We have three holidays in the U.S. within about a month’s time that center around families — Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and National Children’s Day. The Church can use these holidays to acknowledge, appreciate, and admonish people to live up to their God-given responsibilities in these different roles. We must also consider our responsibility as a Church for families year-round based on the biblical foundation for family life ministry. They need more than a once a year shot in the arm.
The Foundation for Family Life Ministry Starts with the Responsibility God Places on Family Members
God places responsibility on both children and parents so we must instruct those in both roles to heed God’s Word.
Of Children:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. (Eph. 6:1-3)
- Are we helping children understand that obeying their parents isn’t just about doing what their parents want, but more importantly following God’s desires?
- Are we encouraging children to honor parents even when they don’t feel like it?
Of Parents:
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4)
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut. 6:5-9)
- Are we stressing the discipleship role of parents in nurturing their children in the ways of the Lord more than a mere caretaking role? (For Help: Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp)
- Are we encouraging consistency between what parents say and do, emphasizing how it begins in their own hearts?
The Church’s Responsibility to Families
Rather than usurping the responsibility of parents for instructing children in the ways of the Lord, the Church should come alongside of them, training them and holding them accountable to do their God-given part. We should also challenge children to do their part, hence encouraging healthy parent-child relationships.
Family life ministry, built on the foundation God laid in His Word for families, can sometimes seem like a daunting task.
Many Christian parents find themselves so consumed in the busyness and stresses of life that they neglect this important responsibility, especially difficult if a single parent. Some parents merely send their children to church assuming we will provide all the spiritual input kids need. And, not all parents know the Lord.
Children have few role models of what it means to submit to, respect, and honor others. And, they’re receiving confusing, mixed messages about what it means to be a family today with the world saying one thing and the church another.
No matter how complex family life might seem, we do have a responsibility to both parents and children to help them understand their God-given roles and to provide encouragement and tools.
