Christian parents shield their kids from Satanic discipleship methods, and disciple them in Christ? This brings us to the first of the three points from my message. Your kids must have godly examples to follow. Let’s examine verses 10-12 once again. Timothy in his life had many godly examples throughout his life. Paul in verse 10 says that Timothy has “followed” his teachings, how Paul has conducted himself, his goal in life which was to exalt and honor Christ, his faith, his patience (and Paul needed a lot of patience), his love for others, and his steadfastness. Paul is an incredible godly example to follow, he literally said to us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to follow him as he follows Christ. Paul endured, he loved, he traveled across continents planting churches and sharing the gospel, and he suffered for the sake of Christ.
But Paul wasn’t the only godly example Timothy had in his young life. Growing up he had two godly matriarchs. His mother Eunice and grandmother Lois showed Timothy as a child how to live in a God-honoring way and they also taught him the Old Testament Scriptures. Eunice and Lois also lived out the Word in their conduct. If Lois and Eunice were not godly examples to him when he was growing up – would Timothy had been as open to following Paul? Probably not. But through their example, this helped pave the way for Timothy to be discipled and mentored by Paul. And Paul continued to build upon that strong foundation that his mother and grandmother laid.
Growing up, most children have different role models and examples they look up to. For some children it’s a celebrity, for some it’s a professional athlete, for some it’s a family member, and for some children it’s a combination of all of those depending on the day of the week it is. These role models can shape a child’s worldview and what they believe to be the most important aspects of life. Who do your children look most up to? Who are their role models? Who are the examples they want to follow? Is it a celebrity? A social media influencer? An athlete? A sibling? Or is it you mom and dad? And the follow-up question to that is… are you trying to be like Paul and have your children follow you as you follow Christ? For us as Christians, we believe that our ultimate goal is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever as the Westminster Shorter Catechism and 1 Corinthians 10:31 state. Is that the example you’re trying to show your children?
Dear Christian, are you trying to be a Christ-like example to the children and teens in your church? In your community? How are you interacting with them? What are you like when they may see you outside the church walls? Have you tried reaching out to children beyond church and being an example to them outside these walls?
If you do desire to be a godly example though, there’s a cost that comes with that. In verse 10 through 12 Paul recounts all he’s endured for the sake of the gospel. He reminded Timothy of three specific events in which he suffered for the causes of Christ. Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. At Antioch, Paul was kicked out of the city for preaching the gospel. At Iconium, Paul was almost stoned to death. Then later on at Lystra, Paul was stoned, and he was left for dead, and it was by God’s grace the disciples gathered around him and helped him back up. Paul almost everywhere he went suffered for the cause of Christ; he not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk of a life of obedience to Christ. Paul’s example of endurance was a testament not just to Timothy, but all of us as Christians that we are called to persevere. And why are we to persevere? Because of what Paul said in verse 12 – if you desire to live a godly life, you too will be persecuted. You too will suffer.
Being a godly example to the next generation isn’t meant to be easy. In fact, if you desire to follow Christ, honor Him in your life and conduct, and want to be a godly example for your children, for those in your community, and for those around you – you’re going to be persecuted. Being a Christian is the most difficult thing in the world you can do. Following Christ is the epitome of self-denial. You are literally going against your sinful nature, if you’re a Christian, you are no longer living for yourself, you’re living for the Savior.
Last year a good friend of mine came to the church I serve at and preached a sermon that speaks into what Paul was saying in verse 12. He gave a powerful message titled “You Will Be Hated.” The premise of the message is if you live for the Lord, the world, the world who’s currently under the control of Satan will hate you. Why will you be hated for trying to follow Christ? Because Christ was hated first. Jesus said in John 15:18 that if the world hates you, remember that it hated Him first. The world loves the darkness rather than the light – nonetheless, the call remains the same: we are called to be godly examples. Both as the church of Jesus Christ and as individual family units.
Point #2: Teach Your Children the Word and Protect Them from False Teaching (V. 13-15)
This brings us to the second point found in this passage, in order for children to succeed spiritually as they head into adulthood; it takes a church to teach children the Word of God and to help protect them from false teaching. The first line of defense is of course the family. Parents and guardians, what your children and teens hear in church should simply be things that are reinforced from what they’re already learning at home.
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (V. 14-15 ESV).
Parents and guardians, you should be the primary teachers and educators on theology, what the Bible says, and spiritually equipping your children and teens. What your teens and children hear at church, at church camp, Bible Clubs, and etc. should simply be things that are reinforcing and building upon the foundations they should already have from what you’ve taught. You don’t need a degree from a Bible college or a seminary to be able to teach your children the Word of God.
