Article
– Being Wise in Deceiving Times
As CWMs we are responsible for teaching
our children the things of God. We are also responsible
(along with fathers) for making sure our children
are in a church that has solid Biblical teaching
and assists us in training up our children in
the ways of God. In fact, the Bible gives parents
the responsibility to train children up not the
church. So, ultimately it is our responsibility.
I have become concerned lately that
some churches are more interested in entertaining
our children, youth, and even adults instead of
teaching, discipling, and holding people accountable.
Often, Sunday school and worship have become another
form of entertainment.
The Bible clearly speaks about
this in 1 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time is
coming, when people will not endure sound teaching,
but having itching ears they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander off into myths.” Does this sound
like today to you at all? People want to hear
things that make them feel good, not that are
convicting. Have you noticed few preachers speak
about Hell anymore, because people really don’t
want to hear it? Yet, if we are honest there are
things in the Bible that are difficult to hear
and understand. I would almost compare the difficult
parts in the Bible to having to learn to eat our
vegetables. The entire Bible needs to be preached
not just the parts we like. 2 Timothy 3:16 says,
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction
and for training in righteousness.” That
means every single part of God’s Word has
something to teach us.
So, why is this important? Many
recent studies are coming out with some very sad
statistics. From the book ReThink by Steve Wright
and Chris Graves, p.19, “Mark Matlock finds,
“Depending on whose numbers you use, 58-84%
of graduating youth from church youth groups are
not returning.” (I would highly recommend
reading this book by the way). This statistic
is troubling beyond belief. So, just having your
children “in church” is not enough
and is not a guarantee they will walk with the
Lord when they graduate from high school. As parents
then we need to be on guard for a church that
teaches truth and expects our children to live
it out their entire lives.
Here are some of my humble suggestions
to see if your church is teaching sound Biblical
doctrine:
1. Does your pastor all ready have an entire
sermon planned and picks a verse to fit what
he wants to preach on? Does he read that verse
and then never goes back to the text? Then,
your pastor is focused on what he wants to teach
not God’s Word.
2. Does your pastor allow the sermon to come
from the Bible passage he is reading or teaching?
That means your pastor is allowing the Bible
to guide his preaching not his own ideas.
3. Do the sermons in your church focus more
on how God can bless you, help you, or make
you successful?The goal of worship is to point
us to God and what he has done for us, to praise
Him for all his mighty acts. Whenever a sermon
series is more focused on you instead of God
then we are worshipping man not God.
4. In your children’s Sunday school class
to they read Bible stories and learn memory
verses? Do you see them growing from year to
year? Or do you see lots of how this applies
to my life and not about God.
5. In your children’s Sunday school are
there lots of videos and high energy activities?
Are your children learning how to be still before
the Lord and pray? If Sunday school has to be
like TV and entertain then that is violating
what we learned in 1 Timothy. Let me be clear
there is nothing wrong with videos or music
targeted to children, but a steady diet of that
does not develop deep theological roots.
6. Do you ever come away from Sunday school
or worship convicted of your sin and how you
need to change? Or do you come away feeling
pretty good about yourself? Again, we are not
to be down on ourselves all the time, but when
we compare our sin to a Holy, sinless God we
will always come up short.
7. Do you or your church shy away from Bible
studies that encourage you to study at home
and do a little more work? Or do you expect
the teacher to do all the feeding?
8. Do you feel your church worship service is
more of a performance of professional singers
or a true worship service of people singing
praises to their God?
9. Does your church focus on training new teachers
and leaders? Do your current Sunday School teachers
have training to teach or are they just a warm
body to fill an open spot?
10. Does your church have a prayer ministry?
Do you seek God’s wisdom in all situations
in your church and home life?
These are just a few suggestions
for you to ponder. I could have written many more.
I have lived in many different places and finding
a strong Biblically sound church is not always
easy. My family and I have left churches that
do not meet some of the things discussed above.
The decision is never easy.
May I leave you with some final
thoughts? We are living in a world full of “spiritual
leaders” who are deceptive and trying to
tickle our ears. There are many false teachers.
We need to make sure as our babies graduated from
milk to solid food that are children do the same
spiritually. My fear is too many churches are
serving baby food and not solid food. Solid Biblical
teaching will last past high school. We have to
be on guard for our children and for ourselves
as well.
If you are willing I would love
to hear your comments about your own church and
how you see its Biblical teaching. Visit the CWM
blog and share: www.christianworkingmoms.blogspot.com.
Final Thoughts
There is nothing more important
as a CWM than teaching our children the things
of God. We are commanded to in the Bible. Those
spiritual values will last for eternity.
Till next time,
Kimberly M. Chastain
Kimberly M. Chastain, MS, LMFT is
the Christian Working Mom Coach and a Licensed
Marriage and Family Therapist. She is the author
of The Voices of Christian Working Moms, 2 ebooks
and an online Bible study. To find out how to
receive coaching tips by email daily, go to http://www.kimberlychastain.com/cwmtips.htm.
To find out more about her books go to www.christianworkingmom.com.
For a free, initial coaching session send an email
to free@kimberlychastain.com. |
