How many of you have been watching the Olympics the last couple of weeks? I know that Mary and I have certainly watched quite a bit of the coverage. I’ve always loved the Summer Olympics and most of the events that are included although I’ll admit that there are a few events like synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics that don’t really appeal to me. But probably my favorite event of all is the 4 x 100-meter relay in track and field. There is just something about the combination of the speed of the fastest runners on earth and the teamwork that is required for success that really makes that event compelling for me.
Having competed in a number of relays when I ran track back in high school, I am personally aware of the importance of passing of the baton in a relay race. And over the years as I’ve watched the Olympics, I’ve seen that the winner of these relays is not always the team with the fastest runners.
We certainly saw that in the men’s event this last Friday. The United States finished third behind the winning team from Jamaica, which was not unexpected, but they were also beat by Japan, a team who had not placed even one of their runners in the 100-meter dash final. That is because the Japanese have practiced their baton passes for more than a year in preparation for these Olympic gains while the Americans have only practiced for a few months at most. And then to add insult to injury the Americans even lost their bronze metal when they were disqualified for passing the baton illegally.
This morning we’re going to be talking about a different kind of a passing of the baton, one that is frankly a lot more difficult and also much more significant than any race in the Olympics. Of course, I’m speaking of our responsibility to pass on to our children a God-centered, Bible saturated foundation for all of life.
There are a lot of opinions in our culture today about who is responsible for raising our children:
? There is an increasing sentiment that the government is responsible for raising our children – a view espoused by the book “It Takes a Village”. That title was actually hijacked from the African proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child” which had nothing to do at all with the government being involved in the raising of children. The original proverb is much more consistent with what we’ll learn this morning where we will see that raising children does require a village, but that village consists of extended family and the church, not the government.
? Others have pawned that responsibility off on day care centers and schools. Please don’t think that I’m in any way saying that it is inherently wrong to send your kids there. After all Mary is a teacher and I have a great deal of respect for those workers and teachers who have been forced to take on a role that should not be theirs. Unless you’ve seen firsthand all the responsibilities that they have been burdened with because of families who have abdicated their responsibilities you can’t even begin to imagine the load they bear.
? Others feel it is the church’s job to teach our children to have a Biblical worldview. Obviously, as I’m going to touch on in much more detail this morning, the church does have an important role to play, which is why none of you are allowed to tune me out this morning just because you’re not still raising kids of your own.
This morning, we’re going to learn what the Bible teaches about who is responsible for raising G-Rated Kids in an XRated World. Before we do that, let’s put this morning’s message into context within this series. We began last week by determining that…
When it comes to raising our children attitude is more important than aptitude
That was the first of the 5 “D’s” of raising children that we’ll look at in this series which we summarized with the word “Delight”. We learned that God is intimately involved in the creation of each and every child and He delights in each child, so we need to have that same attitude.
This morning, we’ll move on to the second “D”, which I’ve labeled “Devote”:
? Delight ? Devote ? Discipline ? Direct ? Disciple
I’m going to approach the message a little differently this morning. I’m going to begin by reading three different passages without spending much time going into a lot of detail on each individual passage. Then once we’ve done that I’ll make some observations about what we can learn from those passages and how to make practical application of what we learn in our individual lives and in the life of our church.
The first passage we’ll look at is found in Psalm 145:
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:4-7 ESV)
For now, let me just call to your attention verse 4:
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
We’re going to see that same idea expressed in a slightly different way in the remaining two passages that we’ll look at this morning. Next, let’s look at Psalm 78:
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God (Psalm 78:1-8 ESV)
Once again, the theme of passing on the things of God from one generation to the next is central here. We’ll come back to this passage in a moment and unpack some of the specific instructions we find here about how to do that.
Finally, let’s look at an applicable New Testament passage:
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, selfcontrolled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2:1-8 ESV)
At first glance, there really doesn’t seem to be a lot in this passage about raising children. But the idea of one generation passing on the things of God to future generations is once again the central idea we find here.
One of the things that immediately stands out in all of these passages is how the entire believing community is to be involved in this process. Most of the verbs and the pronouns in all three passages are plural and certainly the whole idea of generations is a corporate concept. So in that sense, it does take a village to carry out God’s instructions here.
On the other hand, it is also clear here that the responsibility for passing on the things of God from one generation to the next rests primarily on parents.
So how do we reconcile those two seemingly contradictory ideas? I think it would be accurate to combine these two concepts like this:
Raising G-Rated kids requires a partnership in which a devoted church equips and supports devoted parents
I think this accurately summarizes the two key principles we find in these passages:
1. The primary responsibility for raising children lies with the parents. 2. Parents are best able to carry out that responsibility when they are equipped and supported by the church.
