I’m not aware of any other parenting resource that has a chapter devoted to the local church and its importance as it relates to our family life. I’m thankful that the Tripps included this entire chapter (Chapter 11: “The Importance of the Church”) in their book Instructing a Child’s Heart!
They make many very excellent points in this chapter, like:
- the church is God’s family
- the church is an extension of our family
- the church supports our Christian worldview
- the church teaches and supports these family activities
- the church is our spiritual shelter
They have reminder after reminder of how very important the local church is for all of life, including our family life and parenting. And all those reminders build towards the section entitled “The Church has Implications for Your Family.” Probably the take-away point is found in the last full paragraph on p. 143:
… parents shape how their children think about church life. Magnify the beauty of the corporate life of your church. It is an essential element of Christian culture. If attendance to church and its activities are a burdensome obligation that competes with other more desirable pastimes, children will live for the day they can opt out of attendance. All of the optional activities of life, learning skills, sports, employment, entertainment and even education must be scheduled around the church. Otherwise, it will be one among many of the life options for your children – note the deciding factor in prioritizing life.
That’s very well said, and there are so many examples of that sort of thinking and living in our midst! Maybe the application for us is in the sentence above: “Magnify the beauty of the corporate life of your church.” As we love it and extol the benefits and blessings that come to us from God through his people, our children will learn to love the local church as well. Some questions you could ask for your children’s evaluation would be: How important would you say the local church is to us? What do you see us building our lives around? Do you see us building our lives around the church or some other priorities?
Thank you for being a people who build your lives around the priorities of God in and through the local church! I’m so very grateful to “magnify the beauty of (our) corporate life” together with you!!
Tab
