Are Christian Parents Abandoning the Practices of the Founder?

In 1999, my business partner and I sold a company we founded in 1983. In its eighteen year history, the business had been dedicated to the Lord and grew to one hundred thirty employees. Our business was centered on strong relationships and service to our customers. Unfortunately, the company that acquired the business abandoned that vision. They dismantled the processes and practices of the founders and they got rid of our customer service managers. Their focus was on more profit but they lost a massive amount of business. Customer relationships were gone. Within a few short years the new company had lost all the major accounts and the number of employees had fallen from one-hundred thirty to only nine.

What is happening in the church is not very different. Jesus spent three years showing us how to make disciples. He taught His disciples in the morning, when they sat, when they traveled, and when they were about to retire for the day. He personally assumed the task and He constantly performed it. He protected His disciples by sending them out in twos. He presented His most important work, the work of making disciples, to God just prior to His crucifixion. Then He commanded us to make disciples.

Like the new owners of the company mentioned above, when it comes to discipling our children, we have abandoned the practices of the founder. Jesus gave us a model to follow. He is the Lord of the universe. Jesus knows how to make disciples better than anyone. Why would we ignore His approach?
 
Since many parents are not following Jesus in this regard, many have lost their relationships with their children. The church is reaping the huge consequences of not following Christ in her discipleship practice. Satan knows how Jesus made disciples as described in the four components. He has convinced Christians to give their children to him nearly all day long. Satan is using these four components to make disciples of his own out of our children.

Again, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Will your children be discipled by Satan or by you? Will your children be vulnerable to destruction by the devil or will your family enter the abundant life that Jesus promised?

Tagged as: Christian Parenting, Disciple Like Jesus, Discipleship, Love, Parenting