Training our Children to Know God
You can see the excitement in adults and students at the start of the new year as the summer end. Pretty soon, children will be back in school and parents will have their houses and life back, or so society tells us. The allure that our society puts on children not being home is astounding. We as parents are consumed with mixed feelings of missing our children, and anticipation at finally having our homes back. We live in a sinful world where parents can't wait to send their children away. Children are being sent away to be taught about the world by someone other than their parents. But is it their responsibility? Who's job is it to teach and train our children about this world? Whether your children attend public, private, or homeschool, the training of our children to know the Lord is the job of the parents.
This worldly example of sending kids away can be seen in churches as well. The church should be teaching and training our children, but are they the only means? What makes us think that children need everything on their level? Why aren't children capable of listening to a sermon or worshipping with their parents? As parents, it is our job to show and train our children how we worship God. The primary instruction for our children should be received at home, while the church is secondary for of instruction. We can't expect our kids to grow close to God when they only hear about him once or twice a week. Children need to see how God works in their lives daily.
Children Should be Taught
The first question we need to address is, why children need to be taught about God and His Word. Shouldn't a child in a Christian home just know who God is by attending church? Unfortunately, there are many children of Christian parents who attend church and have heard about God but do not have a personal relationship with him. One of the reasons for that is the lack of God's Word in the child's everyday life. God tells us that children should be learning about Him.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Proverbs 22:6 is a very famous verse among Christians. The popularity of this verse does not negate what it means. This passage is telling us that we are to train up a child in the way he should go. This means we are to train our children with the knowledge of God. Our children should know the ways of the Lord and be taught the Old and New Testaments. To train someone is to teach them. Training is active on the part of the teacher and student. Training is not passive. I don't know many people who learn how to code by being online. No. They are purposely trained, by an expert on how to code. They are specifically taught the skill they are hoping to acquire, in this case learning to code.
How much more should we be purposely training the children in our family and church? Our culture puts a high price on the education of children. We have preschools that require entrance exams, schools that earn money based on student's test scores, community colleges, college, master's degrees, doctorate degrees, and more. For a culture that values education, we seem to forget that our children need be to educated in the Word, not just the world. Let's check out why is it the parent's job to be the ones educating our children in the Lord.
Why Should Parents Train Their Children?
Why is it the responsibility of parents to train their children? That question is simple to answer because God says so. God tells us in his Word that we are to love God and to keep his commandments. Our love of God and His commandments should be passed on to our children through teaching. Let's dive a bit deeper into this scripture.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Looking at the passage above, we can see the sequence that God gives to the ancient Israelites on how they are to live. They are to remember that The Lord our God is one. They are to love the Lord and keep His commandments on their hearts. Then they, as parents, are to impress on their children. To show them the love of God and to teach them God's commandments. Here is a great sermon by Voddie Baucham on this passage. Pastor Baucham talks about how we need to restore the family starting with Deuteronomy 6. It is the primary job of parents to teach their children God's love and commandments.
Who is Called to Supplement Parents Teaching?
We saw in Deuteronomy 6, that parents are to be the primary teachers of their children, but what about churches? Although parents are to be the primary teachers, others are called to love and teach your children as well as supplemental teachers. Some of these supplemental teachers are grandparents, pastors, elders, and church members. Let's take a look again at what Deuteronomy 6 says about supplemental teachers in a child's life.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:8-9
These two verses show that the Christian community was set apart from others. They tie symbols on their heads and foreheads, and God's Words on their doorframes. This wasn't a way to show others their belief, but a way to remember and train the next generation. The whole community life of a child being raised by the Christian community assists in raising and pointing the child towards the ways of the Lord. While the parent is still the one who lives with the child and has primary responsibility for the child, it is the community that participates in a supplemental manner in supporting, echoing, and demonstrating what the parent has instructed the child - the Word and ways of the Lord.
Scripture shows us many more instances of children being taught the ways of God through their parents as primary instructors. I encourage each of you to look at your daily schedules and see if you are teaching your children the ways of God. Are you making time for family worship daily? Do your children see and hear you talk about your walk with God? Are they being taught about your struggles and how God helped you overcome and continues to help you? Your children should know and hear that you are a sinner and have been saved through Christ Jesus, just as those who believe and repent have been saved. Your top priority s a parent should be the training of your children to know the Lord and His ways.