David Platt says the family has responsibility for children in the home, but church is responsible for the Great Commission. And the Great Commission teaches us to make disciples. Here are five ways you can increase your opportunity to make disciples of the next generation:
Pray. Pray for your child, with your child and over your child. Pray for Christian friends. Pray for God to remove bad influences. Pray blessings over your child. Contend for the children in your life in prayer. Cry out for them. And make sure your child hears you pray. It doesn’t have to just be your child you pray for. Pray for other kids, too, all the kids in your life who desperately need the prayers of the righteous poured over them.
Side note: Any theology that doesn’t acknowledge the spiritual battle is dangerous, because the enemy doesn’t do his best work when we fear him or even when we entertain him. He does his best work when we ignore him. He’d like nothing more than for us to believe he is not there, or that he is no threat. We know better. The evidence is all around us. Paul said to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:12). He said our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And how do you fight battles with spiritual forces? With spiritual weapons like prayer.
Don’t argue. Witness. Tell your story to a young person. Actually, it is the only thing of real worth you have to give. This is a treasure we have … this encounter with faith in God. So tell someone what your life was like before Jesus, what happened to change that and what your life is like now. Talk about Jesus at home like he’s real. I’ve discovered that people get turned off by evangelistic formulas but they really love to talk to other people who have had genuine encounters with Jesus. And kids are looking for answers to the same questions we wrestle with — things like why bad things happen to good people and why Jesus is the only way to God. I’m reading a non-Christian book right now with a young person just so we can talk about what happens when the world ends. Be courageous with your faith, be creative with your approach, and be prepared with an answer.
Show respect. Demonstrate love. No one likes a lecture. Respect someone enough to sit down and have a real conversation with them, one that honors their questions, rewards their curiosity, and loves them well enough to speak destiny into them. Remember: the only person who can save another person from hell is Jesus. You can’t save your child or any other kid, but you can point them toward truth and redemption and you can make them hungry for Heaven. You can also respect their journey, recognizing that most people are on one. There are many more processes in the work of sanctification than there are events.
Know your Bible. The real power is in the Story. It is in the glorious news that Christ has died; Christ is risen; and Christ will come again. Get a habit of reading your Bible every day. You don’t have to drag out a lot of commentaries or learn Greek. Just read your Bible. Read it every day, even if you never talk to a kid. Read it, and let the Holy Spirit make it live in you. Few things are more attractive to a young person than an adult who actually knows and lives the Bible.
Here’s what is probably the best wisdom I know to give: Don’t hold them back. This is what I hear Paul saying to Timothy and this is such great wisdom. Encourage kids to go after it. Flat-out say to a young person, “Go hard after Jesus. Don’t let up. Don’t slack off. Go hard after Him because Jesus wants your heart, and Jesus is where the real adventure is.” Say that to your kid and to other kids. Say that often. Don’t hold them back by neglecting to call them out to the radical edge.
And don’t hold back the gospel. That stuff we’ve tried, when we said we didn’t want to be “pushy” with our faith? That didn’t work. Statistics teach me that each successive generation in the U.S. is becoming less spiritually aware. I place at least some blame on the Church that has dumbed down the gospel for the sake of being more culturally comfortable. Go hard after your own faith, then share it. The next generation deserves a fair account of the gospel.
