Encouraging Family Discipleship
A few years back, a shift started within student ministry. Within this paradigm change, the responsibility of family discipleship was realigned with God’s Word. Responsibility for raising students in accordance with Scripture was placed back in the hands of parents.
In this shift, the home was assigned the color red and the church was given the color yellow. Red and yellow created orange. This whole idea of thinking orange is great, but most parents have no idea where to begin with family discipleship.
Encouraging our parents in family discipleship is essential if we desire to see growth in the lives of our students.
Present them with the facts…
Birth to High School Graduation = 6,570 Days
Of those days, about 936 will be Sundays spent at church.
If students attend on Wednesday and Sunday, it brings the total to 1,872 days of spiritual formation.
That leaves a ton of time outside of church for discipleship to take place.
According the Barna, 89% of parents do not feel equipped to spiritually lead their families.
Parents desire to see their children walk with the Lord, but don’t feel equipped to do so. To put it simply, most students are only being spiritually fed once or twice a week. Their foundation needs work. They need more frequent encounters with the holy, sovereign God of the Scriptures. They need to be discipled in the home and reminded to daily take up the shield of faith.
And parents must be equipped to lead them in this walk.
Helping Parents Understand the Responsibility
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when your ride.” – Deuteronomy 6:7
God’s Word is clear. The majority of spiritual training is to take place in the home. Honestly, some parents do not realize that they have a responsibility to be the primary disciplers in their student’s life. We must tell them. Don’t shy back from sharing the facts and the Scriptural truth of family discipleship.
Help them understand that there is a battle. This is a battle that they cannot afford to sit out of. Parents, especially dads, must daily fight for the hearts of their children. Parents have a responsibility. Pray that they have the understanding to recognize it.
Starting Family Discipleship
What is the ultimate goal of family discipleship? To know Christ and to make Him known.
How do we know Christ deeper?
1. Keep Scripture at the Center
Family discipleship time should be centered around Scripture. It is when we can face to face with the God of the Bible that our hearts are truly changed.
She Reads Truth/He Reads Truth are fantastic resources for teenagers. These Bible study journals lay out different passages of Scripture and lead you through an inductive Bible study. They even include maps and basic commentaries. This company makes studies for the entire family to go through, but the individual journals are age and gender specific.
2. Have a Weekly Fighter Verse
Another great way for parents to focus on family discipleship is to have a weekly fighter verse. Parents can pick out a verse from the Scripture they are studying or something that applies to something their teen is struggling with. This verse can be posted around the house on sticky notes, written on mirrors, and put as screen backgrounds.
Pick out a verse. Have parents write it out and put it up throughout their home. Text it to each other throughout the week. Then, discuss how God is using it in your lives during family devotional time.
3. Focus on Big Truths
You don’t hear about catechisms much anymore. They are essentially questions and answers based on God’s Word about who He is and about how He works.
New City Catechisms are a great resource for family discipleship. Going through these has proven so valuable. They get students thinking about God and His character.
Download the app or go to their website for some awesome resources to use.
4. Pray Together
“The primary purpose of prayer is not to get something, but to know someone.” – David Platt
Prayer is an amazing opportunity to go before the throne of God as a family.
Praise Him.
Thank Him.
Confess sin.
Intercede.
Lay down your requests.
Encourage families to use this time to really focus on what they are learning in Scripture. Praise God for what you are learning about His character and His plan. Thank Him for how He has worked in eternity and for how is He working now. Confess sin before Him as a family. Intercede on behalf of missionaries, the sick, and any other needs. End asking God to continue working in accordance with His will.
5. Do Something Fun
Encouraging families to do something fun together may not seem like it’s family discipleship. However, growing closer as a family and seeing God’s love flow through mom and dad is irreplaceable in the lives of students. Encourage weekly game night or families hikes. Give families opportunities to spend time with one another.
Families all around America are fractured and failing, because they aren’t centered around the Gospel. Children are falling away from the faith, because they were never shown how to cling to the Lord through the victories and valleys.
It’s so important that we are rooted in Christ, not just as individuals, but as an entire family unit. Consider challenging the parents in your ministry to take lead in family discipleship - trusting that God can work and move in mighty ways!