Proverbs 22:6, a verse that’s familiar with a lot of us “train a child up in the way that they should go, and when they’re older, they will not depart from it” (ESV) This verse doesn’t say “train a child up if you have a Bible college degree, that you’ve taken these classes on theology, that you’ve listened to all the right podcasts, watched the right YouTube videos, or listened to the right pastor…” No! There are no pre-conditions to training a child up in the Scriptures! And Paul here plainly says that Timothy from a young age was taught the Scriptures, he was taught them in a Jewish synagogue, but his primary Scripture teachers were his mother and grandmother. “Timothy, you were taught from when you were a child the sacred writings, they’ve made you wise, now continue in them” (Paraphrase). If a child is acquainted with the Scriptures and is taught them both at home and in church, it drastically increases the likelihood they will stick with their faith as they head into adulthood.
For most parents and guardians in western Evangelicalism, they probably don’t disagree with these sentiments, at least I hope they don’t (however, you never know anymore). But, as Christian researcher George Barna states, many parents and guardians aren’t sure how to do this. They do not know how to teach their children the Scriptures or where to start. He says in this article “parents are not so much unwilling to provide more substantive training to their children as they are ill equipped to do such work. According to research, parents typically have no plan for the spiritual development of their children, do not consider it a priority, have little or no training in how to nurture a child’s faith, have no related standards or goals that they are seeking to satisfy, and experience no accountability for their efforts”
So, because of this, many parents and guardians in the universal church feel underprepared and intimidated to disciple their child because they aren’t entirely sure how to fully do that. So, they put their trust in a pastor, youth leader, or Sunday School teacher to do that in their place since they’re considered the “experts.” Although, speaking for myself at least, we do not consider ourselves experts by any means. This is where the church, the universal church in a lot of ways maybe has failed families and children the last several decades – we haven’t effectively encouraged, discipled, and trained up parents and guardians on how to disciple and teach their children the Word of God.
The church has a major role to play just as well as the parents do. Dear Christian, we must do our part in helping to aid, equip, and train families on how to teach the Scriptures. Both in formal and informal settings. And for the children that come from unchurched families or have parents that aren’t concerned on spiritual matters – we must stand in the gap, roll up our sleeves, and do the teaching ourselves. If you aren’t sure where to begin with that, speak to your pastor, elder, or a Christian that you know, and they’d love to help you get started. It’s never too late to begin discipling your children and trying to spiritually encourage them.
Let’s think about this for a moment. If a child’s only exposure to godly things is on a Sunday morning and/or a Wednesday, at the very most they’re getting is about 4 hours a week. Stack that up against all the hours they have with schooling which is at least 30-40 hours a week on average, extracurriculars which can be another 5, 10, or maybe more hours a week, and all the time they spend on their various devices. The amount of time on spiritual things vs. everything else seems very one sided. Let’s compare device/screen time versus spiritual times for the average American 15–23-year-old. The average 15–23-year-old American spends almost 2,800 hours a year compared to 291 hours on spiritual things including church for an average Christian in the same age range – that’s a lot of time they’re hearing from other influences. Let’s break that down in a weekly metric; on average that’s 53.84 hours a week on devices verses 5.6 hours for the very spiritually minded 15–23-year-old. There’s a lot of different things vying for a child’s attention and trying to shape their worldview; what influence is going to win out in the end? You as a parent, guardian, and we as a church can have a major say in that if we’re intentional.
The only way to defeat Satan’s lies is with God’s truth and Satan’s lies are running rampant in our society. In verse 13, Paul gives another warning to Timothy. And this warning is for us as well because not only we should teach our children Scripture, but we also need to protect them from false teaching and ideologies. He says that as time marches on, evil people and deceivers will get worse and worse. And our children are exposed to evil and deceivers everywhere. In our world, there are false teachers it seems all over that either try to pervert what the Bible says to fit an agenda, or they try to deceive and have people believe the Bible, God, and the Christian faith are lies. And our children and teens are being exposed to these false teachers and ideologies in movies, media, music, on billboards, by non-Christian friends, and on the devices they use constantly.
The most used apps by teenagers are YouTube and TikTok. According to Pew Research, on these two platforms that are used by 95% and 67% of American teens respectfully. On these platforms, there are many false teachers and teachings. Even social media influencers who claim to be Christian, you can’t just take their word for it because of the rampant unbiblical teaching that may come from their videos and posts. One of the most popular “Christian” TikTokers right now, at least the one who’s generated the most buzz the last few years is a guy named Brandan Robertson. Robertson is a self-identified progressive Christian, identifies as queer, he’s a pastor, and his videos have millions of views. And chances are your children have seen his and many other so-called Christian TikTokers of his ilk videos, or videos that espouse anti-biblical teachings. Robertson claims he loves Jesus, but like most progressive Christians, he doesn’t seem to love what Jesus teaches and says. In his many videos, he says that what the Bible calls sins like homosexuality and polyamorous relations as “not sinful”, that hell isn’t real, that heaven may or may not be real, and that God is a liar to Adam and Eve to just name a few things he actually believes.
