The Highest Calling

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster & Parent

Training Our Children to Love and Follow Christ

Last week, I had one of the scariest moments of my life. Nothing dangerous or extraordinary happened, but I had a moment of insight that shook me deeply. The batteries had died in one of my son's toy cars. I took a screwdriver and replaced the batteries and gave the car back to him. Five minutes later, I saw him sitting on the living room floor, car in hand. Was he playing joyfully with his newly restored favorite car? No. He had picked up my screwdriver and was "fixing" the car, just like Daddy.

Seeing my son immediately and clearly imitate my actions was at first funny and then very sobering. He watches me. He sees what I do and wants to do the same things. Suddenly, prayers at mealtimes and bedtime became more important. Family devotions and the daily routines of our household became more significant when viewed from his perspective. Obviously I knew the importance of modeling good behavior for my son before last week, but God gave me such an immediate and undeniable demonstration of what I already knew in my head that it made me stop and really think.

As parents, we are called by God to train up our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). This is not a responsibility we can delegate to someone else. Our pastor, our child's Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible School leaders, missionaries, school teachers and others all have an influence upon our children, but no one else can fulfill the commands given to us as parents. It is parents who are charged with the responsibility and privilege of teaching their children the truths of God's word in every aspect of life (see Deuteronomy 6).

From an educator's perspective, this means we are our children's first and best teachers, regardless of what other teachers they may have. We may enlist the help of others to labor alongside us in the task of teaching our children, but it remains our joy and our burden. Many of you have chosen to homeschool, taking more of the daily task of educating of your children upon yourselves. Others of you have decided to send your children to school, where others come alongside and give you more help in these tasks. Yet in both cases, the primary teaching remains in the hands of the parent. We are all homeschoolers.

So the question is not whether we are teaching our children at home but rather what are we teaching them. What are you teaching your children about marriage in the way you treat one another? What are you teaching them about the relevance of their Christian faith to life in the way you make decisions? What are you teaching them about the value of reading vs. television in the way you spend your evenings? What are you teaching them about how to treat others in the way you talk about or pray for others at home? In other words, are you lifting up or tearing down?

These are hard questions, and I feel personally convicted by them even as I write them. Yet they are essential questions for us to ask ourselves daily. We are our children's primary teachers. Let us pray for the grace we need to be faithful in what we teach them every day.