Whose Job Is It to Evangelize My Child (The Church’s or Mine)?

In an increasingly busy society, many forces compete against the unity of the home.  Parents should utilize the local church to assist in raising godly children.  Neglecting the local church concerning a child’s development is not only detrimental to the child’s spiritual vitality but also exposing the parents’ limited resources.  While the local church does serve to bring the family together, unfortunately, too many parents rely solely upon the institution of the church to initiate faith conversations with their children.

Many parents never attempt to converse with their children about God, faith, or salvation.  Contrastingly, parents who have experienced spiritual harvest with their children saw their role as the primary spiritual developers of their children and did not expect a pastor or a church body to accomplish their assumed task of evangelism.  Churches which passively comply with parental apathy create an unhealthy dependence upon the church to relieve the family of its biblical responsiblity.

While initiating conversations with one’s child concerncing salvation can prove to be a daunting task, a concerned parent should accept this responsibility with great fervor.  One study revealed, in fact, that children who had parents who took them to church but who never witnessed significant change within their parents’ lives reached adulthood with a minimized view of a vital relationship with Jesus.  In the task of evangelism, parents are the most important voice and example in the life of a child.  Parents must remember that the goal is not to make a child simply spiritual but for a child to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

For parents to evangelize their children, they must understand the gospel essentials, developmental levels, and evangelistic principles.

Last night, we had our first of four sessions of “Making Faith Stick.”  If you missed it, we are repeating the class on Sunday night 5:30-7 at the Junction coffeeshop.

I will also post some notes from the study in the days and weeks to come.