To his credit though, Robertson does debate and defends his views against the theological stalwarts of the Orthodox Christian community. Here’s a video of a “debate” he did with Jeff Durbin of Apologia and Dr. James White… it wasn’t much of a debate; more like lamb to the theological slaughter.
Why do I even bring this up though? Why did I bring Robertson up in my sermon and in this blog post? I bring it up because if your children aren’t biblically literate, and most church-going children and adults aren’t anymore, if they don’t understand the Scriptures, if they aren’t taught the biblical worldview and how to defend it, and why the Bible says what it says – your children could be easily deceived into buying into false teaching, or straight up heretical and anti-Christian stuff that could lead them to the path to hell.
Satan uses people like Robertson, atheists like Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins, and many other influencers who to their credit are charismatic and compelling; to plant lies into people’s heads that begin to get them to doubt God. That’s what Satan did in the Garden of Eden and that’s what he does today, and that’s what he’s going to do until Jesus crushes and defeats him! Satan masks himself as an angel of light and through that he has deceived millions throughout time and will continue to deceive and if your children aren’t taught the Scriptures, if they’re not acquainted with them from a young age, don’t be surprised if they fall away and are enticed by the many other influences that are trying to disciple them.
Dear Christian we must teach our children and teens the Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, we must show them how to study the Word so they can as 2 Timothy 2:15 says, to rightly divide what is true. Anything outside of God isn’t truth. If they know what’s true, they’ll be further protected from the countless false teachings that exist. You cannot be passive in teaching the Scriptures because the world certainly isn’t passive in trying to deceive your children. In fact, the world is extremely aggressive in trying to teach and deceive your children. Therefore, we must be on the offense in teaching and discipling our children, not on the defensive.
Point #3: Cling to The Word (V. 16-17)
This leads us to the final point from this passage. As a church, we must cling to the Word of God. These final few verses in this passage are the most recognizable to some; but despite its familiarity we must remember Paul’s words here as it is foundational for why we believe the Bible is indeed the Word of God. Let me read verses 16-17 one more time.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (ESV)
There is a critical teaching that if you claim to be a follower of Christ, you must believe, it is the teaching that the Bible is the inspired and sufficient Word of God. However, as elementary as this teaching can be, it’s been under attack for centuries. There are many both within the church and in society that don’t believe the Bible are indeed God’s Words and His direct revelation to us. If we proclaim to be Christians, we must believe that whatever the Bible says about itself, man, God, life, death, history, science, and any other subject under the sun is true. This does not mean that statement in the Bible is true because the Bible records sin and lies from man and the devil, but the record is true.
Scripture’s power and sufficiency is a supernatural act of God. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” Scripture has the power to do what no other work can do. It is for teaching, to rebuke sinful behavior, to correct faulty thinking and theology, and the training for becoming more and more like Christ. That’s the ultimate the goal for us as Christians, right? To become more and more like our Savior until God calls us home. For that, we ought to cling to it.
Because Scripture are God’s Words, we must also cling to it as our ultimate guide for practice and bringing up children. Scripture is sufficient to help us in knowing how to disciple children, what to teach them, how to lead them to Christ, and how bring them up in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. If you’re a Christian parent or guardian, your ultimate guide on how to raise children isn’t Dr. Phil, it’s not a book, it’s not a mommy or daddy vlog, it’s not a podcast, it’s God’s Word. Now, the teaching of Scripture’s sufficiency doesn’t mean you can’t use non-biblical sources. Rather, the teaching it is to say Scripture alone is our inspired, inerrant, and therefore final authority. There are many wonderful works out there pertaining to thousands of topics that can be beneficial to us and teach us on many different things, they are gifts from the Lord, however, they are all must be subservient to Scripture. Scripture alone is our ultimate authority.
If an issue arises whether it’s pertaining to your child, work, any number of issues, who or what are you running to for guidance, for comfort, for peace? If you’re running to anything other than God and His Word, that may reveal that you don’t believe in your heart that the God of Scripture is sufficient to aid you in your time of need. As a church, as a Christian, cling to the Word. Cling to the Word for it is our ultimate source to be equipped for every good work the Lord has for us. It is to equip us to be the parents and the church God calls us to be. If you feel ill-equipped brothers and sisters, don’t be, because God in His grace has given us the ultimate source that we need, His own words.
