The beginning of the school year is a good time to remind us of the seven commitments we can make to be disciple-making parents.
Let’s start with a reminder of where we are aiming. Our hope is to raise not only disciples of Jesus Christ but disciplemakers, men and women who stand as salt and light in our country and take the gospel to the nations. Yes we hope they will be “successful” in life but what matters most is that they walk with Jesus in all areas of life: work, family, and church.
As wise parents, we know we cannot control the outcome. Our goal is not to be “successful” parents. Our goal is to be faithful parents.
How do we know if we are being faithful? Here are some commitments I encourage parents to make. I have also included the chapters in The Disciple-Making Parent book so that you can read more if you want.
First, make long-term discipleship the North Star of your parenting. You will need to make many decisions for activities this year. Make sure your heart is in the right place. Will these activites help them to follow Christ better? Ask the Lord for his wisdom. Read chapters 1-3 to think more about this.
Second, commit to the duty and delight of a healthy local church. The local church is the bride of Christ and important to our walk. In her you will find those who will aid you in your discipleship. But you must be committed. And that will put you out of step with the culture. Read chapter 6 to think more about this.
Third, model a living and loving faith. Your children are studying how you live out the gospel at home. Do they see a life worthy of imitating? No one is perfect. But we need to live with authenticity at home. Read chapters 4 and 5 for more thoughts.
Fourth, love them like Jesus. This means we are going to seek to make our home a place of grace and joy. It is hard to rebel against joy. Remember love also includes discipline and a plan to train them to obey your authortiy. Chapters 10-13 think more about this.
Fifth, teach and talk about the gospel and the Bible. Teaching is what we think of when we think of discipleship. What do we teach? We talk about the gospel and the Scripture when they are small and when they are teens. Deuteronomy 6 reminds us that we talk about these things during all parts of our day. Chapters 7-9 and 14-17 elaborate on both speaking the gospel and teaching the Bible.
Sixth, teach them to serve in kingdom work. In our child-centered culture, it is easy to forget to call our children to serve both at home and in the kingdom. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than receive. How can we withhold this blessing from our children? More information is in Chapter 18.
Seventh, pray like crazy. That which I care about most, I cannot control. But God can and does work. He is a prayer-hearing God. Pray for your children. Pray for yourself. And pray with your children. Chapters 20 and 21 will give you more ideas.
The new school year is a perfect time to get back into disciple-making habits. Yhis is a process with lots of conversations over a long period of time. God will give you wisdom and strength.
Want to think more about this topic?
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