Judges 1-7 is the historical transition from the sole leadership of Joshua (Hebrew name for Jesus), to the leadership of generational leaders as the twelve tribes root themselves in the land. What characterizes this chapter in Israelite history is their chronic forsaking of God. And it begins with the generation that follows Joshua's generation: the generation that crossed the Jordan River and conquered Jericho and beheld God's Mighty Right Arm...that generation failed to pass these stories on to their children. How can God be so forgettable?
In chapter two, following the death of Joshua, the author writes: "another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD's anger..."
If God is so great, so good, so glorious, so grace-full, so generous...if this God is so central to the stories of a generation...how is it that the next generation knows nothing of him? Surely God is not that impressive or memorable, that parents would forget to tell their children the stories of God's beautiful, life giving work. Why are gods carved of stone and wood, gods with four wheels and multiple horse-power, gods of green-colored paper, gods of gold, silver and silicon...why are these gods so much more attractive and interesting then Yahweh?
How can God-followers, those that live by the name of the LORD, not tell the stories of God, yet be fascinated by so many other kinds of stories/movies/novels/episodes/reality-based crap? We'll retell all sorts of urban legends, rumors, jokes and riddles - but stories of God's deliverance and help in times of dire need, as well as stories of generousity and grace...oh yeah, forgot about those...didn't think you'd want to hear about it.
A generation of children are lost because their parents do not tell God-stories. In the days of the Judges/Leaders, God would bring in oppressors by which God's people would turn to him for help. God would deliver them through a leader, the people would rejoice and be reconciled to God and enjoy shalom for forty years. But then they'd forget to tell their kids God-stories, and the next generation would infuriate the LORD with their whoring and tomfoolery. And so the cycle goes. And goes.
Why is the LORD our God so forgettable, why are his stories so stale, why do parents chronically fail to pass on their God-experiences unto their children?
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Parents - tell your story to your kids (like Moses does with Deuteronomy)
In Latin the name of this book means "second - Deutero" and "study/law - onomy". In Hebrew the book actually has two names "D'varim" meaning "these are the words of", which is the opening line of the book; and "Mishnei Torah" meaning "repetition of the Torah", which is where we get the Latin name. The book as a whole has eleven sections to it in Hebrew. Too bad they don't clearly mark them in English - maybe the book would be easier to digest and make sense.
"Hear O Israel" is a common phrase Moses uses to begin a discourse on an important topic. It means to really really listen and really really consider the commands and really really seek to understand it and to really really reflect on how to obey it and really really devote yourself to abiding by it everyday.
Did you catch in 4:6-8 God's argument for why they should keep the commandments of Yahweh?
Here it is in case you missed it (JPS):
Observe them faithfully,
for that will be proof of your wisdom
and discernment to other peoples
who on hearing of all these laws
will say, "Surely, that great nation
is a wise and discerning people."
For what great nation is there
that has a god so close at hand
as is the LORD our God whenever we call upon Him?
Or what great nation has laws and rules
as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?
(Upon reading this text I thought of Jesus and his words/works in the gospel.)
Here is another key text, it has huge implications for parents who want to pass their faith onto their children and grandchildren - 4:9 (JPS)
But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously,
so that you do not forget the things
that you saw with your own eyes
and so that they do not fade from your mind
as long as you live.
And make them known to your children
and to your children's children.
Moses goes on to outline what it is to be made known in the rest of chapter four.
One of the greatest failures of Christian parents is in storytelling. Christian parents fail to capture the imagination of their children (pick an age - 4, 8, 12, 16, 18, etc) with their own faith. According to Moses, parents are to vividly remember key moments in their relationship to God, and then to pass those memories onto their children and grandchildren in story form. Most children of Christian parents drop out of the church after high school graduation (80%!!!!!!!!!!!!! according to Barna)...and alot of that is due to the sterile, unimaginative, dull faith of their parents. If parents would spend some time reflecting on their own journey, and then pass on those stories - around the dinner table, traveling in the car, walking down the street, while shopping (etc) - children would get a window into a real, honest, developing faith in a person with obvious flaws and a committed faith.
Hear O Parents - tell your story. Whatever it is, don't describe it as dull...just because you weren't a chain smoking biker with a criminal record who was saved when you miraculously survived a wreck and saw angels who restored your deafness...doesn't mean you don't have something meaningful to share about your walk with God.
Hear O Parents - If you think you have a dull story, then you believe in a dull God. Which is what you have been passing onto your children for as long as they have been alive.
Hear O Parents and Grandparents - There is still time - start reflecting, and start telling snippets of your story. And don't make it dull!!!!!!!!!!!
"Hear O Israel" is a common phrase Moses uses to begin a discourse on an important topic. It means to really really listen and really really consider the commands and really really seek to understand it and to really really reflect on how to obey it and really really devote yourself to abiding by it everyday.
Did you catch in 4:6-8 God's argument for why they should keep the commandments of Yahweh?
Here it is in case you missed it (JPS):
Observe them faithfully,
for that will be proof of your wisdom
and discernment to other peoples
who on hearing of all these laws
will say, "Surely, that great nation
is a wise and discerning people."
For what great nation is there
that has a god so close at hand
as is the LORD our God whenever we call upon Him?
Or what great nation has laws and rules
as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?
(Upon reading this text I thought of Jesus and his words/works in the gospel.)
Here is another key text, it has huge implications for parents who want to pass their faith onto their children and grandchildren - 4:9 (JPS)
But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously,
so that you do not forget the things
that you saw with your own eyes
and so that they do not fade from your mind
as long as you live.
And make them known to your children
and to your children's children.
Moses goes on to outline what it is to be made known in the rest of chapter four.
