Because parents love their children the deepest, know them the best, and are with them the most, they are best suited to be a child’s primary pastor who gospels them, teaches them, loves them, prays for and with them, and reads Scripture to them.
I would only add that the home ought to be a place where parents model a missional life to their children. But let’s be careful not to go too far with this idea of home as a small group. Though it’s true that parents are the primary teachers and shepherds for their children, it doesn’t mean that the Church is secondary and unneeded. On the contrary, our temporary, earthly family is part of a bigger, eternal church family that reinforces and supplements the biblical instruction we ought to be giving in the home. Our home small group is not the church. It is part of the church, indeed, part of the body that grows and adds members through it’s common mission.
Wow, I thought, this blog states exactly how I have been thinking. And, they say it so well and precisely. Again, I ask myself, does my home and my family reflect the greater family of God? How is it that I am gospeling my children and then modeling a missional lifestyle to them?
Well, I can tell you my kids have gospeled me a couple of times! Just read my xanga post on how when I had to seek forgiveness from them for my sinful anger they told me they would because I am just as BIG a sinner as them and needed Jesus all the time too.
One thing we as mothers do all the time throughout the day is discipline... I mean, there is no way around it; we have young children and we must discipline them while there is still hope and desire their good over their desire to have their own way, like we all who have gone astray do! Our heavenly Father disciplines us because he loves us and we love our kids, even when they put boogers on their brother's hamburger bun! :(
So if we discipline them, how does it gospel our children or model a missional mind-set? Maybe it does if we are able to discipline without anger or out of embarrassment. Better that we are filled with serious grace and a ready heart to forgive and receive the child back into complete fellowship and normal family activity. If we discipline, it is just like the Church's motives for disciplining it's members - for the restoration affect - to bring them back to a right relationship with members of the family and more importantly with God! When We discipline we try to always talk about trusting Jesus and what he did to bring those of us who were far from God because of our sin, near to God even though we were still His enemies. We try to speak with words they might comprehend depending their ages, of how God is ready to receive those who come to Him... and then we receive them with great big hugs and kisses and a short time of prayer!
When there has been consistent discipline in the home, I have been surprised by how they have ( the 2 older ones) reacted to the few public Church disciplines. It is not shocking to them that there are consequences to sin they don't even understand yet, but they are willing to pray for them and it has given opportunities to talk about the forgiving grace of God and what the church's responsibility to each other is, just like in the family! I hope this leads to more of a heart for those outside the family of God to experience this kind of love and reconciliation.
Any thoughts from your own experience on this? Has God used discipline in your life to bring you to Him and give you more of a heart for the ministry of reconciliation to our community?
Next week I'd like to give a glimpse of how our Church has partnered with us to foster a love for God and community to our kids.
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