Kingdom Generation
July 20th, 2009 by Victor
I am sitting in the hospital right now awaitng the birth of my first child. In the past weeks and months waiting for this day my wife and I have had much time to think about how we want to raise our daughter to know and live for the LORD. We dare not assume that our daughter will be a Christian just because both of her parents are - we will be in daily prayer for wisdom on how to teach her in word and example about the LORD so that she will be able to choose to live for Him when the choice is her own.
With that in mind, I have thought about what is coming for the next generation of believers in the gospel of the kingdom, namely the generation that my daughter will fall into. Her parents had a challenging and exciting encounter with truth a number of years ago and that shift from error to truth instilled in us an excitement and zeal for this precious pearl we had found. We knew what it was like to go from darkness to light.
What I do not want to happen is for my daughter to grow up with this precious pearl being a common thing. I have seen others who have been raised to know the gospel of the kingdom not highly treasure it because it is what they have “always known/grew up with.” While this is certainly not the case for all of those who will teach these truths to their children - the possiblity is there.
So, how do we avoid this? How do we as parents, family members, and brothers and sisters in Christ help to ensure that the pearl that we have found will not be pawned off for something this world offers because it was not found in the marketplace amongst the many other pearls of little value? How do we raise our children to get to the place where they are willing to sell all the have to buy the field which contains the treasure of God’s kingdom?
“Oh God let us be, a generation that seeks.
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob”
One way is to not have the mindset that we used to have, namely “don’t even consider other views.” Some have thought that avoiding contact with other views is somehow “protecting” the truth. But the truth doesn’t need protection; it can stand up to close scrutiny. Looking at other views helps us to stay sharp on what makes our views unique.
I say you raise her Jewish…and then at about 15 tell her the rest of the story…she’ll be thrilled
I would suggest that you live what you believe. Kids would rather see a sermon than hear one.
Very good questions Victor!
First, congratulations! You’re entering an exciting new time as a first-time parent. I’m just two years ahead of you as my first - a daughter was born two years ago in May. You have a brand new world of experiences ahead of you. Remember to treasure each and every day with them as they go by EXTREMELY fast! My wife and I already miss the baby stage even though we’re loving the toddler moments. BTW, I’m sure you’ve had people telling you that your life is getting ready to change and you’ve probably said you know that it will. But you just really don’t know the breadth and depth of it until you experience it first hand for yourself. It is life-changing AND absolutely wonderful at the same time!
You have some valid concerns there as I happen to be one of those RARE people that grew up knowing the truths we believe. And my parents basically shielded me from being exposed to the errors of mainstream belief. So it was “common” for me since that was all I was taught and exposed to. Of course as I grew older I started to learn that we were quite different and that everyone else believed different things - especially about going to heaven vs “sleeping” until the Resurrection. But I just thought their views were mistaken. With understanding and my own developing critical thinking abilities, their alternate beliefs just didn’t make sense. And it was because my parents provided me a solid foundation of Biblical truth. Truth grounded in common sense and reason. It seemed logical to me that if Jesus was going to come back (as the Bible says he will) then there has to be a purpose to it. What’s the point in resurrecting the dead and judging everyone if judement happens at the moment of death (to get sent to the good place or the bad place) and you’re already immortal living on for eternity?
The thing that later derailed me for years had nothing to do with the beliefs I was taught and knew. I got off track because of the bad influence of the world in combination with the early death of my parents (Dad at 15 and Mom at 24). But it was that solid foundation of the truth they taught me that eventually brought me BACK. As an adult I started going back to church (thanks to my wife) and in a regular, mainstream evangelical Christian church setting, I started hearing the overtones of going to heaven and Jesus is God. And when I heard those things they just stuck out like a sore thumb. I knew they were wrong with what I originally learned. So that started my awakening to learn exactly where the differences were and why. I wanted to learn what was correct and what was false. It didn’t take me all that long to see that my parents believed what they believed because that is exactly what Scripture actually says.