One of the greatest failures of Christian parents is in storytelling. Christian parents fail to capture the imagination of their children (pick an age - 4, 8, 12, 16, 18, etc) with their own faith. According to Moses, parents are to vividly remember key moments in their relationship to God, and then to pass those memories onto their children and grandchildren in story form. Most children of Christian parents drop out of the church after high school graduation (80%!!!!!!!!!!!!! according to Barna)...and alot of that is due to the sterile, unimaginative, dull faith of their parents. If parents would spend some time reflecting on their own journey, and then pass on those stories - around the dinner table, traveling in the car, walking down the street, while shopping (etc) - children would get a window into a real, honest, developing faith in a person with obvious flaws and a committed faith.
Hear O Parents - tell your story. Whatever it is, don't describe it as dull...just because you weren't a chain smoking biker with a criminal record who was saved when you miraculously survived a wreck and saw angels who restored your deafness...doesn't mean you don't have something meaningful to share about your walk with God.
Hear O Parents - If you think you have a dull story, then you believe in a dull God. Which is what you have been passing onto your children for as long as they have been alive.
Hear O Parents and Grandparents - There is still time - start reflecting, and start telling snippets of your story. And don't make it dull!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Children's Ministry Starts at Home
Today in my Anthropology for Missions class, the professor made a point to state boldly that a missionary's first and primary ministry is to his own wife and children. This is true for pastors, and it is true for all believers.
A father and mother ought to take their child's spiritual formation into their own hands. They, not the church community, bear the primary responsibility for raising up whole and holy children who love God and serve humanity as Jesus Christ.
So what is the role of the church community in helping parents raise up these kind of children? And what is the role of the church community when children are part of a church without their parents? Or just one of their parents? Or what if they only are with one parent at at a time? And so what does children's ministry look like in a local church? It depends on where that church is located. And it depends who are the people being that church and doing ministry.
I know for me, my two biggest success in ministry will be 1) Is my wife more beautiful, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving due to my husbanding her over the years; 2) Are my children more beautiful/handsome, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving due to my parenting (with their mother/my wife) of them? Following my ministry to my wife and children is my ministry to fellow believers. My effectiveness in ministering with other believers hinges on my ministry at home. And my ministry with other believers primarily consists of helping them minister to other believers.
The question ends up being - how does my ministry with other believers over time result in them becoming more beautiful, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving? The church community is only as vibrant as the homes that make up that church. The children/youth ministry is only as vibrant as the homes they come from and the homes of the leaders that work with them. So where do I spend my time? Who helps me become more beautiful before God? Wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving? Out of what do I help that happen with my wife, children and fellow believers? It starts at home...what kind of home am I constructing...what is life like around my kitchen table...who am I inviting to sit around my kitchen table? Who's welcome?
The goal of my family and my church is not just to be healthy, vibrant, good - the goal is much larger then that. Health, vibrancy, goodness are means to another end - God's work on earth to bring about reconciliation in a fractured world, redemption for those enslaved to vices, renewal for those burnt out and dried up, restoration for those defiled and wounded. Jesus himself was good news - his words, his work, his way was the Gospel. You can leave the darkness behind, you can be full of light and life. God's work will result in a New Heaven and a New Earth - my work, my family's work, my church's work is in line with Jesus' - to BE good news, and thus live out the Kingdom of God. Our ways, our words, our work will be the means through which God helps our friends, family and enemies trust Him and join his redemptive, restorative, renewing work.
If this is to be...in my life...I must make sure that God's redemption, restoring, renewing, reconciling is at work in me...and then in my wife and my family...and then my church.
Hmmmm....I said more then I intended...
A father and mother ought to take their child's spiritual formation into their own hands. They, not the church community, bear the primary responsibility for raising up whole and holy children who love God and serve humanity as Jesus Christ.
So what is the role of the church community in helping parents raise up these kind of children? And what is the role of the church community when children are part of a church without their parents? Or just one of their parents? Or what if they only are with one parent at at a time? And so what does children's ministry look like in a local church? It depends on where that church is located. And it depends who are the people being that church and doing ministry.
I know for me, my two biggest success in ministry will be 1) Is my wife more beautiful, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving due to my husbanding her over the years; 2) Are my children more beautiful/handsome, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving due to my parenting (with their mother/my wife) of them? Following my ministry to my wife and children is my ministry to fellow believers. My effectiveness in ministering with other believers hinges on my ministry at home. And my ministry with other believers primarily consists of helping them minister to other believers.
The question ends up being - how does my ministry with other believers over time result in them becoming more beautiful, wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving? The church community is only as vibrant as the homes that make up that church. The children/youth ministry is only as vibrant as the homes they come from and the homes of the leaders that work with them. So where do I spend my time? Who helps me become more beautiful before God? Wise, loving, holy, just/merciful, serving? Out of what do I help that happen with my wife, children and fellow believers? It starts at home...what kind of home am I constructing...what is life like around my kitchen table...who am I inviting to sit around my kitchen table? Who's welcome?
The goal of my family and my church is not just to be healthy, vibrant, good - the goal is much larger then that. Health, vibrancy, goodness are means to another end - God's work on earth to bring about reconciliation in a fractured world, redemption for those enslaved to vices, renewal for those burnt out and dried up, restoration for those defiled and wounded. Jesus himself was good news - his words, his work, his way was the Gospel. You can leave the darkness behind, you can be full of light and life. God's work will result in a New Heaven and a New Earth - my work, my family's work, my church's work is in line with Jesus' - to BE good news, and thus live out the Kingdom of God. Our ways, our words, our work will be the means through which God helps our friends, family and enemies trust Him and join his redemptive, restorative, renewing work.
If this is to be...in my life...I must make sure that God's redemption, restoring, renewing, reconciling is at work in me...and then in my wife and my family...and then my church.
Hmmmm....I said more then I intended...
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