Let me be honest here: parenting is hard! Some days I fail miserably. Thankfully, the days of joy outweigh the days of struggle, and even in those days of struggle, I’m learning there is grace available even then. There are many duties in this life that demand our time and attention, but perhaps none is greater than the duty of parenthood. As I am relatively new to parenthood, I rely heavily on biblical principles first and foremost, but also the wisdom of those around me who have been through it before and learned valuable lessons about raising godly children in this crazy world. In my pursuit of gleaning wisdom from others, I recently finished a book called “Will They Stand” by Ken Ham, in which he offers the following challenge:
“We challenge you to think about this question: ‘Knowing that God is the only One who knows everything and who made all things, and believing that the Bible is His Word, what does God say about training children – the methods, the priorities, the nature of children, how to discipline them, etc.?’” He then challenges every parent to write down clear biblical guidelines for raising your children. Let me encourage you to pause and do this right now. If you are a parent, can you right down clear biblical guidelines for how you should raise your children?
…Have you finished? Ken Ham then goes so far as to even say this: “If you [aren’t able to do so], why are you having children if you don’t know what God’s Word teaches concerning how to raise them? And therefore, whose methods are you using then?”
While I personally struggle with those last questions and would be hesitant to go that far myself (for nowhere in scripture does it say that we have to fully know God’s teaching on childrearing before having children), I do believe it is a worthwhile challenge and reminder for us in the midst of attempting to raise godly children. We live in a very challenging, complicated, and ever-changing world, and if we have any hope of our children standing against onslaught of our increasingly anti-God culture, we as parents must take ownership of the responsibility to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). This can only be done through the principles and guidelines taught in the Word of God.
The statistics are increasingly bad. We’ve seen with each generation a larger and larger percentage leaving the church and walking away from God. The signs are not pointing in the right direction. “Generation Z” is showing that the number of those who are walking away from the church double from the previous generation. There is possibly no greater duty that we have been given in our obedience to Christ. Will we, as parents at Wall Highway Baptist Church, take up this duty to intentionally train and disciple our children so that they will stand?
Alone in Christ,
Caleb Hecox