The best chance of raising godly children and passing on the things of God to them occurs when both the parents and the church are devoted to carrying out their roles in this partnership. So let’s look at some of the keys to a successful partnership from the perspective of both the parents and the church
KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP
Parents
1. Be intentional
None of what God command in these passages will happen by chance. Passing the baton from one generation to the next requires us to be intentional and it requires a lot of patience and practice.
In the Olympic relays, it’s not merely a matter of the four fastest runners on the team showing up and running the race. Those Olympic relay teams practice those baton exchanges thousands of times before they ever arrive at the Olympics in order to prepare for that one opportunity they will have to use the skills they have developed.
The same is true when it comes to raising our kids. We can’t just show up without any kind of preparation or planning and just expect that our kids are automatically going to grasp the baton when we attempt to pass it to them. So if we’re going to be successful in helping our children to receive the things of God into their lives, we have to have a plan about how we are going to do that. And let me just tell you from experience that plan is going to change – a lot! But that’s OK. In a moment I’m going to talk more about the need to be teachable and flexible. But for now I can’t stress enough the importance of having a plan because without one, the likelihood that your children will develop a God-centered, Bible saturated foundation for their lives is very slim.
I can’t tell you this morning exactly what that plan is going to look like in your family, but here in these passages we find that there are two essential building blocks that should be at the center of whatever plan you use:
? Teach children:
o The works of God
Remember Psalm 145:4:
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
And how about verse 4 in Psalm 78:
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
Both those passages speak of the need to communicate the mighty works of the Lord to our children. And in order to do that successfully, we’ll need to do that both formally and informally.
The informal teaching can occur anywhere, anytime. But in order to take advantage of those opportunities, it means that I have to first be aware of God’s mighty works myself. I have to discern how God is working all around me and then be able to communicate that appropriately to my children. Maybe it is nothing more than commenting about God’s creative ability as expressed in a sunset, or a beautiful landscape. Maybe it is pointing out how God is blessing another person in their life. Maybe it’s thanking God for some material needs that He has taken care of for our family. The possibilities here are endless if we’ll just look for them.
And the more formal teaching can also take on many different forms. A couple weeks ago on Monday morning Steve Ponzo shared how their family is creating a prayer journal where they can record the mighty works of God as they see His answers to prayer. That’s a great idea! Maybe it’s matter of taking some time each night at dinner to share how God worked in each person’s life that day. Of course that requires that you intentionally eat dinner together as a family and that you all put away your electronic devices for a while and actually talk to each other.
And certainly, as I’ll touch on more in a moment, that means seeing God at work throughout history as recorded in the Bible. With that in mind, the other thing we see in these passages is that in additional to teaching our children the works of God we are also to be teaching them…
o The Word of God
This is most clearly expressed in Psalm 78:5:
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children
Again, teaching the Word of God to our children should include both formal teaching as well as application.
Formally we need to set aside regular times for the family to read God’s Word together. Obviously when our children are young, that means reading the Bible to them. But once they start to read, we need to encourage them to do at least some of the reading during those times. And as we do that, we shouldn’t shy away from exposing our children to the entire Bible. Obviously they aren’t going to understand some of the things in Scripture, but just instilling in them that God’s Word is important enough to make it a central part of the life of your family is so crucial.
But we also need to be aware of opportunities to apply God’s Word to everyday life. If our son responds to a bully at school by punching him in the nose, we need to be able to show him what Jesus taught about turning the other cheek and praying for our enemies and then help him to apply that appropriately in his life.
If our daughter steals a candy bar at the store, we need to be able to show her what the Bible teaches about stealing and about making restitution and seeking forgiveness and then make sure she follows through and applies what she is learning.
Let me ask the parents here a question. How many of you feel like you are fully capable and equipped to do the things we just talked about? [Wait for answers] I’m actually glad that none of you raised your hands because that leads us directly to the next principle.
2. Be humble and teachable
I think this is where the Titus passage particularly comes into play. We need to recognize that we don’t have all the answers, but that God has placed us into a body of like-minded disciples of Jesus who are there to equip and support us. But the only way we’re going to be able to take advantage of those resources is to first admit that we don’t have all the answers and that the older men and older women in the church have great wisdom that we can benefit from.
This leads us directly to the third principle:
3. Take the initiative to seek help
We have some great resources in this room this morning. There are grandparents and even great grandparents here who are a treasure chest full of experience and knowledge who are a great resource for those of you who are still raising your kids. And while I know that a few of them aren’t shy about sharing their opinions when it comes to raising your children, most of them would love to share that experience with you, but they aren’t going to insert themselves into your life unless you ask them.
