Most of this year we’ve been focusing on what it means to be a disciple who disciples. To disciple someone means to help them to follow Jesus and become more like Him. This involves creating a relationship where we intentionally teach, model, encourage, and love another to follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and commit to the mission of Jesus. We often talk about discipling adults, but it’s also important to disciple children.
As Christian parents and grandparents we are to disciple the children in our life. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 lets us know that leading our children to God by our faithful example is something every parent should do. Unfortunately, like we often struggle with discipling our adult friends and family, we sometimes don’t know what to say or do when discipling our children.
Whenever we find it difficult to disciple an adult or child, rather than seek ways to be better at discipling, we sometimes give up. We might think that because we aren’t sure what to say or do that the best thing we can do is let the preacher or the elders handle it. This is sometimes expressed when Christians invite the lost to “church” rather than a personal Bible study. Some parents even do this when they choose to drop their children off for Sunday school or VBS, while not attending a class themselves. While that might be a quick fix to help someone come to know more about God, it doesn’t help you to fulfil what God wants you to do in leading others, particularly our children, to Jesus. This is not to say that we shouldn’t invite people to services or studies – we should! We still should be engaged in discipling others, especially our children.
Here are a few ways that we might better disciple our children, which are also useful in discipling adults. The most important thing is something that both our sermons and classes, most notably “Church Reset,” have emphasized and that is that discipleship is a way of life and not a program. This means that we should find opportunities in everyday experiences to talk about God and what it means to follow Jesus.
We should also “aim high and shoot low.” In other words, while our goal is for our children and our friends to put Christ on in baptism and remain faithful, it’s important to understand that everyone is at a different point in their faith journey. This is why we need to be realistic when it comes to living out our faith in a way that will affect others. We can only control our actions, not the actions of others. We can live a life of faithfulness, but we can’t make others do the same. This is why it’s important to remember that discipleship is a way of life and not a program.
With children, as with adults, it’s important to focus on Jesus. With adults we might be tempted to digress into questions about worship, roles, and morality. While those are interesting topics of importance, for the unsaved Jesus is the primary focus. This is also true for children. Any conversation on any topic can be redirected to Jesus by simply saying: “let’s look at what Jesus says about . . .” This involves exploring and guiding someone through God’s Word with you as the leader.
While we are to lead as we guide our children and others to learn more about Jesus, we are not to be lecturers or dictators of doctrine. While we are to correct and rebuke with the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17), helping children and adults to discover the revealed truths of God’s Word is the best way to disciple someone to become a discipler.
As a part of the family of God, we should remember that being a discipler doesn’t mean we have to disciple our children or others alone. We have brothers and sisters in Christ that can help us disciple others.
Above all else, we must remember to pray for our children and those adults we are trying to lead to live a Christ-like life. It’s also important to pray with them, because in doing so we teach by example how to pray and why prayer is vital to the Christian life.
Our VBS is this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 19-21. It would be amazing to invite the children we know to attend our VBS. It would be even better to come along and take part in the VBS in some way to be the example you need to be for those children you’re leading to Christ.