So coming from the voice of first-hand experience, teach your daughter (as I plan to do with mine) the truth as you see it. But most importantly give them the WHY. Yes that may take time as they gain reasoning abilities with growth. But start expressing the truth early on and how we’re different and why. Eventually they will start to see it for themselves.
My worry as a parent is combating false teaching from other outside sources. For example, my daughter attends a non-denominational church “Mother’s day out” program for half-day daycare. Of course this has been over the past year from 1-2 years old so its not like she’s being taught or even will totally remember any kind of real doctrine. But as she gets older those things can seep in. So I want to guard against that or protect her from that. And while I agree with Mark C.’s comment above that the truth doesn’t need to always be protected - that it should stand for itself as the truth, I do think a child has to reach a certain point in their development to distinguish what is truth and what is not - especially in biblical/theological concepts.
Ron S.
I have a similar story to Ron’s, but the thing that I would urge is to teach your children to be critical thinkers, and to think for themselves. This is a failing of conservative / fundamentalist Christianity in general; we discourage critical thinking when kids are young and when they get to college or in the workplace, they get destroyed because they do not know how to think or defend themselves.
If our doctrines do not stand the test of a critical thinking attitude, then they are not worth having. I have had encounters with trinitarians mostly in which they are taught not even to consider questioning the trinity doctrine - to do so would most assuredly lead to instant destruction and everlasting torment (or so they said). My dad was raised catholic and was baptized in his late 30s. His conversion was based on studying the Word himself to see if what he was taught was true. Both my parents encouraged us to be Bereans.
Hi Victor!!! and congrats she is absolutely beautiful!!!!…I can definitly understand first hand what your concerned about and I am a single parent. My daughter is 6 now and as I have been involved with the word I have also fell off numerous times in the process I am just now really trying to put my first focus on God and what I am supposed to do for him. I have had so many concerns and fears for my daughter throught these 6 years…I just need to say that since I have put aside the old (recently) and truely focused on God and his word my worries are not as strong if not there at all anymore… I do know that an important thing when it comes to raising a child (I know this first hand) Is to ALWAYS reassure your child that they can ask you and come to you for ANYTHING and that you will answer them honestly and not to hide the things of this world from them to let them know what goes on so that when they get confronted with certain things they will know the difference of Godly behavior and worldly behavior for instance my daughter asked me one day what the word “fag” ment and I explained it I did not say wait till your older or you wouldnt understand I just simply explained it to her and I also explained to her how God feels about that issue…you can not hide them from the world but you have to explain everything for both sides God and the world and always pray with them teach them and like I said before always let them know you are here for them no matter what and that you would never get mad at them for asking questions so that they are never scared to ask you something…I hope this helps there are many things you will encounter with parenting and always will just trust that you and your child are God’s children and he WILL take care of everything!!!!!! love you and God Bless!!!!! ….. by the way I like Sean’s comment very funny!!!!
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he was old he
shall not depart from it.
I never understood much depth to this verse till I heard Rod Parsley
read it with conviction and then tell us of his childhood. It was then
that I began to understand why Rod Parsley is as he is.
Raise the child up in Christ.
That will mean a lot of things, from reading bedtime stories from the old testament, to answering questions, to asking them, to praying with the child, to being there for her as a delivering judge,
hearing her case, going with her to her oppressors, pleading for mercy, opening up the Bible to find something good and thanking God for what you see and teaching her to do the same. It will mean
repenting of your sins, forgiving others, choosing life over death each day, pressing in to the higher things of God, going into the deeper things with her, and keeping the simplicity of the gospel.
I suggest you be certain to teach her that carrying the cross in this world is a thing of great glory in the Lord’s eyes, though here on earth it is not much esteemed in the eyes of men.
Teach her to worship God and keep her eyes on him who is in heaven. Have daily reading, worship and prayer. Have daily family
devotions. Trust in God to do the rest through Jesus. I trust we will
all see her one day in heaven.