Children in the Church

Tim Oakes
May 31, 2017
3 min read

Hello Friends,

When looking at those who need Christ in their lives so desperately, it’s easy to focus on those who have never heard; those who are far from a godly way of life. And of course we should be doing all we can to reach them for Jesus.

But what I’m afraid the church has overlooked so long are those who were raised up in our congregations, who were taught in our Sunday schools, who were able to participate in our worship services, and were a part of our youth groups. Far too many are nowhere to be seen. Not at their home congregations or any other congregation of believers. The floodgates have dropped and our youth are rushing out of our churches and into a sea of worldliness.

How can we stop this tsunami from sweeping away our children? As a parent, I’m convinced the answer begins in our homes. Are we as parents demonstrating a life of true Biblical faith? Do our children see our faith as the key to every part of our lives or as something just for Sunday morning? How our children view our faith will hinge on how relevant they see it in our everyday lives. While we will never be perfect (and should never try to make our children think we are), they must see lives that are lived according to what we say we believe.

I also think that the entire congregation must take a more active role. All of our teaching needs to challenge our youth to not only learn the facts of our faith, but challenge them to put them into practice and experience how God works in the lives of faithful people. If we can encourage them to step out in faith, they will have the opportunity to see God’s response to their faith. For every one of us, that is the real key to experiencing the joys of a life of faith.

Our children also need to see the examples of other Christians living faithful, Godly lives. It is especially important that they see those viewed as leaders in the church to lead by example. Our youth need to see a core of faithful, loving Christians that will provide models for them to learn from. They also need to hear from these leaders their testimonies, especially hear of the ways God has worked in their lives to bring about blessings.

We also need to make sure that our children understand that the church is made up of many people and each one of them is at a different level of spiritual maturity. I’m afraid that we’ve lost far too many children because they’ve seen bad examples of behavior from immature Christians and conclude that “If that’s the way Christians are, I don’t want anything to do with it!” We need to teach our children how every one of us needs God’s grace and forgiveness in those areas where we are weak. But they also need to know that even among those who have failed, God will not give up on them and we shouldn’t either.

And lastly, and most importantly, we need to pray for our youth. God has blessed us with a wonderful group of young people. They need our prayers, for they live in a world that is much more antagonistic to Christianity than most of us experienced in our youth. Our chance to prepare them for the rest of their lives goes by so quickly. We may not get a second chance!