The Goal Isn’t Good, The Goal is Godly
There is a common misconception that’s crept into the Christian community, and I addressed it in my message and I’ll address it in my post. There are many in the Evangelical community who are unconvinced of the necessity of it taking a church to help bring up godly men and women and the clear command the Bible has given parents to be the primary disciplers of their children. They are thinking “I’ve been doing fine doing my own thing raising my kids; they’re good kids; they’re respectful, they get good grades, they excel in their extracurriculars, and they have a bright future ahead. I’ve done my job!” And that’s all well and nice, it’s great your children are “good,” and they’re excelling in different areas – but here is where the enemy has us deceived. The goal for Christian parents isn’t to raise good kids. The goal for Christian parents is to raise godly kids. And it takes godly parents and a church family partnering together to raise godly children.
If your goal as parents is to simply raise good kids but they’re not being raised in the fear and the instruction of the Lord as Ephesians 6:4 says – then you haven’t fulfilled the call God has given you. The truth is there are millions upon millions of good people humanly speaking that are in hell. If anyone is outside of Christ, they stand guilty before a holy and righteous God. And the punishment for sin for anyone that’s not in Christ is eternal separation from God. It is not goodness that saves us, it is grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).
If your goal is to simply raise good kids humanly speaking, then you’ve missed the point of what God calls parents and guardians to do, to raise godly kids. If you want to raise godly kids, consider Paul’s words from this passage. To be an example, to teach the Scriptures and to protect, and to cling to the Scriptures throughout your life.
Now, to finish this post, there is another difficult reality that unfortunately exists we must wrestle with – it’s one where parents who have raised their kids in the fear and instruction of the Lord, that they were a part of a church that helped come alongside parents in being examples, teaching the Scriptures and protecting them from false teachings, and they clung to Scripture as their ultimate source of guidance; but nonetheless, they have a child or children that simply walked away from the church and Christian faith they were raised in. What are we to do with this? Speaking for myself, I know a number of incredible godly individuals who were and are amazing parents who did their hardest to live these principles out, but they have wayward adult children.
If that is you and you’re reading this and you have a wayward adult child, I am so very sorry and I pray that your child will return to the Lord and remember everything that they were taught. Ultimately, salvation belongs to our God. Each and every one of us no matter how we’re raised, whether it’s in the godliest of homes or the most wicked and depraved of environments, we all have to give an account and take responsibility for our faith. We will be held responsible for what we did with the gospel message we heard, and we will be responsible for whether or not we accepted God’s gift of salvation or rejected it. If you’re a parent here and you lived out what Paul was talking to Timothy about here, but you have a wayward child, please know that it isn’t your fault; you obeyed the Lord, and it isn’t your fault your child walked away from God; at the end of the day, it is on them, and God certainly isn’t finished with them yet.
No matter where someone is in your life, whether a wayward adult child or someone else; they are never too far away from God to save them. And we can know this because Paul wasn’t too far away from Christ to save him. Paul once was one of the greatest enemies to the church had ever seen and God wasn’t finished with him, and God transformed him. May the Lord work in all those in our lives who are far away from Jesus. And let us pray without ceasing for them. So with that, it takes a church to help bring up godly children. Whether you’re currently single, have no children yet, young parents, parents of adults, or are retirees – be proactive in being godly examples, teach the Word and protect from false teaching, and cling to the God-breathed Scriptures. The challenge is before us dear Christian, we have an uphill battle against a wicked culture, so let’s get to work.
Some Final Thoughts
In the weeks since presenting this message; I’ve had a few parents and other individuals mention that their eyes had been opened to some of the realities that is facing children here in America and globally. Praise God for that. Of course, I’ve also heard “you’re not a parent, what do you know?” And it is true; my wife and I currently have no children here on earth but although I am not a “parent,” I’ve had the privilege of being a spiritual parent of sorts to different students over the years and have ministered to many children and teens. The reality is this; the bulk of children who have parents that are being active in the spiritual formation are drastically more likely to have those same children follow the Lord when they become adults. And the parents who are passive or non-existent in pouring into their children spiritually are going to see their kids walk away from the church after they graduate high school statistically speaking.
Children’s and Youth Ministry have an important place in the church; it is needed, and has helped positively influence millions of children and teens for the gospel. However, it was never meant to be the main conduit of spiritual formation that the parents are. It is meant to be a partnership and only when necessary should the church usurp the parents in the realms of Christian and spiritual matters. In 2023, the parents are just as critical in discipling and spiritually raising their children as ever; do not listen to the enemy’s lies and do not listen to the culture either. Christian parents matter and must be active.
PJ's Presuppositions 