Rev. John Dunnett
The other day someone shared a picture online with me. Two containers of ping pong balls on a stage. The one in the front was about the size of a pitcher of water. The one in the back has a 20-inch diameter and was about eight feet high. The contrast was eye catching. I expected to be told that there were X amount of balls in the small container, so guess how many in the big container? But that was not the truth being illustrated. The caption on the small container said, “The number of hours the church has to spiritually influence a child.” The larger container said, “The number of hours parents have to spiritually influence a child.”
In 2019 we live in a world where the majority of our children have little or no ping pong balls in the church containers of their life. Their primary hope for finding help with a spiritual understanding of life, the great hope for raising a generation with values that reflect something deeper that material consumerism and self-concern, rests on the shoulders of parents. In many homes it may rest on the shoulders of one parent.
Parental influence was part of God’s plan all along as we read in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version of the Bible): 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Unfortunately there are too many children like one that I spoke with last week who said, “We don’t get to church so I really don’t know much about this. Can we talk some more?” That conversation continues.
So here is my question or here are my questions. In a day when there seems to be a disconnect between people’s desire to raise children with spiritual values and their own connection to churches, how do we as people of faith help parents navigate the world of spirituality and values?
Should we just sit back and hope people get desperate enough to check our church?
If Jesus really is God, come to us to show us God’s love, save us from self-centeredness and sin, to set up a spiritual kingdom of God and to stop hollow religion so that we can have a deep spiritual connection with God, then what should we do to live that out in our families, neighbourhoods and community?
I guess my question is, How do we, as people of the Spirit, help parents make the most of the spiritual influence that are given as they shape a generation?
I would love to hear your answers so feel free to contact me.
John Dunnett is pastor of First United Baptist Church in New Glasgow. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
