Discipleship in the Home

The other night, our church held an informal panel discussion concerning discipleship in the home.  David and I were asked to represent the preschool age group and share our perspective.  Well, it pretty much went horribly...I didn't communicate very well at all what was in my heart and mind about this topic which I think is so important!  We hoped that we could encourage others, but I fear we brought discouragement!  I hope to repair any damage with this post! 

When we first had children, we were blessed to be part of a church that taught us a lot about the importance of family worship.  From the Bible, we believe that our children are born sinners.  They have lots of needs and are dependent upon us for many things, but their greatest need is to come to know Jesus Christ personally and to trust in Him alone for their eternal salvation.  We believe we have the responsibility as parents to do all that we can to bring our children to Jesus.  To that end, together as a family, we talk about Jesus, who He is and what He has done; we worship Him with songs and hymns; and we pray to Him.  

We started having Bible Time when our oldest child, Mary, was a baby.  Then, we read a story from a Children's Bible and prayed.  Over the years, as our needs have changed, Bible Time has grown and morphed into its current form.  Nowadays, we gather in our living room for Bible Time after the dinner dishes are cleaned up, which is usually around 7 pm in our house.  This is our typical routine:

1. Read a story from a Children's Bible Storybook for Maggie
2. Sing two Children's songs
3. Read a passage from the Bible for Mary
4. Summarize the prayer requests for a country from Operation World
5. Sing a hymn
6. Pray

I know it sounds like a lot, but I think it really only takes about 15 minutes.  We have never had trouble with the kids not enjoying themselves, which is more because of our kids' personalities than our parenting!  As you notice, though, we do break it up quite a bit with reading and singing.  The kids really enjoy the songs, especially when they involve getting up and doing motions.

So, that's where most of the "formal" instruction happens, but I would say that most of the discipleship actually happens during the other "moments" in the day.  Discipleship happens every time a child disobeys.  Every act of disobedience is an opportunity to share the love of God in Jesus Christ with our children.  Discipleship happens every time a child faces a difficult task.  It is an opportunity to go to God in prayer and ask Him for help.  Discipleship happens every time there is a conflict (and we have lots of them).  It is an opportunity to teach children to resolve conflicts quickly according to Biblical principles.  Discipleship happens when there are ungodly behaviors, like complaining and arguing.  It is an opportunity to teach children godly behaviors by reminding them of God's word, which says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing."  Discipleship happens when I screw up and ask my kids to forgive me.

Discipleship takes time and can be painful but also brings great rewards.  One of my fondest memories is when Maggie had a very difficult task to perform and we prayed.  God helped her to complete this seemingly impossible task.  She was overjoyed and told Daddy the minute he came home about how "God helped me or was it Jesus?"  Despite the theological confusion, she experienced God's answer to a specific prayer of hers that day.