There is no doubt that there are a lot of helpful resources out there that can help you raise your children, but I often wonder how much time, effort and money that a lot of you parents could save if you would first take advantage of the collective wisdom that is available right here in this room this morning.
Raising G-Rated kids requires a partnership in which a devoted church equips and supports devoted parents
We’ve briefly touched on the responsibilities of parents in that partnership. And about all I’ve had time to do is to get you thinking about how you can be intentional, how you can be humble and teachable and how you can take the initiative to seek help. I hope that some of the ideas I’ve thrown out this morning will at least be a starting point for fulfilling your responsibility in this partnership.
Let’s turn now to the church’s role in that partnership:
The church
1. Be intentional
We have been really blessed with the children who God has brought into our church family over about the last 10 years or so. We see that each week during the “In the Bag” time. And I’m really grateful to those here in our body who intentionally support our parents by teaching our children about the works of God and the Word of God. Many of you do that on a regular basis by serving in our nursery, in Children’s Church and by teaching during the “Connections” time. And I know there are also some grandparents and other relatives who also contribute by helping the kids who remain in church during the message follow along and take notes when their parents are not with them – usually because they are ministering to other kids during the worship time.
But frankly we could do a much better job in this area if we had some more help. And that need is only going to increase in the future as our children get older and we need to provide more appropriate learning opportunities for all ages. Last week I asked all of you to pray about how God might want you to serve children here at TFC and I wish that I could report that the response was overwhelming. But unfortunately, not even one person indicated that they would be willing to help.
As a body we have a responsibility to be devoted partners with our parents and to equip and support them as a body, so once again today I’m going to ask all of you to consider how God might want you to be a part of that partnership. That leads us directly to our second principle:
2. Be available
In Titus, we read about how the older women are to teach the younger women and how older men are to teach younger men. That means that there are a lot of you here this morning, that have a lot to offer to the younger generations who are here. I talked earlier about how they need to be humble and teachable, but the other side of that coin is that you need to be available to invest in their lives.
I find that there are two issues that tend to hinder your availability. The first is that some of you think you really don’t have anything to offer. But I can assure you that is not the case. Even if you haven’t raised children of your own, you certainly have a wealth of life experiences that would be profitable for you to share with the younger people here in this body.
The second problem is that some of you are just too busy making a living to help others make a life. If that is the case, then perhaps you need to re-adjust some of your priorities. And even though I’m primarily addressing this principle to some of the older folks here who are no longer raising their own children in the home, this same principle of being available applies to parents as well. Your kids don’t need the stuff that you’re working to provide as much as they need you.
Perhaps some of you are available and you would like to help develop the parenting skills of some of the younger men and younger women in the church, but you’ve just never let anyone know that. So maybe some of you just need to take the initiative to approach some of our younger parents and just let them know that you’re available to help.
3. Be good models
While the Titus passage deals with the older generation teaching the younger generation, the greatest emphasis in that passage is on the importance of being good role models. Verses 2 and 3 remind us of the kind of behavior that we are to model for the younger generations:
Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
We are all familiar with the adage that more is caught than is taught. So if we’re going to equip and support the parents in this church, then it is incumbent upon us to live our lives with integrity, reverence, self-control and love. God has put those of us in that season of life in a place where we have the opportunity to demonstrate with our lives what it looks like to live out our faith on a daily basis.
Raising G-Rated kids requires a partnership in which a devoted church equips and supports devoted parents
And for us as a church body, that means being intentional, available and good role models.
My goal is always to make these messages practical and relevant to our lives. But today I want to encourage you to take some very specific steps to apply what we’ve learned here today. On the “Connection Card” on the flap of your bulletin you’ll notice that there are several concrete ways that you might want to respond to this message.
First, I’m praying that some of you will be called to work with our Children’s ministry – in the nursery, in Children’s Church or teaching during the “Connections” time. If you’re reluctant to do that because you don’t feel equipped, don’t worry, we’ll provide you with appropriate training and support.
Second, there may be some of you parents who need some help with your parenting, especially in the area of teaching your kids the works of God and the Word of God, but you’ve been reluctant to ask for help. Here’s your chance to do that.
The third box is for some of you more experienced folks who are willing to lend your expertise to helping equip and support those parents. If there is some specific area where you are particularly qualified to help, be sure to indicate that there.
Or if God is leading you to respond in some other way there is a place to indicate that, too.
Passing on the baton of a God-centered, Bible saturated foundation for all of life is our most important task as parents and as a church. It is also one of the most difficult tasks that God has entrusted to us. That is why…
Raising G-Rated kids requires a partnership in which a devoted church equips and supports devoted parents
Let’s all commit to making sure we do everything we can to make sure we don’t drop the baton and lose that race.
