Compassion, NextGen, Radical, Intentional, and Other Seemingly Random Words

Two days ago we received a catalog in the mail from Samaritan’s Purse called their “Christmas Gift Catalog: 40 Gifts of Hope for a Hurting World.”  Brilliant!

To say I was impressed is an understatement.  When I think of Samaritan’s Purse, next to Franklin Graham, the first thing that pops into my mind is Operation Christmas Child.  The 2008 catalog did an excellent job of communicating that SP does so much more than OCC.  I am compelled to give more this year.  We always do the Christmas shoe boxes, but as a result of their catalog, I am compelled to give to some other needs as well.

This catalog really challenged me in many ways. I got to thinking about my kids, their friends, and the emerging generations of Christians.  What will their involvement in world evangelism look like?  Will they be involved?  Will they love God passionately, 110%, sold out?

My hypothesis: if we do not do something different to reach our own kids within our own homes, our concern may not be “what will my kids do to reach the world”, but rather “oh my goodness, my kids are not following Christ…how did this happen?” There are so many voices and influences capturing the attention of our kids that if we do not do something intentional to disciple them at home, many of them will grow up and leave the Church or be apathetic church goers at best.  Like we need more of that.

In recent years I have become addicted to Barna.  Mostly because he challenges us to learn from the past and the present while looking ahead into the future.  If you think I sound a little radical on this issue of NextGen kids, read Barna’s Think Like Jesus.

Many parents leave “this whole discipleship thing” to the church. If we expect our kids to have a thriving faith in Christ in today’s culture, then dads and moms have to be actively involved.  This requires change and transformation on the part of parents. Are you living each day seeking to honor God with your life? Are you trying/pursuing?  Are you spending time in the Word with your kids?  Are you showing them personally how to worship God?  Have you actually taught your kids how to study God’s Word?  If you think perhaps I sound a little over zealous…read Revolutionary Parenting.

In 1950, Christian parents did not have to make many radical changes to their lives/schedules in order to successfully pass down their faith to their kids, mostly because they had so much more influence on their kids than parents today.  Parents today are competing with two income hectic work schedules, year round sports practices, downward spiraling public schools, cable or satellite TV, Internet games, social media, X-box, and the Wii just to name a few.  Each of these items can be positive influences, but when they are layered on one after another without the monitoring of a biblical worldview and a mentor/parent, the whole game becomes messy and difficult to navigate through (more like nearly impossible) for kids.  If you think I am going overboard, read Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by Barna.

The Bible is clear and simple on this issue.  We have to Love God, know his Word, and impress it onto the hearts of our kids.  It even gives us play by play instructions:  Do this at home, when you are in the minivan, at bedtime and at breakfast.  Our faith has to be so central to our lives and personal.  God needs to be supreme in our hearts and minds.  This is hard stuff! But it still needs to be our goal.  Even still, this is not enough…we have to pass it along to our kids: spending time with them, having fun with them, playing together, saying no to TV and yes to doing stuff together.  And as we go about life together, consistently communicate to our kids (as well as live it out) about God’s word and about his love for them.  The last thing we need is one more thing to divide us and our time together.

Start out tonight by packing a shoebox for SP.  Go to Target/Wal-Mart tonight and pack it full of cool stuff that any kid in the world would love to have.  Talk to your kids about how privileged we in American are, and the challenges of may who live in impoverished places in the world.  What an opportunity to teach our kids sacrifice, selflessness, giving, love and compassion.

I don’t have it all figured out…as a matter of fact, I am still on the front end of this thing called parenting.  But I am convinced that if we are gonig to raise spiritual champions, we have to be different, creative, intentional, and people of action (not just words). This is hard work, but the alternative is another generation of students leaving the church, or at best apethetic, nominal church-goers.