"Drop-off" Discipleship?

"And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall 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" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Just reading the words of Moses to the children of Israel brings back into sharp focus once again, beloved, those occasions so many years ago when as a child I would see Mom push back the dishes on the dinner table to make room for Dad's Bible which he brought out faithfully. We would sit together at the table as a family and receive carefully the instruction of God's Word. Then Mom would ask us if there was any special prayer request we might have and we would all pray together, each in turn, as a family. I can tell you without any fear of contradiction, beloved, that my own formal Bible training served only to confirm, to hone, and to fine-tune the truths of God that I learned from godly parents in a Christ-centered home.

Can there be any doubt at all that such a practice as this was precisely what God had in mind when He instructed Moses to write these commands concerning the discipling of one's children? It was, in fact, the way that God chose to insure that His divine truths for living would be not only passed from one generation to the next, but would be lived out faithfully by each of them. The terms "sit in your house" and "walk by the way" and "lie down" and "rise up" serve only to confirm that the spiritual nourishing of the young has always been and is now the responsibility of the home!

Unfortunately we see the common practice today that, when we are away from "church," we as parents tend to postpone any and all such training until we are back at "church" the next time. Worse than that, we have made the mistake of leaving it to the church to accomplish what God intended all along to take place at home.

Is the instruction offered at Bible-believing churches today important? Absolutely! But know this, beloved, that God never intended for Sunday School or Vacation Bible School or Christian camp or the academy classroom to take the place of the home as the primary site for personal discipleship to be accomplished. Nor was any preacher or pastor or youth worker or Sunday School teacher ever meant to replace godly parents who are sold out to Jesus Christ.

"Drop-off" discipleship does not work, beloved! And it is past time for Christian parents to step up and handle what God has always intended for us to handle. The ministries of the local church and the local Christian school are there to help out in this most important work of growing children into godly adults. But they cannot and must not be used in any way as a substitute for the influence of parents living solidly for Jesus Christ! Instead of just "dropping off" our kids at this meeting or that, let's start "dropping down" on our knees with them, studying God's Word together and beseeching God in prayer for the grace and courage to be what He has called us to be. Parent or grandparent, may God bless you in this endeavor!

Ron