What Christian parent of a newborn, or a teenager for that matter, hasn't trembled at their responsibility to help their child onto the path of a faithful life? From the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures to the apostles of the New Testament, the call to raise godly children is unequivocal ... and, to most of us, pretty overwhelming. How does the faith actually take root in the next generation?
When the apostles are instructing those they are training in the faith, it is striking how often they reach for the language of parenting. Whether we are called to make disciples of our own children, or of the new believers who are the next generation in the Body of Christ, the same principles apply.
This series explores seven principles for calling the next generation to discipleship. Here they are in bookmark form.
They come from our hard-won lessons as new Christians and new parents with few role models, and from the wonder of seeing grown children apply those principles in their own lives as disciplers of adults. These ideas were sovereign gifts to us as a young family, like a spring in a desert, and, many years later, they continue to refresh us in our various callings.