A priority for parents

It can happen that Christian parents end up with children who turn away from the faith and reject following Christ as a way of life.

The parents long for their children to come to the Lord. Yet they do not. What is the problem?

There may be different causes in different situations. Certainly it is not always the fault of the parents. We are all born in sin and, before God, responsible for our actions. Sometimes a child’s heart simply chooses rebelliousness, and refuses the grace of God.

But if we would see our children come to faith, then parents need to take seriously the concern expressed by the Psalmist. ‘One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts’ (Psalm 145.4).

Let me spell out five reasons why parents should speak positively of God to their children, why one generation should commend the Lord to another.

Because the world is not a neutral zone

Many parents have the attitude that can be summed up like this: ‘We’re not going to thrust Christianity down our children’s throats. We are going to back off, and let them make their own decision.’

It all sounds very civilised. But can you detect the underlying assumption in that attitude? It is that the world is fundamentally a neutral place, a level playing field when it comes to spiritual matters. The children are unbiased persons who can weigh up the evidence (which incidentally the parents are not bothering to present) and make up their own minds as to what is ‘right for them’.

For sure the Bible is not in favour of forcing Christ down anybody’s throat, but it is, according to our verse, in favour of parents positively and spontaneously commending the Lord to their children.

Why? The world is not neutral. Made perfect by God originally, it is now fallen and in rebellion against its Maker. There are all kinds of forces which will come to bear on our children’s lives, from the materialistic world-view presented by TV and big business to the personal pains and disappointments of life for which fallen human nature will usually blame God. The world, the flesh and the devil are full of anti-Christian prejudices. ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4.4). The child, sweet though he or she may be in many ways, is fallen with an in-built tendency to reject God and live for self.

The playing field is not level at all. Among other things, therefore, we need to positively commend Christ to our children.

In all important matters, such as teaching our youngsters to cross the traffic safely, we have an urgency to train them carefully. But what does this unenthusiastic, ‘make up your own mind about God’ attitude convey to our children? Actually it is giving the message that God is unimportant.

Because children are inveterate worshippers

Children are born to worship. They can’t help it. Like the rest of us they are made in the image of God, designed to know him and honour him. Through our five sense channels, we love to be amazed and dazzled. And when we are, we respond. We verbalise the thrill we feel. We say to others: ‘Wasn’t that fantastic!’ Now God’s glory is revealed in his creation and we were designed to see and receive such things and respond in worship to him, and words of praise to our God.

But what happens if creatures made for the worship of God fail to know or recognise God? They do not become non-worshippers. Rather they worship other things. ‘They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator’ (Romans 1.25).

Our children can’t help ‘worshipping’. Neither can we. That is why people love to watch the match and, dazzled by a particular player’s skill, they turn to others in the crowd and say: ‘Did you see that? Wasn’t it great!’ That kind of behaviour is peculiar to human beings.

On a summer’s evening, sometimes my wife and I will sit in the garden and watch the swallows swooping, and diving and catching flies or whatever they do. It is a breath-taking spectacle. But you do not see the other swallows sitting on the washing line clapping or whistling or giving marks out of ten. You do not find little birds with a poster of ‘Swifty’ the dynamic swallow on their bedroom wall.

No. That kind of behaviour is uniquely human. And if we do not lead our children to love and worship God, they will find someone or something else to worship and live their lives for. Perhaps it will be some film star or rock idol. Perhaps they will be captured by the gods of materialism, or hedonism or power. Even little five-year-old girls can love bossing other children around!

Because Christ is the only way of salvation

The school curriculum will teach our children that Christianity is just one faith among many legitimate religions. The unspoken assumption is that if there is a God at all, then all roads lead to him.

But Jesus contradicts that. He says: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14.6). The apostles state of Christ: ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4.12). Therefore, if we have our children’s eternal welfare at heart, we must cheerfully and unashamedly commend God to them. They must know what we know — that it is a privilege beyond description to know Jesus Christ.

Because parents are uniquely fitted to recommend Christ to their children
‘One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.’ Our verse comes from a psalm of David. What stories of the wonderful works of God did his family tell him I wonder?

No doubt they told him of the great story of their nation and how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them to the promised land. But perhaps also, they told him of the famine in the years of his great-great-grandmother Naomi and the strange death of her husband and both her sons. Perhaps they went on to explain how God had preserved Naomi’s life and guided his great-grandfather Boaz to marry Ruth who had accompanied Naomi from the land of Moab, and who became his great-grandmother. Was it such family stories which first got young David meditating on the ways of God?

Yes, of course, share the central facts of Scripture and of Christ with your children. These things are of first importance. But also, like the story of Ruth and Boaz, every Christian family has its own stories of how God has dealt with them personally. You have the story of how Mum became a Christian. You have stories of God’s guidance and of God’s provision for the family over the years. And these personal testimonies will mean so much to your children. Parents, in this way, are uniquely equipped to point their children lovingly to Christ. ‘This is what the Lord did for us!’ And such words come to our children from the lips of Mum and Dad who love them like nobody else. Parents, no one can commend Christ to your children like you can!

Because God is worthy of the love and worship of your children’s hearts

All other ‘gods’ with which your children might fall in love will eventually disappoint them and desert them. Possessions and popularity will ultimately prove shallow and of no worth. Idols eventually fall and turn to dust. But God’s greatness, ‘no one can fathom’ (Psalm 145.3). He is an inexhaustible storehouse of glory and as we gaze on him we find ourselves continually transformed and renewed.

C.H. Spurgeon once suffered a time of great depression and sadness. In those dark days his eye fell upon the Bible text where God says, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Corinthians 12.9). In particular, the words ‘My’ and ‘you’ struck him, and suddenly the darkness lifted and he began to laugh out loud. Why? He said that he suddenly pictured himself as a little child walking on the seashore with a spoon in his hand. And the child wondered if the ocean could fill his little spoon. Absurd! Of course!

Can the ocean of the unfathomable God fill us? Can he cope with us? Can he provide for our children? He can do so as no one else can!

So let one generation commend Christ to another.

Commending Christ to your kids

Because children are inveterate worshippers

John Benton

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