Christians Not Parenting Differently than Others?

A very interesting study by the Barna Group shows that there is very little to no difference in the way born again Christians parent their children as compared to non-Christian parents.

One of the most startling observations, according to Barna, was how few
born again parents indicated that one of the most important outcomes parents
needed to help their children grasp was salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. “Only three out of ten born again parents included the salvation of their child in the list of critical parental emphases,” he noted. “Parents cannot force or ensure that their kids become followers of Christ. But for that emphasis to not be on the radar screen of most Christian parents is a significant reason why most Americans never embrace Jesus Christ as their savior. We know that parents still have a huge influence on the choices their children make, and we also know that most people either accept Christ
when they are young or not at all. The fact that most Christian parents overlook this critical responsibility is one of the biggest challenges to the Christian Church.”

Isn't this hard to believe?! If this study is an indicator of the way Christians are parenting, maybe the church needs to start focusing more on teaching parents how to teach their children about spiritual matters and the importance of teaching those things to their children. Preserving the souls of the next generation should be a top priority of the church. It's not the church's job to parent these children, but the church could start doing more to teach parents how to make spiritual teaching a part of their parenting skills.

As a mother, it makes me think that before we start emphasizing so much about foreign missions, or even home missions, maybe we should start focusing on preserving the next generation for God. I know all souls are equally important to God and He is no respector of persons, but I'm not God. (I'm sure you're not shocked by that revelation :-) My daughter's soul is more important to me than some unknown Taiwanese person or Malaysian person or the souls of my coworkers or even my extended family.

There's a lot of dispute among Christian circles about whether we'll actually know one another in heaven, but on the chance that we will be aware of our past identities, I REALLY want Olivia to be there. More to the point, I don't want her spending eternity any where else but Heaven, whether I'm there or not.

Just as an aside, organizations like Focus on the Family, Family Life Today (check out their Resurrection Eggs for Easter) and the Pentecostal Publishing House have some great resources on teaching children about spiritual things. Encourage the Christian parents you know with some of these resources!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!